LOTS OF SNOW THIS WINTER

We are getting an unusual amount of snow this winter.  Not that I am complaining, but I am getting tired of plowing and shoveling.  The skiing has been great, but enough is enough.  And then to top it off, it rained around here today with the temperature right at 15 degrees!  Of course it froze on everything it landed on.  A blizzard is forecast for tomorrow to top it off.  And we have the elk getting into our hay that is stored down at my brothers place in his hayshed.  They are coming through where he pitches the hay into the feeders when he has them in the corrals in the summer.  He ran them out of there three times in the middle of the night last night.  Today he and Margee put up panels to try and keep them out better.  So far, they have not got into the hay stacks here at our place.  Zeph run them out of our driveway when Connie put him out to do his thing before we went to bed last night.  With all the snow, I am sure they are pretty tired of having to paw through the snow to find something to eat. 

We are in full "get ready to go south" mode around here.  Going to try and leave next Thursday we hope - if the weather cooperates that is.  A few pictures from the last few days.

This is getting to be a common sight.

Zeph loves to get up on the pillows for his naps.

Lots of snow.

Playing in the snow.

MORE GREAT SKIING

We are still getting a lot of snow here in the Bitterroot.  Our little ski resort has some of the best powder in the west right now.  People are driving a long distance to ski here.   I rode up the lift the other day with an Aussie who was checking out Yellowstone in the winter and heard about it so drove over to ski a day here.  He said he loved all the powder.  And with the tree thinning the resort has done in the past two years, it has opened up hundreds of acres for tree skiing.

Connie and I skied with Ike and Brenda yesterday and had a great time.  Skied mostly in the Sacjac area and the powder was pretty darn good.  Especially the last run when I took Connie and Brenda way out in an area that most people do not go to.  I should have taken more pictures, but was enjoying the skiing to much.

Lots of powder.

A little video of Brenda, Connie, and Ike.

I woke up the fox behind the horse shelter when shoveling snow.

Driving home from the ski resort on roads that had some slush on them from the salt and sand - sure made the fenders ice up.

WATCH THE CHICKENS - THE FOXES HAVE MOVED IN!

We have a pair of foxes that seem to have moved into the rocks behind our corrals.  We have noticed them for a week or so, but now we see them everyday just laying around on the rocks.  Think they might be denning up.  Maybe we will have some kits running around when we get back from down south.

One fox likes to lay just behind the horse shelter between some rocks.

One likes to lay on the other side of the corral.

When we come out of the house or barn, they just look up and watch us.  It is driving the dog nuts though.

Then they just go back to sleep.

GREAT SKIING.

We are having a great ski season here in the Bitterroot.  Lots and lots of snow.  Connie and I skied Thursday in some great powder that had stacked up since the little resort had closed the previous Sunday.  It was snowing and blowing the whole day so our tracks would cover up by the time we got up to the top.  There was at least 16 inches when we started in the morning.  I skied a few runs with a guy from Sun Valley right at first and we made some great powder runs on that side of the mountain, then chair 4 opened just as I met Connie at the top of chair 2 so we headed over there.  Then Friday I went up by myself and skied with Mike and a lady he knew.  We skied fast and it was up and down the hill until we got tired in the afternoon.  I did take a couple of pictures on Friday, but none on Thursday because it was too cold and windy that day.

Mike and Elizabeth at the bottom of Sacjac.

LOTS OF NEW SNOW

Skiing on "Powder Thursday" was pretty darn good with the exception of the wind.  It was really ripping and that kept the resort from opening Chair 4 so it was really crowded on one side of the mountain.  We have been getting an abundance of snow with nearly 20 inches awaiting us on Thursday.  But down in the valley it is a different story.  We have been getting rain.  And rain on ground and snow that was at 20 below zero makes for some slick surfaces.  Highway 93 going up to the resort was pretty bad Thursday.  Lots of ice.  And there is a lot of ice just around here.

Dale's wife Carol came with him skiing on Thursday and it was great having her up at the resort. Here she is coming down Southern Comfort with Dale in tow.

Connie is doing good skiing the crud lately.

Come on Dale, keep up.

A few elk on the side of  our lane the other day.

UPDATE 11 FEB 2014

We have had quite a bit of snow around here.  And it went from being very cold to quite warm - 18 degrees below zero to 43 degrees above zero.  From clear and cold to overcast and rain.  And some snow that was mostly water.  A lot of the snow has settled also.  We had over a foot on the ground and it is nearly half that now.  Gary and I have spent some time on our tractors plowing roads and driveways out.  More snow is forecast in the mountains tomorrow and rain in the valley.  Local TV station is saying 1 to 2 feet of new snow in the mountains.  That means Connie and I will be at the ski hill bright and early Thursday for "Powder Thursday" at Lost Trail.  We really have had some great powder the last few times skiing.  Was skiing in the trees Sunday with snow up over my knees.  Was not that much in the out of bound areas as the wind had blown some of it off the exposed areas.  A few pictures below.

Jerry from Salmon making a few turns.  Jerry is 80 years old and skis very well.

Connie above and Dale from Missoula below skiing in the out of bounds area.  

Our tracks.

One of Connie's bird seed ornaments that now hangs in a tree awaiting the birds.

Old flowers - new snow.

A FEW MORE OLD PICTURES FROM ALASKA

A few more pictures of old slides taken up in Alaska.

Our camp in the Prince William in the early 80s.

 A lunch stop in the Prince.

Backpacking in Denali in the fall.

A picture taken while flying a rescue mission.

Pam with Ryan while the bear looks on.

Alaska is just "photogenic".

Ryan was always ready for his picture to be taken.

SOME OLD SLIDES FROM ALASKA

I went through some slides the other day and converted some to digital.  Some of these slides could be called The Pro Leisure Circuit THE EARLY DAYS!

This is the only picture that is not from Alaska - it is of the Spiral Staircase at Teluride, CO.  That is the little town of Teluride at the bottom of this run or what it looked like in the early 1970's.  This is the fastest way back to town.

The Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet is such a pretty place.

Fall backpacking.

I can't remember the name of the lake behind me, but it was quite a hike up to where we camped.

Some whales feeding just out of Petersburg on our way to Juneau.

A sunset in Hawaii.

Gary, Georgine, and Gary on our PLC tour in the Prince William Sound.

We tied up our Zodiaks to a small iceberg when we had lunch. 

The Prince is pretty.

Billy pumping up one of the Zodiaks.

SNOW AND COLD BACK IN MONTANA

We got up this morning and the temperature was 20 degrees above.  That will be the warmest it will get all day and probably most of the week.  Below zero predicted in the middle of the week.  We also have snow coming down and fed the horses in the trees because the north wind is also picking up.

Went skiing yesterday but did not stay very long.  It was pretty cold up there and getting colder.  With no new snow - it was more a social ski day with the old guys.  We all quit at noon and headed home for the Superbowl.  What a game, but I wish it had been close!

On our walk this morning in some fresh snow.

Connie had to get the horses to come up into the trees this morning.  The elk have been around and we think they were over in the field next to ours in the trees.

They were all feeling pretty good - bucking and running.

Finally settled down and started to eat.