Montana Jones

The second best photo of 2008

After carefully reviewing the 736 photos I took in 2008, I have concluded that the best one is this goat that I have already published here.

The runner up, second best photo of the year is this one:

Labels: 2008, best of, photo, second best, snow, water

Posted by: Montana Jones / 4:47 PM 2 comments

Most snow

Me:

It's the most snow I have ever opened up in.

Older Generation:

Sure.

Me:

And A_ said it was the most snow he has ever seen at opening.

OG:

Can't be that bad.

Me:

Mom said it was the second most snow she has ever opened up in; with the most being when she was a kid in 1954.

OG:

Well, she was shorter then.

Labels: conversation, history, mom, opening, snow, work

Posted by: Montana Jones / 8:30 PM 0 comments

Learning the winter

I can hike up a storm in the warm months, the mountains and I are pretty tight. But I have never learned how to be in the wild during the winter. I broke the ice, so to speak, with new snowshoes last winter. This season I am putting them to more use. I am feeling something new on the trails, like I am out of place. Like I am vulnerable. Not a feeling I get on the hot days of summer. Not a feeling I enjoy.

I know how to cope with the trail in the summer. How much water to carry. What clothing works for both the heat of the day and layers well for cool evenings. How much food for how many miles of trail. What gear to carry just in case. I am at home and comfortable with the wilderness. In the winter I suddenly find myself a stranger again as ice crusts the streams and snow goblins climb the trees.

My biggest problem so far is with clothing. Learning what works and what doesn't. I understand layers and use them, but the wrong layers cause problems. If I trap too much heat I sweat and ultimately get wet and chills. If I don't trap enough heat I find myself in a race to keep moving and keep my body temp up. The middle ground is elusive.

The right gear to carry is different too. I learned the other week that my snowshoes can throw snow up the back of my legs and get my pants wet. Wet is bad and results in chills. Note to self: get some waterproof snow pants.

I am leery of the unforeseen too. When it is warm I am confident I could spend an unplanned night in the wild if an injury or other circumstance forced me to. In the cold I don't have the same confidence. I am reluctant to explore too far from the trailhead and safety.

So many things are different about this time of year. I feel like a novice again. Snow and ice are harder to walk on than dry ground. The trail is harder to identify. It even feels different to be thirsty. Add to that everything I don't know about avalanches and when ice is safe and my own limits and tolerance for hypothermia. I don't like feeling like a novice. Some days staying in like a hermit sounds better than feeling like this.

There are some wonderful things about the snow and cold. The still silence that makes breath and heartbeat ear shatteringly loud. How easy it becomes to see animal tracks. The way snow and frost paint old familiar landscapes into new, wonderful pieces of art. I think I have to keep going. To keep learning. To keep adding gear. What choice do I have really? Last winter I learned that being a hermit sucks.

Labels: cold, hiking, learning, novice, outdoors, snow, snowshoes, trail, wilderness, winter

Posted by: Montana Jones / 1:34 PM 2 comments

Winter

OM:

It was really cool driving through the heights the other day. The way the snow blows and drifts. They can't plow worth a damn when it gets like that, the snow just blows in again. It was just like it used to be when I was a kid.

Me:

Cool. I get the impression that this winter has been more like traditional Montana winters. Colder, snowier.

OM:

Yeah, pretty much. If it was just a little colder and had a little more snow this would be like winter used to be.

Labels: cold, conversation, drift, Montana, plow, snow, winter

Posted by: Montana Jones / 6:57 AM 0 comments

New Shoes

Labels: outdoors, photo, snow, snowshoes, trail

Posted by: Montana Jones / 7:18 AM 1 comments

Sledding hill snow report

Greetings winter fun enthusiasts, this is Montana Jones with your sledding hill snow report.

Conditions have been deteriorating on sledding hill with temperatures rising up to freezing several times during the past week resulting in sloppy melting conditions. Top of the hill has a base of two inches of packed and icy snow and the bottom of the hill also has a base of two inches packed.

The main 'big run with the bump' has been worn down to bare grass and dirt and is no longer useful for sledding. There is no snow making planned for the run at this time. Ten feet to the south on the 'other big run', the one without the bump, conditions are icy and fast. Get on this one while you can as grass is starting to show through the thin layer of ice and packed snow.

To the north end of sledding hill on the shorter 'kiddy run' there is still a good layer of slick ice and snow. This part of the hill is smaller but the sledding is still fine. We have had reports from near the base of kiddy run of some dirty snow conditions. Miss Penny Rothchild has claims the cause of this condition is "dog doo". Young miss Rothchild has gone on to blame Joey Birchman saying "That stupid dog of his just runs all over the hill and digs and gets in everyone's way and Joey doesn't do anything about it and doesn't clean up after it or nothin'."

On the southern end of sledding hill several youngsters are reported to be doing their sledding down the 'climb up spot' and other less than ideal fringe locations. Mr Johnny Richman explains "It's because that one little girl tries to climb back up the sledding run, sometimes she just stands at the bottom and cries like a baby until her dad comes down to pull the sled back up. So we gotta go down the climb up spot. It's a little bumpy but it's still fun."

There have also been reports of yellow snow near the telephone pole at the top of the climb up spot. Joey Birchman denies that his dog has anything to do with it. For once Penny Rothchild agrees with him. She thinks that Joey himself is to blame.

Penny also wanted to add for the record "Someone should make those teenagers pick up their litter too. They can't ever put their pop cans in the trash and they are too old to be playing on sledding hill anyway."

That is your sledding hill snow report for the week. We are expecting some warmer temperatures, rain and possible light snow for the upcoming week, hopefully this will solve the yellow snow problem.

Happy sledding.

Labels: humor, sledding hill, snow

Posted by: Montana Jones / 10:14 AM 2 comments