Birthday in the Bitterroots.  Basking in the Baja sun. 

Hmmm.  Does it get much different than that? I guess different strokes for different folks.   Just ask Willis.

It is that time of year again.  Nancy is down in Mexico at the tip of the Baja peninsula: Cabo San Lucas. Her pedicured toes dipped in the sand.  Sipping something colorful and salty while trying to decide what Pacific fish she wants in her taco for the day.  Just laying around in the sun like a rattlesnake in a wagon wheel rut at high noon.

Meanwhile,  Dave is home in Spokane.  Getting through one of the darker and colder winter months one day at a time.  Keeping his sanity with indoor projects while yearning for spring.  But why wait?  Especially with a 3-day weekend at hand?  Ah, yes.  The Mountains are Calling and I Must Go.

Time to use my Missoula connection. You might remember Buckeye Emily from Cataract Peak Redux (and her complaining sister). Or maybe even Appekunny Falls with the bears (and her complaining sister). But for sure on the Grinnell Glacier hike (and her complaining sister).

Actually, I should do a post on the complaining sister. All she needs is a cape, and Buckeye Brigid could be the next Marvel superhero brought into the franchise from obscurity. Her superpower could be . . . . chemistry? But I digress.

I can honestly say Emily is a true friend with benefits.  You know.  Not only geographically desirable, BUT being a doctor by trade, I can get a free medical diagnosis and no copays. If she had only kept her scrip pad (at least that is what she tells me), I’d call her the Patron Saint of the Rockies.

Over the years  I have used Emily’s location as a strategic stopping point for travels out West.  From several family vacations to hiking road trips with the guys.  And more recently as a midpoint for my back-and-forth seasonal work at Glacier Park. Given all the access to snow hiking out of Missoula, I knew she was the perfect friend to impose upon.  Let the weekend begin!

Now it was my birthday, and after seeing the cake Dr. E got me, she clearly assumed I was bringing over the other five guys from that Great American Beer Festival road trip a few years back. 

This wonderfully dense 25,000-calorie chocolate-centered monster of sweetness would have given Tom Hanks’ stranded character in Castaway enough energy to swim off the island.

Good thing she’s a doctor.  It not only saved a 911 call but the cost of a stomach pump, and I dodged late-onset diabetes.  But hey, it’s the thought that counts.  Best of all, I can use this same cake photo for my 75th birthday.  And man, am I going to look good for my age!

Let’s get to hiking. The Bitterroots were calling. Off to the Blodgett Trailhead out of Hamilton MT. A nice little six-mile in and out full of peace and quiet. The snow was firm enough and the track beaten down to just use my Yak-Tracks. My current set I bought so I wouldn’t fall down in the school bus parking lot this winter.

There is plenty of snow at the trailhead to get that winter wonderland feeling.

All of these mountains reminded me so much of Glacier. The steep walls, the bands in the rocks. The colors and the desolation you only find in high alpine areas.

There is a lot to be said about hiking during the winter.  In the old days, there used to be 0 people, and you would be all alone on what would be a popular crowded summer trail. But today we did find a couple of other cars that the trailhead.

There are never any bugs to worry about.  And I generally can pack a lot less water with lower temperatures.

The quiet during winter hiking can be almost surreal.  Generally speaking just about everything is asleep.  At least anything that might want to eat you.  It is always fun throwing in my fear of bears. I don’t want to be an Apex predator. Just an Apex.

You’ll get the occasional ground squirrel chirping at you because he didn’t store enough pine nuts away.  Or every now and then the mournful call of a songbird waiting for better days that are a long way off.

Winter hiking weather is always a crapshoot.  You hope for the best,  but you better plan for the worst. And those cold peek-a-boo cat-and-mouse moments the sky throws you are just priceless.

We reach the bridge and our turn-around point. Met maybe another dozen people during the entire outing. About as close to solitude as you can get these days.

Looking down the long valley we had just climbed up.

For those with more adventure (and daylight), you can trek another four miles up to the headwall of the valley where you will find Mt Blodgett and Mt Shattuck (the source of this beautiful stream).

In case you were wondering how my health was during this hike:

And OF COURSE, I had to do a quick video. What is GoatBoy without that wonderful tour guide voice that draws you in? Like the Sirens in the Odyssey. Of course, those gals did kill all of the sailors on the rocks.

So that would be a great day on its own. But… this is a THREE-day weekend. Let’s look at round two. A real snowshoe this time. At an old favorite local haunt known as Lolo Pass, right on the Montana/Idaho border. Actually, the entire hike was in the Gem State.

It was really nice to have company for a change.  When you get these beautiful snow conditions and don’t have anyone to share it with it’s just not the same.

It feels good being outside during this time of year when you are normally cooped up.  The air just feels more clean and clear and crisp.  You can almost taste the sleeping forest.

We were having pretty good weather luck.  The day was getting long and the clouds were on the move.  Just that glimpse of the sun is all I ever need.

I loved how the late sun was lighting up the treeless ridgelines below. They looked like glowing winter streams of water and ice, somehow defying gravity and flowing uphill. It was an amazing lighting illusion that most never see.

Such a fantastic day to be out in the mountains. Makes you feel sorry for all of those folks afraid of the cold. Or not. Leaves more peace and quiet and moments the rest of us don’t have to share. 🙂

The sound of snowshoes crunching in crusted snow is something you can only understand if you’ve ever heard it.  It sounds like you are walking at the end of the world. The last person alive.

Yup. My best winter tour guide pose. Hmmm…. maybe time to give up the school bus thing. I think there is seasonal winter tour work where I could probably apply my unique skillsets (but we all know that Dave is an acquired taste, to be taken in small doses).

I’m going to have a lot more of these graphs in the future. If you want to blame someone, that would be my daughter Jaclyn. This is all her fault going forward.

In case you were curious about the loop we did. All the red segments are where I was really huffing and puffing.

Been a long time since I had the sun in my eyes when doing a winter video in the mountains during January.

That’s about it. GoatBoy out!