Biking Up Sleeping Child Road

We drove south this afternoon for an hour and 15 minutes to a whole other world along Sleeping Child Road, which heads southeast from Hamilton--out toward small farms and ranches, along a rushing creek, and up into ponderosa forest and a narrow canyon with steep walls. 


We parked in the dirt parking lot at the Y where
the Skalkaho Highway heads east from Highway 93.

A mile down the Skalkaho Highway, Sleeping Child turns off.

The road trends up at a mostly gentle grade--lots of meadowlarks singing along here,

views of the Bitterroots for the downhill ride, and

hats on fenceposts on a side road.

71 Degrees in April

Lube the chain, pump up the tires, 

and head out Rattlesnake Drive!

Meadowlarks!

I went outside this morning to sweep snow off the front steps and heard spring arrive--meadowlarks!  We'll have more snow, but the returning meadowlarks have faith enough that spring has come.  If you'd like to hear the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's recording of the western meadowlark, click on the green link and scroll down on their page.
  
Brooks Clark and Thoreau went out to see what nature had for them--what a good thing for us all to do to remind us that we're part of it.  We in Missoula were reminded over the last weekend of February that one of the things that nature has for us is death.  An avalanche off Mt. Jumbo hit houses in the Lower Rattlesnake and buried three people, one of whom died.  We listen to the returning meadowlarks with sober ears.

Snow, Snow, Snow

The snowpack in the mountains surrounding the Bitterroot Valley just south of here is 125 to 161 percent of normal for today's date.  That snowpack, if it doesn't melt too quickly, will yield river water and mountain soil moisture into the summer.  Fingers crossed.  

Yellowstone in Winter

 














Bison, elk, coyotes, snow, ice, warm water, big skies, and not very many humans--that was Yellowstone for us last week.  Many animals travel on the roads to reduce their need to plow through snow, so there--all over the place--they are.  At the Gardner River, we yielded to the bison to cross the bridge.

 

 

 

Bison along the trail from Tower Junction to Tower Fall made us keep our distance and led us to change our route near Tower Fall.  In the photo below, three bison dig through snow to graze and Donna plans a retreat. 

 








We also saw bison at Mammoth Hot Springs

and, in the Gardner River canyon, we saw first one coyote and then another feeding on a bison carcass.

 
 








During five days in the Park we saw lots of bison, some coyotes, and also some herds of elk.  We saw one large elk many times over several days; he seemed to have found his favorite forage in one area along the road; he was easy to locate precisely from a distance because of all the cars, tripods, cameras, and giant lenses--classic elk jam elements.

Except for those bison near Tower Fall, our animal sightings happened along the roads on our way to and from the trailheads. 


We skied on beautifully groomed trails that follow unplowed roads in the northern part of the park.   




 


The trail into Tower Fall passes views of columnar basalt 







and the Yellowstone River valley.  A strong smell of sulfur rises here from hot springs along the Yellowstone River just below.

Tower Fall had a husk of ice with water visibly falling within it.  One day we were here all alone, and, on another other day, we stood watching the waterfall with only one other person--very, very different from the summer Tower Fall experience achievable with a brief walk from a packed parking lot.


The sun smiled and the winds blew on the day we skied Blacktail Plateau.  What huge views off to the north 
in the film clip above
 







and to the west!   

One morning, after a snowfall, we were the first to ski on fresh grooming at the Upper Terrace at Mammoth Hot Springs.  The southern part of the loop has a hill where we played and played, up and down, over and over.

And here, also on the Upper Terrace Loop, is Orange Spring Mound.

 















 



On the way home from Yellowstone we spent a night in Pray, MT, at Chico Hot Springs, enjoying the historical, quirky, down-to-earth atmosphere of the place and the warm (98 F) and warmer (103 F) water in the two pools.  The air was colder!  

Eric says now that he finally gets the pleasure of outdoor hot-spring soaking--feeling warm and cold at the same time, depending on what's in and what's out of the water, and taking part in the social scene.  There were young guys getting out of the pool to sit in the snow-filled poolside chairs and throw snowballs, older people in blissed-out reveries, and children toodling around on float toys.  People relaxed together.  A smiley woman said to smiley me, "If you aren't happy here, you won't be happy anywhere."  

 

      We were very happy--



comfortable room, delicious food, 
welcoming and friendly staff who made us a feel a sweet mixture of being special guests and also wonderfully at home, 
and a beautiful setting, too--
Emigrant Peak in the background!



With Chico and Yellowstone behind us, we are feeling lucky to have been out in the wild, out on the planet, out in the winter.  We have soaked it all in.

Kenneth Rexroth was writing about fall in the Sierra Nevada when he quoted scientist and mountaineer John Tyndall appreciating the planet and its seasons, but the "chain of dependence" works for winter in Yellowstone, too:

 "'Thus,' says Tyndall, 'the concerns of this little place
Are changed and fashioned by the obliquity of the earth's axis,
The chain of dependence which runs through creation,
And links the roll of a planet alike with the interests
Of marmots and men.'"

Thanks to Sally and Fred for the Rexroth book, and thanks to Eric for driving home safely in the falling snow and over the snowy, icy roads.  We're back to the home grill.

Skiing at Lolo Pass

Lolo Pass is about an hour's drive from our house and about 2,000 feet higher--a good place for our first ski of the year.  Here is Eric skiing into Packer Meadow:











and then heading down the well groomed trail west of Pack Creek on the south part of the Packer Meadows loop:

Eric brought his hot-off-the-press happy-trails photo water bottle, and we both swooned over the subalpine fir.  What beautiful trees!

Walking in the Sun

Between Gaudete Sunday and the winter solstice, out walking in the sun, I hear two wonderfully, wildly different pieces of music in my head, and, thanks to YouTube, you can hear them, too, by clicking on these links:

"Gaudete" sung by Steeleye Span

and

"Why Does the Sun Shine?" by They Might Be Giants

Greetings of the Season!