Garnet Ghost Town Snowshoe Day 2

Garnet Mountains, Missoula BLM, MT

Awoke early and waited for the sun to come over the ridge to start my day. Thermometer showed it was a balmy 20 degree out. It was nice to have the space of the cabin to get ready for the day. Blue skies with a few wispy clouds here and there and no wind made for a great start. Could feel the warmth temps once the sun came up.

Sunrise, Garnet Ghost Town style

 I don't get pictures of myself very often, so this is my "selfie" as I hiked along. Have to figure out what pack straps are hanging down though and tidy them up.

 All the way back to the truck it was just wonderful views. The Blackfoot river valley was covered in fog below me, but the Swan Mountains were visible. The crest of the Swans is the edge of the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Although I stopped to admire the views of all the adjoining mountain ranges, and of the wonderful trees against the blue skies i still made it to my truck about an hour earlier than I expected. I sure make better time going downhill than I do when going up. This is a trip I will have to do again next year.

Garnet Ghost Town Snowshoe Day 1

Garnet Mountains, BLM, Montana

A wonderful day to get to the trailhead and start my trek to spend the night in Garnet Ghost Town. Although it was only an 11 mile snowshoe to get to my destination, it was almost all uphill. The sun being out made for a warm trek in, even though the temps were in the 30's. I kept moving right along until I decided a lunch break was in order. I found a tree stump in the sun just to the west of the maintained cemetery at the 7 1/2 mile mark. I doubt many have lunch with them so I didn't think the guys would mind the company.

The Sand Park cemetery has only 5 wooden markers, all are males. At least it is a  pretty spot in the mountains and it has a killer view. I wonder if it is so far from Garnet to avoid all the mines that were near the town. I know that the markers are replacements, but it is nice to see them kept wooden and with the same info as the originals. The BLM is doing a good thing in keeping this cemetery as original as it can.

The sun was just about to go down over the western ridge when I got to Garnet, It was a wonderful sight and my picture doesn't do it justice. The wispy clouds were almost like a rainbow the way the light was being refracted through them.

 On the end of town there is the McDonald cabin that the BLM rents during the winter, this was my castle for the night. The wood stove inside warmed up the cabin quickly and that made all the normal camp chores nicer. I really liked not having to carry the extra weight of a tent all the way up the mountain! After I got the fire going to get things toasty I went and explored around the town.

 In the summer there are lots of folks around all the time. During the day lots of tourists, and always 3 or 4 rangers/volunteers around. It must have been so very busy when the mining was going on. Tonight I was the only person in town. Hopefully the town appreciated having someone walk the streets and spend some time looking around.

After exploring around for a bit I headed back to the cabin and got dinner ready and just relaxed in the warmth. As much as I enjoy sleeping outside. A cabin is the way to go for ease. If I had the land I think this one was just about the right size for a backcountry palace.

Lolo Pass Snowshoe

Lolo Pass Winter Recreation Area, Clearwater National Forest, Idaho

A quick afternoon snowshoe trip with Geri Lynn and Cindy. Lots of snow although it was mostly overcast and pretty warm for winter conditions. A few breaks in the clouds let some blue through but they were few and far between. While the girls worked their way up the first hill I got ahead of them and was able to take some pics in the untracked snow. I was surprised at how much the snow had crystalized in the top several inches in the past few days. I think there will be a weak layer once we get some more snow. I am glad to know about this as I plan on getting back up here several more times this season.
After we finished hiking I got to try out my prototype of the "sled of doom" on the sled hill near the parking lot. The sled worked well but I have some significant improvements that still need to be made for durability. In the near future I will figure out how to add video to this blog and show how the sled works. Till then I will stay out in the hills enjoying the beauty of the area. Wish you were here.

Pack Creek Ridge

Clearwater National Forest, Idaho

Warm weather (temps around 30 degrees) and mostly blue skies made Geri Lynn and I decide to go see how much snow the storm from last weekend left behind. Fresh snow made for a great way to get to the high point on Pack Creek Ridge. Two guys were doing some backcountry skiing over towards where we were headed, and theirs were the only tracks we saw. Acres and acres of untracked hillsides made for a great backcountry playground. I am pretty sure that on Saturday the hills will be covered in folks out playing in this great snow. Conditions are the best of the season so far.

Views are fantastic when you are the first one out, but the downside is breaking your own trail. In some places the snow was really firm and I was sinking in 3 inches, on some of the slopes I was sinking 18 to 24 inches on each step. Can't imagine trying to do this route without snowshoes.

Lee Ridge

Bitterroot National Forest, Montana

The storms and avalanche warnings are over so I headed to see what the forest looked like with all the fresh snow. Started at the Lee Creek campground turnoff where I could park, then headed right up the to the top of Lee Ridge. Stayed in the trees in case the snow was still unstable on the more open hillsides, I don't need to get caught in an avalanche of my own making. This side of the ridge is where all the snow was getting dumped from the 50+ mile per hour winds on Saturday. Trees had wind driven snow up and down there length. Made the whole forest look really different. It also made it a bit of a chore to work my way through them. Snow was coming off the trees and getting all over me. Made some weird footing for the snowshoes as well.

The Larches had snow stuck to them from the bases to the treetops. I wonder how long the snow will stay on the trees.

 When I got to places that had borne the brunt of the wind all the trees were snow free. Plenty still on the ground but the trees were just green. Made for a weird transition on the mountain. I don't think I have ever seen such an extreme transition like this before. Makes each trip to the high country different, even when going to a place I have been before. I will have to go back in a few weeks to see how things have changed.

Ravine Trailhead to Stuart Peak Trail

Rattlesnake Wilderness, Lolo National Forest, Montana

After shoveling off the driveway I headed for the Rattlesnake Wilderness just north of Missoula. Entering the area via Grant Creek and the Ravine trailhead I avoided other people. Didn't see anyone else all day long. Everything was snow covered right from the truck, and it just kept getting deeper the higher up the mountain I went. Lowering gray skies and intermittent snow were appreciated today as they were accompanying warmer temps (hey the 20's felt good after some of the past weeks temps). Warm enough that I had to watch out to not work up too much sweat on the steady climb. This picture was the best long distance view I had all day.

 Working my way north and higher up on Stuart Peak the snow got pretty deep and some of the downed trees make me work a bit harder to find my way through. I didn't see any people tracks, but there were lots of fresh deer, elk and rabbit, as well as one good area of mountain lion tracks. Often I follow critter tracks, but decided not to follow the mountain lion tracks. With so much untracked snow on the ground it made me feel like the first to ever see the area. For any early winter travelers here it had to be much like today was.