Kootenai Creek

Selway-Bitterroot National Forest, Montana

Black Friday. Hike or shop...I went for a hike. No other cars at the trailhead when I arrived. It was 15 degrees and lightly snowing when I started on the trail. The first mile closely follows the creek and boy was it icy. While it is one of my favorite creeks to fish in...fishing wasn't happening today!

The further back into the mountains I went the faster the snow was building up. The strong winds from Wednesday had most everything blown clear, and added to the new trees blown down in the creek bottom. I climbed out onto the broader sides of unnamed mountains along the valley. What I found was snow coming down faster and faster. I decided when I got 5 miles in I would have to turn around. When I turned back tracks that were only 30 minutes old were filling in and disappearing.

With the weather being the way it was I kept the camera put away most of the time. I did notice that the ice was building in the creek from the bottom up in a lot of the areas. It has to be really cold for that to be happening and I had to get a picture of it.

When I was almost back to the trailhead I did run across 2 small groups coming out for a walk. While I'm sure they were only going a short way they were about to see some neat ice sculptures by mother nature in the creek.