Sunday, February 20, 2011

Snow Shoeing Holland Falls

     In desperate need of spending some time in the wilderness of Montana, my friend Bryce & I set off to do some snow shoeing in the Swan Valley just north of Seeley. Bryce had never been shoeing or seen the beauty of the Holland Falls so we wanted to accomplish both in one day.

     The weather was overcast as a storm was rolling in, but the hike was peaceful and the falls were beautiful as always. I'd never seen them in the cold of winter so this was a new experience for me as well. I believe them to be even more beautiful in the winter.

A bonus to this three mile hike is that the Holland Lake is frozen over this time of year and can be crossed as opposed to taking the trail back for the return trip offering panoramic views of the Mission Mountains (sadly for us, the storm that was quickly dropping in on us on the return hike doused any views of the scenic Missions). 

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Jeffrey

     What a week! My friend Jeff, whom I used to work w/ @ the Pet Palace back in Ohio, came out for a little visit to Missoula this week. After dragging him across the country at New Years I was pretty sure I had scared him away from going on any more of my "adventures." But alas, he proved to be tougher than I first thought him to be and he came back for round two.
     And round two it was. He flew into the airport here in Missoula during a horrible snowstorm that almost re-routed his plane to Spokane, WA at the last minute. His first impressions of Montana were pretty typical to Montana. Negative temperatures, white out snow, and all of us crazy locals out loving it. I made him go to Big Dipper for ice cream his first night here when it was -9 out.

      Only two days into his trip I left him to fend for himself as I was flown down to Atlanta, GA for a last minute interview w/ Delta. [To catch everyone up to speed on that, I'd been interviewing for a flight attendant position w/ Delta airlines since early December. Over 120,000 people applied for the position. I was one of 4,000 chosen to fly to ATL for in person interviews at the corporate office. I received word on Saturday that I was (sadly) not chosen for the position. Bittersweet.] He was still alive by the time I made it back from my blitz trip to the deep south. I promised to make up for his boredom (I don't own a tv, something not heard of on the east coast). Jeff was nice enough to let me sleep pretty much all day Friday by hitting up our local ski resort, Snow Bowl. He got to ski the powder of the Rockies while I got to catch up on some much needed sleep from my 24 hour blitz trip to Atlanta.

     Saturday we rented some snowshoes and headed up to Lolo Pass. We've had a bit of a warm spell this week so conditions weren't ideal for shoeing, but they most certainly were for building snowmen! When we got to the top of the mountain we stopped to rest and build Snow Holly & Snow Jeff. Can you see the resemblances?

     Sunday was a slightly more relaxing day. We hung around town for most of the day before venturing to Jerry Johnson hot springs as the sun was setting. I was excited to take Jeff to these as I'd been talking his ear off about them on our x-country trip. We had a quiet little hike to the first pool where we (in usual fashion) me a group of hippies already hanging out in them. Some tea lights were lit inside one of the caves creating a soft glow over the pool. The moon was shining so brightly and the stars were out in full force. It was one of my favorite trips to the springs.




Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day

So... I know I don't celebrate Valentine's Day (not b/c I'm single, I haven't celebrated it since I was in elementary school) but I thought I would send out a little cyber love since my wonderful friend Bare sent me these beautiful flowers today. Thanks Bare!

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Ice Road Doggies

















     So now that I'm back in Missoula for the time being Kristin & I are back into our usual Thursday hiking ritual. We've been hitting up a few of the roads/trails in her area to get the pups (and ourselves!) out in the woods as far as we can go. The weather hasn't been the most beautiful lately, but here are a few pictures of the pack to enjoy anyways.