We were blinded by the light on the way up to Kings Hill to start our moderately easy snowshoe with Sheila in tow for her first ever try at duck walking. The rising sun really shone in our eyes as we left town at just after 8 a.m., making one stop at Cougar Canyon to pick up Kalah.  Choosing a start time is a balance between making sure the snowplow has gotten through, that it's not too cold to start versus lots of traffic headed to ski at Showdown or snowmobile the trails; Finding a place to park is another consideration, especially since we are driving in more vehicles than normal due to COVID-19.

We divided into two groups, again, due to COVID-19, a virus that has taken over our lives in many ways. One group was contained the trailbreakers. The others would follow in their footsteps, having an easier go of it.  

The first part of the trail that heads through the campground was piled with drifting snow. Out front, Kalah had to use her hands to lift her legs out at times it was so deep.  But once we got into the trees, the snow depth lessened, allowing the first group to fly down the trail, finishing almost an hour ahead of the second group. It was quite chilly before the sun peeked its head out from behind the mountains and trees, so, luckily, Maria has handwarmers to share.

Nothing else eventful happened: we didn't run into many skiers or boarders when the trails connected to the downhill section; we didn't run into any snowmobiles on their trail; no one got lost, even though we were the first to go down the loop portion of the trail.

The first group finished around 11:30 and the second at 12:30. By this time, the sun was out; the day was so nice, no one really wanted to go home. The last group arrived in GF by 2 p.m.

Note: Central Montana has had several wind events lately, with gusts over 70 mph, causing many trees to fall. Katie's husband went the 747 trail and reported taking an extra hour navigating all the deadfall. Likewise, Jasmine went the Deadman trail and reported she would need several people with chainsaws to remove all the downed trees. Camille skied Silver Crest and had to negotiate over 26 fallen logs. However, this loop, which includes the top part of O'Brien Creek and first of Ranch Creek, did not have any trees down.

Who went: Susan, Brenda, Kalah, Doreen, Sara, Kuntzie, Sheila, Maria, Brenda, Roni, Katie

The day started at 8 a.m. before we picked up Kalah in Monarch 45 minutes later. As we pulled to the top of Kings Hill, the chill really set in: this was a wintry day, so we quickly geared up and hit the trail. We were the only car in the lot.  Luckily, by the time we hit the Showdown trails, the sun came out from behind the mountain, giving a bit of warmth to this frosty day.  And the sun set the snowy trees to sparkling, making the day magical.

The snow was very deep with Kalah breaking trail for about 80 percent of the way before Amber took over as Kalah finally said she needed a break. The snow was over our knees, causing a fall or two, but all in fun. No one got hurt.  On this stretch of the O'Brien Creek trail, a snowmobile had breached etiquette and dug up the back country quiet trail. One spot we could see he got stuck and dug himself into a huge pit of snow. 

Carol had her first experience looking up at the Powerline, wondering just how hard it was to go up it. But she also got to try out her televators to see how much easier it is to climb when using them. 

We finished before 12:30 p.m. getting back to a full lot instead of the empty one we had when we arrived. We got back to town by 2 p.m., a very fast day with great trailbreakers.

​Who went: Brenda, Kalah, Amber, Susan, Carol

The New Year's adventure started out at 8:30 a.m. as we headed toward Silvercrest Ski area for the first snowshoe of 2021.

We had great roads and arrived to find only a few cars in the parking lot. Katie was going to keep a fire going for us as she could not do the trail with us because of a broken toe injury.

We decided to go the opposite route that we usually do because we thought it would be easier. We were wrong, it was just as much of an incline.  The trail was very nice, packed and not many rocks or tree roots. As we enjoyed the blue bird day with not much wind, we took a short break at the warming hut and headed back to the parking lot. There were many more cars and some enjoying a picnic on the snow with little children.

Katie had just the right amount of coals to roast marshmallows for S’mores. Everyone enjoyed a long forgotten treat of our youth and toasted with Champagne to the New Year. We headed back to town and we’re glad to spend time with friends and to enjoy Montana in the winter.
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Note: on the way home, we were stopped due to a car accident, a really bad one with an almost unrecognizable vehicle lying among the trees. We later heard it was a fatal accident that happened the day before only discovered at 11 a.m. on New Year's Day.

Who went: Gail, Jo Ann, Kuntzie, Carol S, Susan W, Katie in a boot

High wind warnings didn't stop the Giggers from heading to Porphyry Peak so that Beth could get her last peak in the "Climb 20 Peaks in 2020" Challenge. And the weather wasn't that bad.  We did get some snow flurries, some sun, but the wind wasn't that bad; temperatures in the 30s.

We left Great Falls at 8 am, meeting Kalah at Cougar Canyon in Monarch; then after a quick stop at Silver Crest, we got to the top of Kings HIll, parked and were on trail by 9:30. We were pleasantly surprised that the trail had been broken, so the going was fairly easy.

This was a fast group, making mast time without stops to the top of Porphyry Peak for a view from the lookout tower. We did notice that new signs warning of snowshoers have been put up at the dangerous curve where the back country trail joins the alpine runs. We have often had to scurry out of the way of snowboarders in particular. And since this was opening weekend for Showdown, there were quite a few skiers and boarders on the hill.

We arrived at the top but declined going into the Top Rock warming hut due to COVID. In fact, we were surprised it was even open. We often stop for lunch either at the picnic tables (too windy today) or at the hut, but we also were way ahead of lunch time, so opted to eat in our cars on the way home.

Then we tore down the mountain, probably setting a GiG record for climbing Porphyry Peak. We arrived back in town around 1:30.

A side note: Kalah may be headed to the Middle East for a few months next year and might rent her place. Anyone interested?

Who went: Beth, Amber, Beth, Brenda, Kalah

With Shaw Butte now open to Block Management for hunting, we decided to check out area we have been interested in for some time. We did wait until regular rifle season was over to attempt it though.

We drove from Great Falls at 7:45 a.m. to Cascade Colony and checked in at the sign-in box, filling out a form for each vehihcle. Then we were up for exploring as no one had ever been up this butte before. Katie had studied it on Cal Topo and Google maps, but wanted some feedback from others on the decisions she was making.

The day started with us walking by the colony's gravel pit, where we scared a snowshoe hare, all white except brown feet. then a young man on a four-wheeler seemed to be checking us out or watching us, one of the two, during this stretch of the hike, riding straight up the butte. Then he turned around and passed us by as we climbed the steepest section. We asked him some questions about the hike, but he didn't seem to understand us. Some of us really needed to duck behind a rock as there were no trees, but we wan'ted to make sure this teenager wasn't around.

During the hike, Amber, Beth and Suzie all went ahead at times, scouting the way until we arrived at the radio and satellite towers for a bit of a break. This is the high point of the butte. We had made it. 

The day promised to be sunny but breezy, and it was, but it was so warm, we hardly noticed and shed layers quickly on the way up, but once we stopped for a snack at the towers, we were putting those layers back on to block the wind.

After arriving at the towers, we followed the service road down, facing the Rocky Mountain Front the whole way. With the blue sky and the white-capped peaks, we did a lot of oohing and ah-ing at the sights in front of us. Caribou, Steamboat, Sawtooth, Rocky Mountain and Ear Mountain peaks showed themselves off for us.

The last two miles are on a road, a bit boring, but we marveled at the huge cuts and canyons in the side of the butte as we encircled it. Beth told us about the geology of the area as we walked right through the dike that created the butte so many years ago. She also talked about Glacial Lake Great Falls and how you can see the water marks along the side of the butte to this day.

We arrived back in town around 2 p.m.
Who went: Suzie, Susan, Amber, Beth, Viki, Carol, Camille, Katie

After Susan finished her 20th peak last week, it was time to get another gal over the top: this time Beth. Luckily, the weather had been holding so we could hike rather than snowshoe, always more difficult. Beth, Susan and Amber had alreday done two high points in a day the prior week, summitting both Bompart Hill and Scratchgravel Peak South out of Helena.

We left Great Falls at 7:45 and were on trail two hours later. The amazing thing was no wind! And we were along the Rocky Mountain Front. No one could remember a breezeless day in this neck of the woods, but it was true.  It was a bit cold when we started, and the trail was icy, necessitating some off-trail walking to avoid any falls, but the hiking wasn't difficult.

The sun came out as we hit the steeper part, so we warmed up quickly as we dodged a few snow fields, walked across a small one and finally made it to the top. We were in two groups with four gals going at a faster pace and planning on doing both hikes while four were taking it more leisurely.  The fast group waiting at the top though so we could all get a group photo.  As we were posing, an airplane flew overhead; we all waved; he waved back by rocking his wings back and forth. It was very cool and brought a smile to all our faces during a depressing COVID-laden time. Another thing in the sky was an almost-full moon, hanging over Fairview mountain. It was so nice with the sun shining on us, the views into the Bob Marshall including Fairview mountain that several of us had climbed earlier this summer that it was hard to leave.

Since four of the gals had a drive and another climb, we said our goodbyes and they quickly descended, while the other group made their way slowly.  Sheila decided to go her own way to do some fishing; we had seen many people putting in their poles on the drive in, even on the ice when the weather had been so warm, so she decided to join them. We told her to be careful on the thin ice.

The one-peak climbers got back in town at just before 2 p.m.. The other group hiked Priest Butte and finished around 4:30. 

After our quick hike up McCarty Hill, a few of us decided to venture to Rattlesnake and Priest Butte - 650 feet elevation gain.  Amber had previously been there so was able to guide us along the way. We first climbed Rattlesnake Butte and learned the white crosses were put in place for three Jesuit priests who had come to Montana to set up a mission to serve the Blackfeet Indians. The three crosses are NOT the original crosses and are actually located on Rattlesnake Butte. Priest Butte is named for the Jesuit priests. Once we climbed the wooden ladder to the top of Rattlesnake Butte, the sky seemed unending...we could see for miles. After admiring the views and looking down at the features created by weathered sandstone, we meandered down and wandered over to and up Priest Butte. We learned that there had been a quarry on Priest Butte to obtain shale rock for the county courthouse. Unfortunately, the courthouse burned down at the end of the 19th century and had to be rebuilt..
 
All of us were curious about and struck by the interesting geologic features and rock types. There seemed to be two distinctly different colors of rocks. We read a little about the geology and here is what we found out. The brownish reddish rocks on top of lighter colored sandstone are part of the Virgelle formation. This darker upper layer is composed of titaniferous magnetite and it rests on sandstone, which erodes more easily and helps form the shape of the butte, hoodoos and other unique features. We noticed ripple marks, but missed the dinosaur prints that are reported to be there. The weather was sunny with very few clouds, minimal wind and very warm for this time of year!

On a side note: we were all shocked at how low Nilan Reservoir was, making it into a series of ponds, rather than one big lake.

Who went: Susan, Debra, Sheila, Katie in group one; Josy, Mary S, Beth and Amber in group 2.

Five ladies headed to Silver Crest to test the snow for the first snowshoe of the year. The high temperature was to reach 33 degrees with the sun and it did not disappoint.

Carol had not tried snowshoes before and did a super job for the first time out. The trail was packed so we had an easy time navigating and did not have to break trail which can be hard if there is a lot of snow. Two faster Gig gals, led by Katie went ahead of our group to make sure the trail was packed. The first third of the trail had some rocks and branches but we were happy to find that some fallen trees were cut and removed so the trail was easier to navigate. As we proceeded through the trees the snow was deeper and no hazards to trip us up. 

We went on the trail called the Chaser which was 2 miles with a view of the Showdown Ski Area and then stopped at the Silver Dyke Warming Hut for lunch. We continued on and returned to the cars and everyone agreed that it was nice to be outside and we could not have asked for better weather. Some in our group stopped on the way home at an overlook that had some history on the Sluice Box State Park and also on Monarch and Neihart.
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Who went: JoAnn, Carol, Sue, Desirae and Gail (Kaite and Debra, who did the 2.7 mile circuit)