Race to Make the Superbowl Kickoff Speeds Gals on 747 Trail
 We left Great Falls at 7:30 in hopes we would be back in time for the 4 p.m. Superbowl as some had parties to get to. The day was gray, promising some snow, but the roads were good despite overnight snowfall predictions. So Mary N made good time, getting us on trail by 8:45 even though we stopped for a bathroom break at the Neihart Inconvenience store. Wind was also promised along with the snow, but since we were mostly in the trees, we didn't feel it much. On the way up, Aaron Weissman stopped us in his ski patrol outfit, reminding us to stay single file along the edge and watch for skiers and boarders as we ascended the mountain. Luckily, few were on the mountain today, probably due to the weather predictions of high winds coupled with the big football game. We reached the top in one hour, forty minutes, possibly a record for us as it usually takes us a full two hours, and popped into the Top Rock Cafe for a snack and bathroom break. Nora kindly bought us all hot cocoa as we warmed up before tackling the long downhill on the backside of the mountain. Then it was off we went to see if Katie's husband Tom had created some tracks for us. In the past, we have gotten lost on this trail as it isn't well marked. We have bypassed the turn and also gotten off track after the turn, so we planned to add more marking tape to the trees to better mark the trail. The trail starts on the O'Brien/Ranch Creek trail. O'Brien branches off and then we knew we needed to branch at the 747 trail marker. As we went along, following ski tracks on Ranch Creek, we thought we had gone too far and bypassed the turn again, so Katie pulled out her Gaia gps to check. We were within a few steps. We did find the trail and headed down, coming upon Tom within a quarter mile. He had gone the wrong way and retraced his steps so we wouldn't make the same mistake following his tracks. he had made arrows in the snow marking the correct way. So we got that straightened out and put up more marking tape that Susan had brought with her. But soon we rand out, so tthe last half of the downhill still doesn't have good markers. We made it to the bottom of the mountain and then had to encircle it on the snowmobile trails. Luckily, no snowmobiles came by today, although we did hear engines in the distance. We figured the superbowl was keeping everyone partying before the game. As we traversed the snowmobile trail, Mary kept wondering if we went too far as it is a good distance before we pick up the O'Brien Creek trail again, but we didn't miss any turns this time, spotting the yellow cross country skier sign that warn snowmobilers of skiers crossing their path. About this time it really started to snow, covering our tracks as we went. Then the wind started picking up too; we were so glad to be ending and not starting. Mary shook the snow off her car, and we tried to keep it from blowing in as we put our gear back in. We arrived at the car by 1:30 pm and arrived home before 3, well ahead of the kick-off time of 4:25. | Katie's Easy Pear Parmesan Appetizer Recipe 3-4 paremesan rounds Sliced pears Cherry jam Softened cream cheese. Cook premade or make your own parmesan cheese rounds by putting in microwave for 1 minute or one minute 30 seconds until crisp. Use shears to cut into wedges while still warm. Spread some cream cheese on the wedges. Add a dollop of cherry jam (cherry jalepeno is really good too) Add a pear slide to the top. |
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