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Ski on D Loop Silvercrest

2/22/2014

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Charlene, Kathy, Katie brave cold and bad roads

Snow-packed and icy were the words of the day as Charlene braved driving to Silvercrest on King's Hill in the Little Belts.  As three others bailed and Katie initially  cancelled the outing, Charlene, who had rented skis, really wanted to try skiing and agreed to drive. Kathy M also wanted to go, so we headed out around 9:15.

We had to go slowly from right out of Great Falls as the ice-packed roads were revealed within the first mile.  However, not much traffic pushed us as we were a bit behind the ski-hill crowd making the going less stressful..

Charlene and Kathy had excellent first times going over a mile on cross-country skis, easily out-distancing Katie on her back country gear and new boots that were hurting her feet.  Both Kathy and Charlene really got the hang of "kick and glide" as well as getting much practice with the herring bone as we climbed several hills and Mount Eureka.

We happened upon some friends, Andy and Zander, but they were the only other skiers out today.  Andy gave Katie some advice on using arm sweatbands to help keep ankles from rubbing against boots.

Despite the under 10-degree temperatures, we kept warm under sun the first half of the ski and light snow the second half.

The return trip home had much improved roads and we headed home ahead of the ski crowd, since we finishted skiing around 2 p.m and arrived home by 3:30.
Link to pictures
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Hike to Home Gulch with Soup at Deva's afterward.

2/16/2014

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Eight miles and elevation gain lead to tired 'girls'

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Thank goodness Deva, one of our hike leaders, put the chicken tortilla soup in the crock pot before we left for our almost eight-mile trek to Home Gulch. The weather was spectacular, with barely a breeze and temps in the high 30s, almost too warm to hike the eight-miles with 1,000+ elevation gain.

Katie gained a bit extra, with her dropping her camera when she fixed an equipment malfunction of her left snowshoe, requiring her to re-hike a mile to find it.  Luckily, she didn't lose or damage the camera the GIG had so generously donated to her. She found it where she bent down, which was easy to see due to the messed up snow where she got off trail to fix her snowshoe.  But she and two others then had to scramble fast to catch back up with the group.

Eighteen people went on the hike to Home Gulch, which is located behind Sun Canyon lodge, all boarded up for winter.

We climbed steadily until we reached a plateau with a broad view of the bowl lying between Sawtooth Mountain and Castle Reef in the Rocky Mountain Front.

On the way home, we saw scores of antelope and deer and a few cow elk on the game range.

We ended the day in Augusta with a nice meal at Deva's house. Besides the chicken tortilla soup with cheese an avocado accompaniments, we feasted on chips and dip, homemade Scottish shortbread cookies, caramels, Oreos and Kathy M's homemade whole wheat and grain bread.  She shared her recipe, which she makes with her Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough-hook attachment. Yum! Thanks for sharing, Kathy.

Enjoy the pictures. You can right click and download any that you like for personal use.
Kathy's pics
Katie's pics
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Kathy M's Bread Recipe

Honey Whole Wheat Bread
 (2 loaves)

In a measuring cup, dissolve:
     2 pkgs active dry yeast (or 5 teaspoons if you buy yeast in bulk) in:
    1/2 cup warm water.
    Add a teaspoon of sugar and let it get foamy as you prepare your other ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl (I use my Kitchen Aid with the dough hook attachment), stir in:
     1/3 cup honey (or molasses)
     1/4 cup vegetable shortening (not oil)
     1 tablespoon salt
     1 3/4 cups warm water
     3 cups whole wheat flour
     1/3 cup 7 grain or 9 grain (from 2 J's-  I buy a bag of this in bulk, and to that bag, I buy about 1/2 - 3/4 cup flax seed and mix it together and store it in a Tupperware container)
     1/3 cup sunflower seeds (roasted, but not salted)  (I buy this at 2 J's in bulk as well).
     Yeast mixture

Mix all together until smooth. Add:
     Approximately 2-3 cups bread flour, and add a little more if necessary. Dough should not be too sticky. I use my dough hook and turn the Kitchen Aid on low speed and let it knead for about 8 minutes.

Place dough in greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled (approx. 1 hour). Punch dough down and divide in half. Form 2 loaves and place in greased baking pans (9x5x3) (I use Pampered Chef stoneware pans). Let rise 1 hour or until doubled.

Bake in preheated oven 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Remove from pans and place on wire rack to cool. These freeze nicely. Just wrap in foil. I usually make 2 batches of this recipe so I have 4 loaves on hand.
Enjoy!! 
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Cochrane Dam for National Trails Day, Feb. 1

2/2/2014

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Flescher Pass cancellation doesn't deter the GIG

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Even though we had to ditch our  Flescher pass snowshoe hike due to horribly icy roads, the "girls" still got out on this cold, but sunny, day.

Six gals (Kathy M, Gail, Susan, Jeanne, Roni,  Katie) braved the zero-16 degree weather to hike the eight miles to Cochrane dam, which started out as a short hike along the River's Edge Trail, but Susan's encouragement (we're almost there:), kept us going.  We started at 9 a.m. and finished by 2:30, which indicates that we had much snow to break on the trail.

We saw many animal tracks, a few human and dog and happened upon two groups on our way back, both happy we broke trail for them.

We saw several bald eagles perched in a tree, and one eagle flew gracefully, and slowly, down the river right by us.

Below both Rainbow and Cochrane, we saw thousands of geese that all put up a huge squawk as we approached. They kept their distance by swimming down river as we drew near.

We enjoyed seeing the new power house at Rainbow and comparing it with the old one, that is about three times as large with many windows, a very beautiful, but now defunct, building. The new one looks like a block made of cinder blocks in comparison. Info on Rainbow Dam and the new powerhouse.

None of us had water or snacks, so by the time we were finished with the hike, we were ready to rehydrate and enjoy a super lunch at Dante's.

Info on Cochrane Dam

Link to Kathy M's pics
Link to Gail's pics
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