After 18 days of sub-zero weather, we were fairly certain the creek crossing on the Sluide Boxes lower trail would be sufficiently frozen to cross without falling in, which it was, luckily.

We left Great Falls at 9 a.m. to face a five-mile stretch of dense fog that caused us to wonder if it were wise to continue. However, careful slow driving saw us into clear skies a few miles down the road. We also faced some ground blizzards and high winds. But once we geared up and hit the trail, the deep canyon protected us nicely from the breezes. And the sun came out, making for a bluebird day, which we commented on how blue the sky was.

There was one other car in the parking lot and an already broken trail. We mosied by the the remnants of Camp Don Bosco with commentary from Sheila who told us tales of Catholic youth misbehavior as well as how the camp was laid out. We saw mattresses, bunkbed frames, stoves and couches. We also saw a boiler and old rusted car frame along the creek, remembrances that a railroad once ran through this canyon to bring in miners and take out silver ore.

Then we got to the first creek crossing. The ice was solid wtih no issues. But the second one was a bit soft by the shore, so we took some tentative steps before going for it. But no events on any crossing. However, on the way back, we did see where the person in front of us, who wasn't on snowshoes, has fallen through the soft spots, so he did get his boots a bit wet. Our snowshoes distributed our weight, so none of us got into the water.

We arrived back home at 1:30 with no bad roads and only a bit of ground blizzard in one spot.
Who went: Sheila, Randi, Doreen, Viki and Katie

If Sacajawea was cured by the sulphur springs, then many would like to touch this healing water, so four of the GiG hiked the 3.5 miles to see this place where the mineral water burbles out of the ground, forming a creek to the Missouri River.

We admired Morony Dam, discussed maybe doing a float trip from this put-in, and looked at the building that used to be the city center and administration building for the community of dam workers. This building had been offered to the Little Shell tribe as its headquarters, which they declined. The building is in pretty bad shape, with the roof caving in now; however, it is a gorgeous brick structure.  Only foundations remain of the other residences.

At the springs, several of us touched the tepid water. These are not warm springs, but they do maintain a room-temperature year round. Just past the springs (or before it), we noticed a plowed section of dirt and a warning sign. It was an underground petroleum pipeline leading to the edge of the river; we assumed it went underneath it to cross.  By the pipeline, a rivulet of water full of algae, indicating heat, was flowing toward the river.  It looked as if the digging to replace/repair the pipeline had hit the sulphur springs or another one.  It was making a mud mess and eroding the bank leading to the river.

We didn't see anyone else on the trail.
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If we thought the road to Ryan is bad, then we thought the lane going to Morony was deplorable. Hopefully, a road crew will fix the entire road soon.

The day was warm and windy.

Who went: Kuntz, Maria, Rose, Katie

Four gals took a short two-and-a-half mile loop to scramble among the hoodoos and look down on the Mighty Mo.

It was windy, but warm, but oh, the wind about blew us off our feet, which kept us from climbing on the hoodoos too much. Many have such dangerous drop-offs that a gust could cause some damage if we were to take a tumble.

The road into Ryan Dam trailhead is treacherous right now, with many potholes and very bad patch jobs.  Another thing about our drive is that the fallow fields were full of geese squawking and gleaning the left-over grain from last-year's crops.

We saw one family on the trail going out and a couple on the way back, but otherwise, the trail wasn't crowded at all.

We figured we might as well hike while we can. The open winter has been a blessing in town, while still snowing in the mountains, building a good snow pack to prevent summer fires.
​Who went: Kunz, Maria, Susan, Katie

Four gals took a two-mile hike among the hoodoos while the weather remained calm and warm for January.  We enjoyed walking among the hoodoos and walking off-trail to look down on the falls produced from Ryan Dam spill.

Thankfully, it was warm but not warm enough to bring out any snakes as we would our way on the up-and-down hills of the trail that leads to the dam maintenance road and eventually to the Rainbow dam tailrace island.

Along the way, KuntZ lost one of her powder baskets, so we retraced our steps to all the hoodoos we scrambled among to no avail. She will have to go to Bighorn to buy another.

We came across no one--had the trail to ourselves.
Who went: Katie, Maria, Kuntz and Susan
Side note: just had to throw Bernie in the picture since he is all the rage right now.