The weather report turned ugly once again, but the girls made the best of it.  The hike was to be in Glacier to to the top of Flattop Mountain but the road report said up to four inches of new snow with blowing snow on the roads.  The chance of precipitation was 100 percent so the gals all agreed to redirect to Flescher Pass since we had to cancel this trip earlier in the year and the snow report said less than half an inch with wet but not icy roads there.

Boy, can weather reports be wrong!  The roads up to and including Roger's Pass were fine but it started snowing. By about two miles up Flescher Pass Road, the snow had accumulated into a dense slush that pushed the cars around.
About three to four miles from the pass, Christi's van was a bit too scary to continue.  Michelle continued driving but also had to turn around. And no plows in sight.. If a plow had come, the roads would have been very passable--just a bit wet..

We then thought about hiking along the bottoms of Willow Creek and the Blackfoot River, but the snow turned to rain which made the snow too wet and sticky. So we redirected yet again, this time to the top of Roger's Pass, which had snow but not rain. Michelle's car with Brianna, Toni and Anita, decided to ditch the hike and enjoy the warm environs of Lincoln's steakhouse and have lunch instead.

Katie, Kathy M, Susan, Christi K, Jeanne, Catherine and Bonnie persevered and climbed 1200 feet on the Continental Divide Trail and tried to get to the top of Rogers Mountain to get a view. However, the clouds were too low for any vistas, and the snow started to get too deep to traverse easily, so after 1.5 miles, we called it quits but not before Susan egged us all on a bit higher; she and Kathy M continued another quarter mile or so, trying to get to a high point on Rogers Mountain.

It was day of mishaps with weather but also with Katie and Christi missing the top of Roger's pass so we had to turn around yet again. The craziness continued when Cattleman's Cut, where we were going to stop for lunch, was closed. We arrived back at the cars around 1:30, wet and hungry. (We started at 7 a.m.)

Oh well, we did make the most of a snowy, muddy day.

"It's a moose!" Susan shouted, and we all turned her direction to see a large moose crash through the trees to get out of our way. He had an unusual black coat; the color made some of us second guess what we had just seen cross the road a few yards in front of us as we ended our hike along Jones Creek in the Rocky Mountain Front. Katie had once more seen her sacred totem animal on a hike. Her husband can't believe how often she scares up a moose along the trail.

The morning drive was foggy and looked socked in, with a temperature under 10 degrees, promising a frosty hike with a breeze. However, by the time we arrived at the trailhead, the sun was shining and the sky a brilliant blue, so we were stripping layers before we had hiked a quarter mile.  Susan commented that the way were were shedding clothes, we would all be naked by lunch.  Instead, we had hot cocoa, courtesy of our leader Yvonne.

The hike was mostly flat, with a slight uphill on the way going with downhill on the way back. We hiked 4.4 miles with an elevation gain/loss of 500 feet, an easy hike, but we were all sweating.  Still, Catherine's husband Ed found the energy to run up the side hills to get a better vantage point with which to take photos and burn a few more calories than the rest of us.

On the way home, we stopped in Choteau for soup, chili, burgers and pie at the Log Cabin Cafe, followed by a beautiful drive home. Car conversation dealt with AFM's, which Susan will ask Tom about later, current and former bizarre student behavior, Special Olympic kayaking and our own kids. On the drive, we saw antelope, deer and snow geese by Freeze Out Lake.

A big thanks to Kathy for driving and to our leaders, Yvonne and Casey, for such a wonderful day.

Who went: Kathy M, Katie, Mary, Gail, Susan and Gail's friend, Shelly. Catherine and her husband were also on the hike
Link to Katie's photos.

On a warm (high 30s and 40s) lightly snowing and breezy day, the GIG headed to Teton Pass Ski Resort, an hour out of Choteau.  From car conversations of dieting, juicing and the grotesqueness of meat-packing plants to the wonder of the mountains surrounding us, 15 gals crammed into three cars for the four or five-mile trek that ended in a homey meal at the ski resort lodge.

The hike started at the ski resort with a steep climb part-way up one of the groomed runs, before we followed the blue diamonds indicating the cross-country ski trail through the trees and side hills, which posed a challenge as no one had broken trail. We ended up with a five-mile, rather than the full six-mile hike. On a side note, before we had completed the "climb" part, a large gust of wind actually blew Susan over. But she was a trooper, got back up as if nothing had happened

Then at the bottom near the creek and the old logging road, now turned trail, some left to return two miles to the lodge, while eight brave gals went off trail and headed to the upper bowl at the base of Mount Lockhart.  We didn't quite make it to the tree line, but almost.

When the second group returned to the logging road, we discovered the first group had made a snow GIG! We all met up at the lodge to order food or eat the lunch we had brought. Brenda wasn't feeling well, so she mostly slept while we gobbled up our food and a few had libations.  Everyone raved about the rosemary French fries, but we all agreed after the 2400 feet of elevation gain, just about anything would taste good.

On the ride home, Lisa entertained us with details of teaching Carnivale to middle schoolers and how to get a Venezuelan and Brazilian. You will have to ask her for more information on those.

This hike welcomed Michelle, Anita and Brianna, who had signed up for several earlier hikes that had never panned out due to weather or other complications.

We left at 8:15 a.m. and returned around 4 p.m
Who went: Kathy D, Gail, Toni, Jeanne, Brenda, Anita, Doris, Katie, Kathy M, Brianna, Michelle, Jessica M, Lisa, Susan, Bonnie

After a few hiccups in the weather, we finally got a chance to get "out of Dodge," and enjoy some fresh air, sunshine, snowshoeing, and the camaraderie of good friends.

 We met the rest of the hikers who signed up for the Montana Wilderness Association hike at Chubbie's Diner in Augusta.  On our way out to the trailhead, we encountered a "modern day" cowboy wrangling his cattle with an ATV. Times have changed!! What happened to wrangling cattle with horses?? 

As we continued on our way, we wondered if we were going to be able to use our snowshoes, because a lot of snow had melted on the prairie. However, once we arrived at the trailhead, there was plenty of snow to snowshoe. The hikers included people from Cascade, Great Falls, Choteau, and 2 men from Missoula- one of whom was a reporter for the Missoulian and the other was a photographer. They were doing a story for the upcoming Thursday's outdoor edition of the Missoulian. As we got our gear together, the brisk wind gave us the typical Rocky Mountain Front "welcome." 

We donned our layers of clothing only to start stripping jackets as we hiked along the trail. We came across many different animal tracks. The photographer from Missoula thought they were wolf tracks (as you will see in my photos). We also saw elk tracks along the way. The hike was absolutely beautiful with bright blue skies and sunshine. Once we got to Devil's Glen, we stopped for lunch and many of us scrambled down to the water to take pictures of the crystal clear aqua-colored pools. After we arrived at the parking lot, the reporter asked several of us questions for his story, and the photographer asked for our names. Hey! We might be featured in the Missoulian!! 

After our hike we stopped in Augusta and had a late lunch at the Buckhorn Bar. The burgers were delicious and were sure tasty after a long day of hiking. 
Who went: Catherine and her husband, Ed, Susan, Lisa, Gail, and Kathy.