On a crisp, clear, but windy day, three of the GiG headed to Helena for a quick trip up Mount Ascension and a loop on a new trail. Susan got a good workout on her newly mended ankle as we took the straight-up path to the top of the mountain, followed by a windy walk along the ridge, necessitating the adding of layers to keep warm. A skiff of snow made the trail hard and a bit on the slick side.

At the top, we happened upon a decorated pine tree, which required a picture, of course, The wind was really howling and pushing us around, so we wondered if we picked the right thing to do today. 

Pretty soon, the trail headed down the side; we were thankful to drop off the top after a bit of wandering off trail. A quick check of the map and Google helped us find the best path to loop back around to our car.

We only came upon two other parties; two runners helped assure us that we were going in the right direction at one point. Then we came upon some trail work, with a loader clearing trees and preparing for a bridge the workers said would be complete in the spring. This construction required a slight detour, not very well marked.

By the end, we were warming up in the sun as we emerged from the trees.

​Who went: Nora, Susan, Katie

It was bound to happen with all of the traveling we do at dawn and dusk and with all of the hunters stirring up the deer, not to mention the bucks in the rut chasing does; yes, we hit a deer or should we say poor Maria's car hit the deer.  We all felt so very sad for the white-tailed doe. But we couldn't believe how calmly and logically Maria handled the accident when her brand new Ford Edge was basically ruined.

We were lucky no one was injured. We were lucky we had two cars. We were lucky we had cell service. The accident happened 6.7 miles south of Armington Junction around 8:30 a.m. We were all really paying attention and Maria driving cautiously as we had already seen several deer near the road and herds of them in the fields.  However, the doe jumped out of the bushes right in front of us--no time to brake. The whole front end Maria's white car was smashed with liquids leaking all over. The airbags did not deploy, which we thought a bit odd, given the hard impact. In fact, it was so hard that the passenger door wouldn't open due to the front being pushed back into it. But Maria, Katie and Mary N were completely unhurt. Maria kept insisting that we all go on ahead while she handle insurance etc, but all of us wanted to make sure she wasn't left alone on the side of the highway. Suzie called the highway patrol, while Maria dealt with AAA and her insurance.

Luckily, a Forest Service truck happened along right away and took care of the deer and dragged her way off the roadway, and then they threw the big chunks of the car off the road as well and cleaned up some of the debris; About 45 minutes later, the highway patrol came and then AAA. As we waited, three more deer, including a large buck, also crossed the road in front of our cars, and at different times, so this area must be a main crossing for animals. 
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Then, after we determined that Maria was safely in the hands of the wrecker, four of us got into Nora's car and decided to go on a modified snowshoe anyway. We got on the road just before 10 a.m.

Since we only  had one car and couldn't drop one off for a shuttle as was the original plan to hike from Kings Hill to Silvercrest, Katie decided we would do the same hike except loop back around on the PowerLine trail; however, she didn't mention how "uphill" it would be at the end of the hike. And she missed the O'Brien Creek turn so we got in another half mile and lots of of extra cardio going up, up, up. But everyone handled the slightly longer and harder hike just fine.

We sure missed Maria and thought of her throughout the day, hoping the wrecker ride back to town turned out okay and that her husband wouldn't be too upset about the new car. But Maria kept repeating that a "car is just a 'thing'" emphasizing she wasn't upset about the damage and that she was glad everyone was okay. Instead, she fretted about the deer as we all did.

The day was a gray day, with much wind, but in the 30s, so it was bearable.  Overall a nice snowshoe but it could have been a better day. We are thankful that we are all okay.
Who went: Nora, Mary N, Suzie, Katie

The snow is unbelievable and so much of it for this time of year; Great Divide and Lost Trail have already opened, the earliest in over 50 years. And we found the almost two feet at Silver Crest to be perfectly set up with a base and nice powder on top. So we took the long trail but cut off the last half mile or so, which wasn't broken yet.

With just six of us, we all piled into Katie's traverse at 8:30 a.m, hit the trail around 10 and made it to the warming hut around 11:30 a.m. in time for a snack. We didn't have any wind in the trees and found just a slight breeze out in the open. Overall, it was a warm day, in the 30s, yet the snow didn't get mushy. The trail was already broken by the gals who went on Wednesday. We made it to Bob's Bar for lunch around 12:30 and were back in town by 3 p.m. A perfect first-time out for most of us.

Who went: Randi, Bonnie, Sue, Anita, Susan, Katie

What a difference a year makes! This year the snow is already setting up nicely in the LIttle Belts unlike last year that never really produced too much white stuff in this area. In fact, the snow was powdery on top but with a good base developing below, so that when we did have to break trail, it wasn't too bad. And part of the trail had been broken already and some of it by elk.

It was Carolyn's first time out, as she got to try her brand new snowshoes and backpack. And she did well on this moderately easy three-mile hike. One challenge was the branches and rocks that weren't quite covered all of the way with snow yet. We got tangled up in slicks and small tree trunks a time or two. After a quick snack in the warming hut, we headed back to the cars for lunch at Bob's Bar in Neihart, which included sweet potato fries, of course.

On trail we saw plenty of elk and bunny tracks along with some cat tracks, but we didn't see any animals.

It was a gray day, turning to snow in the afternoon with a slight breeze; we were glad to make it home an hour ahead of our predicted 4 p.m. end time.  
Who went: June, Carolyn, Janel, Maria, Katie