It was the best of times; it was the worst of times on the drive to Teton Pass Skl Resort for our hike along the North Fork of Waldron Creek out of Choteau. The best of times included seeing a herd of about 100 antelope glinting in the sunrise and the moon setting behind the pink-tinged mountains of the Front.

The worst of times happened when some of the gals started hyperventilating when they realized that we were headed in the direction of Mount Wright, the hike that did some of them in last summer. Just seeing the burned trees on the hills reminded them of how hot they got with no shade trees on an 80-degree day hiking the very uphill trail to the top of an almost 10,000 foot peak. The snow seemed to sizzle as the gals described getting under cars for shade after the return and jumping in the Teton River to cool down.

Surprisingly, the paved part of the road was quite clear but the gravel wasn't well sanded and was snowpacked and icy, making for a slow trip to the top.

But as soon as we parked at the ski hill, all was forgotten of icy roads and Mount Wright as we realized there was no wind, temperature about 20 degrees, so the day was beautiful for our snowshoe hike. And it was perfect day for welcoming our newest member, Sue H., to snowshoeing.

The trail heads straight up the ski hill before you turn 300 feet up, the blue diamond marking the place for back country skiers to head into the trees away from the alpine ski resort.

Luckily, someone had broken trail, so the walking was pretty easy and our trail-finding skills weren't challenged at all. although this trail does have some ups and downs and some obstacles along the way: fallen trees, stumps sticking out. And we saw some bear grass through the few still-bare spots.

We saw many animal tracks, from a mountain lion that had climbed a snow-covered branch that arched over where the bunnies were playing to elk to snowshoe hares to mice to squirrels to weasels or pine martens. We even saw some tracks that looked like moose or else a very large elk. The snow was so deep that it was a bit hard to tell on the larger ungulate tracks with no other signs. And it appeared the illegal wolverine traps had been removed from the chains, although the bait cage and tree camo were still there.

When we hit the road along Waldron Creek, we headed toward the bowl for about a mile, retraced our steps and then continued out until we hit the road, then followed the road back to the ski resort, where we had a nice lunch. The lodge was crowded, which was a good thing. It's nice to have this small mom-and-pop resort operating in our backyard.

Who went: Mary N, Susan, Gail, Sue H, Cathy, Brenda, Chrissie, Katie
​ Time: Left at 8 a.m., returned 4 p.m.

The snow was deep; the snow was fluffy; the sky was snowy and then sunny; and the new trail was fun! That about sums up our day at Silvercrest on the new five-mile loop, of which we covered three miles.

We owe a special thanks to Gerry and Camille for their work on clearing and plotting out this new trail and marking it well with pink ribbons.  Besides one wrong turn and one wrong guess, the trail was easy to follow as the pink stood out well on the trees and there were plenty of ribbons.

We did get some good exercise as we had to break trail; and since the snow was still rather skimpy, the deadfall provided an obstacle course, which gave the newbies a chance to get to know their snowshoes better.

At first, we were the only ones in the parking lot and on the trail, but then we ran into a pair of skiers and then two snowshoers, one of whom we recognized as a former employee of GFPS tech department.

We were disappointed at the end of the day when we saw numerous cars of families, all getting Christmas trees, which they aren't supposed to do in the Silvercrest area.  They were trampling down the ski trail, even when we requested they not walk on the ski tracks.

We started the day at 8 a.m. and got back to Great Falls at 1:30 p.m., in plenty of time to change and clean up for our holiday get-together.  It was so fun visiting with everyone, and all of the gals enjoyed the Mile, Mile and  a Half movie about hiking the JMT (John Muir Trail) section of the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail). We had 21 gals at the party, but not everyone stayed for the movie. A special thanks to Gail for telling us about this wonderful show.

And a special thanks to all of the gals from Katie for the wonderful gift of a certificate to Big Horn. Katie plans to purchase a Thule car topper, so that we can store our gear, packs, snowshoes/skis and travel more comfortably in her new Traverse.

The hike to the top of Porphyry peak (pronounced "por fer ee"; rymes with referee) and the loop around it is not one to sneeze at with 1100 feet of elevation gain and almost six miles of trail, but all nine gals, even Cathy--who was our newbie--handled the snowshoe well. No one took the chicken-out options at mile two or three.

We did have nice fluffy snow despite the lack of it, and the going was fairly good, aided by Katie, her husband Tom, Gordon and Jasmine breaking the trail earlier in the week. And after seeing how many obstacles were on this trail, Jasmine had come back and cut many of the logs and moved them aside, which was especially helpful not to have obstacles since the snow wasn't enough to cover them.

The climb up Porphyry always gets your heart going and today was no exception. It was a windy day,but the only time we really felt it was up on top where we ate lunch on the picnic tables under the look-out tower.  Unfortunately, Katie's camera battery died, but luckily Gail took over as trip photographer! See her pictures at right.

Then it was pretty much downhill all of the way until we had to re-climb a bit to get back to the ski resort. This section of the trail is a rather new one, without many people knowing about it. It is not well marked with diamonds, so watch for cut logs to keep on the trail.

The trail is basically a loop: park at King's Hill; climb Porphyry peak, then go down the other side until you hit the snowmobile trail. Turn right and follow the snowmobile track until you see the cross country trail sign and then cut uphill until you come upon the Golden Goose ski run and reconnect to your tracks. Then it is a short distance back to your car at King's Hill pull-out where the snowmobilers park. The hike took us five hours to complete.

After our five-hour, six-mile hike, we decided to try the new Cougar Canyon Lodge that replaced the Cub's Den in Monarch for supper.  Although the food was fine, we could tell that the place will need to hire more help as our server was also the bartender, so the service could be improved.  And we did get to catch the end of the Grizzly game with their loss to North Dakota State Bison.

We started the day at 8 a.m. and returned home around 5:30.  

Who went: June, Gail, Mary, Anita, Jenn, Brenda, Susan, Cathy, Katie

Hoarfrost crystals were everywhere as Katie and Gail trekked around the B and D loops of Silvercrest, breaking trail the whole way.  Since slogging through the snow tired us out, taking pictures of the shining gems gave us many breaks as we strove for the perfect shot of the hexagonal-shaped ice that clung to the tree branches. But the lighting and shadows proved difficult for good compositions, so we kept trying and trying, taking way too many pictures.

Besides the hoarfrost crystals, we saw many tracks: rabbits, mice, squirrels, birds and cats!  Yes, we saw mountain lion tracks following the bunnies and elk.

We had planned to go four to five miles, but three was plenty with the difficult conditions of the trail. The snow was deep but without a base, so we kept hitting rocks, small trees and even dirt with our poles and snowshoes, throwing us off balance at times.  We even had to step over some fallen trees that due to lack of snow weren't covered yet. Despite the less-than-ideal conditions, the snow was fluffy powder that glistened in the sun. And the weather was perfect, no wind with sun, not to mention that we had Silvercrest to ourselves.

We had given Tom, Katie's husband, a ride to the top so he could ski. We didn't know how long we  would be out, but by a coincidence, Tom arrived back at the same time as we did.

After our three and a half hours on the trail, we headed to Bob's Bar in Neihart for a sandwich and sweet potato fries!