Happy New Year
For several years now, I have gone to Darby, MT and the Bitterroot Valley to celebrate New Years. My friends Steve and Sue Schmidt have cabin/future home there and together with the Hall's, we enjoy time together, at the house and in the snow filled mountains.
Steve and I explored the Bitterroot's 30+ years ago while attending UM. A favorite winter activity was going skiing on Lolo Pass. Back in those days, the area was not as developed and we generally had to make our own tracks and trails, but now the area has a new warming/visitor hut and groomed trails.
Early on the 31st, we left Darby and headed towards Lolo and followed Lewis and Clark's trail up to Lolo Pass for an awesome day of XC skiing.
It was below zero when we left home and remained in the single digits most of the day.
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| Rhonda is bundling up |
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| The Sun was out, but the temps remained chilled |
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| Recent snows still blanketed the trees and hillsides |
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The trails are now well marked. Our goal is a 5-6 mile loop around the meadow.
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And the trails were recently groomed
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| Caden is turning into a very accomplished skier |
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| Caden's brother Connor (far right), is home from Northern Arizona and joins Steve and Leah |
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| Johna Hall and my friend from Lolo, Jeff Norberg |
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| Leah is not sure what to think of the temperatures |
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| We stop half way for a light lunch and some hot chocolate |
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| And then its back to the trail to warm up |
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| Jeff Norberg was another roommate of mine at UM and still lives in the area. He has access to Lolo pass all the time |
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| Rhonda is always up for an adventure |
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| Caden routinely takes opportunities to take a break |
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| Rhonda and Sue on the home stretch. |
Then we headed to Lolo Peak Pub at the bottom of the hill to watch the BSU Broncos win their 3rd Fiesta Bowl!
Afterwards, we drove back to Darby for the New Year's Eve festivities
After some food it was time for a traditional card game of SNORK. Snork is an oxymoron of a game. Based on Solitaire, play is anything but serene or lonely. Snork is played similar to solitaire, but teams of two play against each other and on each others' card piles. Lot's of elbows and yelling until a team is able to play their short deck and yells SNORK! You gain points by the number of your cards played in the center. After several hands, someone finally scores 150 points and we can switch partners....check out this video link
After a few hours of sleep and a leisurely morning at the cabin, we head south to the other ID/MT border ski area, Lost Trail and the Chief Joseph Pass XC ski area. This is one of my most favorite winter retreats.
With over a dozen miles XC ski trails and 19+ additional miles of multi use trails, Chief Joseph has room and terrain for anyone.
And we took to the trails:
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| Flint, Johna and Rhonda |
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| Caden doesn't mind climbing the hills when he knows there is a fast downhill run waiting |
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| Johna |
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| Rhonda finishing her first run |
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| Another Break |
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| Steve slowing down at the bottom of his run |
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| Everyone waiting for me to put my camera away |
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| It was another cold and clear day |
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| the Hall boys |
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Sentinel Meadow
Leah, Rhonda, Jon, Caden, Johna (front)
Connor, Steve, Flint (back) |
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| Just the BEST! |
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| The Warming Hut. |
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| The View from the Hut |
Then it is back to the parking lot, the cars and the drive down the hill to Darby, a warm place to dry out, and eat some of Flint's fine home made German Sausage, smoked on the grill.
The morning view from the Darby House never gets boring.
The Schmidt's and Hall's have been away from their Idaho Falls homes most of the Christmas break and its time for them to go home. Rhonda and I are just getting warmed up. So we stay another night and head back up to Lolo Pass and try out those groomed trails on our skate skis:
Afterwards we visit Jeff in Lolo and meet him at the Lolo Creek Steak house for dinner. This is the BEST place in the whole world to eat steak....just the best. Afterwards we talk Jeff into meeting us in Darby the next morning for some Alpine skiing, just as it starts to snow!
Lost Trail Powder mountain ski area is a real gem. I'll try to keep it a secret, but we found some fresh snow, first tracks and a great day on the slopes. The only groomers we saw were as we traversed from one part of the mountain to the other. Otherwise, it was an off piste day.
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| Rhonda and Jeff waiting for me....again |
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| Finally, I think I'm enjoying downhill as much as Rhonda wants me to enjoy it. |
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| A perfect ending to a perfect week of skiing and friends. |
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