When we got up to the Nature Center I snapped a photo of the snow covered trees with the Picnic Table to show how much snow had fallen. After changing to our boots in the Nature Center, (who wants to do that outside in the snow), we headed out on the trail to the overlooks. The Scenery is breathtaking!
Here you notice the tree tops are below me and almost close enough to touch.
This photo is looking Southeast across the Flathead Valley. Flathead Lake is visible in the distance.
Looking across the Flathead Valley at the Swan Mountain Range (almost due East). Downtown Kalispell is at the left edge of the photo.
This Photo shows the smoke coming from the smoke stacks at the Lumber Mill in Columbia Falls.
Our lot is almost directly in line with the V-notch in the mountains, just this side of it. That notch is the place the Flathead River comes out of the mountains. The mountain on the left of the notch is Teakettle Mountain and on the right is Columbia Falls Mountain. Downtown Kalispell is in the lower right of the photo.
This view is looking North toward Whitefish. The Whitefish Mountain is where most of the skiing is done in this area... almost in the center of the photo.
When we returned to the Nature Center, the person there must have been out in the cold a bit too much as he insisted we try Snowshoeing! What was wrong with him! He new we had just hiked a trail in the deep snow. But he was very insistent so we thought we would appease him and try on a pair. (as they rent them there and he must have been getting a commission) And it was a balmy 5 degrees out! Did you ever try to walk with a piece of sheet metal barn roofing tied to each foot? Well, with much prodding from Debbie and the Nature Center tyrant, I relented and we started off. Again, I can't say it enough, the scenery was breathtaking!
So, not long after we started out, I found Snowshoeing to be not too bad............ Hummm......
Debbie seemed to be quite happy with all this plodding through the snow. Sometimes I wonder about her.......
The trail was awesome, so we just kept going. I thought she would have frozen by now, but she was practically jogging up the trails! We climbed to the highest point on the trail and could see the Snow covered peaks of the Mountains in Glacier National Park! WOW!
The trails became more awesome as we went and I began to think maybe I was enjoying this! But far from it for me let that be known! So I tried not to smile but that did not work well either.........
You can tell I was trying very hard to maintain my composure. All went well, except as Debbie was leading ahead of me, somehow, still not sure how, I apparently tripped, (so very unusual for me) and fell. Fortunately, Debbie had her back to me and was not paying attention for if she had gotten a photo of this I would have not been able to show my face in public! Oddly, I had not thought to ask (I would have never asked!) how to get up if you fall down. With a bit of woodsman wisdom that I have acquired over the years, I was able to figure it out and got to my feet and dusted myself off before Debbie bothered to notice. (Before he FINALLY caught up with me!) Hopefully she won't read this blog and find out. (Too Late) Of course nobody else reads these, so I feel I am quite safe rambling along about this embarrassing little detail.
So, we headed back down the trail to the Nature Center.
The scenery had to be experienced to be believed. My words cannot begin to express what it was like.
As we approached the Nature Center, we noticed we were almost overheated. An awesome experience, even at 5 degrees, we found Snowshoeing to be a great form of exercise for us. We plan to do it often this winter.
No comments:
Post a Comment