Wordless Wednesday

                                                                          Sunset

Solitude

Today the Park is glowing through the V. Cloudy west of the Foothills and in the Park just spectacular.

Icy Art

Sunshine adds a sparkle to the morning . Ever growing icicles descend from the roof.

Wordless Wednesday

Stepping into Narnia.....

The road into the National forest. Lions and tigers and bears!

The road to town. Waiting for the snow plow to buzz by and clear the new snow .


I suppose there are a few of you that are familiar with C.S. Lewis and the Narnia Chronicles. A wonderful story of four children who  discover a portal into another time . They step through a wardrobe while playing a game of hide and seek and  find themselves in a snowy wasteland of evergreens and silence. I think perhaps I have stepped into Narnia......There has been snow of some amount for the last 16 days. It is silent and magical outside. Occassionally the sound of a bird nearby and since it warmed to a balmy 33 degrees we now have the drip drip of snow melt.

Aspen branches heavy with their frosting .



As the snow continues to fall the husky house quietly disappears.

A new phenomenae .......

Driving to work it had stopped snowing for a bit , safe to go out Eh? Not so quickly . I discovered a new phenomenae as I approached the last 90 degree turn in the road.  The above picture is a tree blizzard . This is snow that was very happy to lay on the trees whipped up by the wind into a cloud that can pretty much obscure anything.

                                                               
If you look closely you can see some interesting swirling patterns of snow taking flight from the building roof on the left side of the road. Prior to moving here I only recall this kind of thing at the peaks of K2 in those interesting National Geographic specials . hmmmm at any rate the Tree Blizzard can render your visibility to zero so it is prudent to drive slowly ; )       

Making your own weather

Heading out Saturday morning to get a block heater for the car. This will help me start the car when the oil turns to molasses at zero degrees. Fortunately it was only 13 degrees over night. Well apparently when it starts to snow here it doesn't stop till April. And that is if you are lucky. For winter driving I have been advised to have the following : A shovel, extra hat, gloves and coat and extra boots. This is so you can change clothes after your first set gets wet while you are digging your car out of the snow bank. Flares in the event that the digging doesn't work. Food for 2 days , not a week as in Montana you will be found in 48 hours where as in Alaska it could take a week. I also am stowing sand bags, water ( not in the trunk as it freezes ) an extra gallon of windshield washer as yours in the car may freeze and not come out in a timely fashion. Battery charger and a set of chains.  Dog food for the dogs of course . So all of this is not supposed to be in the trunk but in your back seat. Which begs the question about where to put the dogs ? Trunk? So if I set out in inclement weather I will be well provisioned.

Heading back to the Foothills it was overcast but not snowing in general . you can see a thick blanket of clouds on the top of the mountains making their own weather. Up at 6000 to 7000 feet I bet there is some deep snow . Down in the valley 17 degrees with a windchill of 3degrees. Snow adds such a gorgeous dimension to the mountains.