Australian Shepherd Molly Montana writes of her outdoor adventures with human, Kinsey Barnard. Kinsey takes the photos. They live in Montana and travel in their RV Clementine. Exploring is their favorite thing to do. Follow them and enjoy great stories, travel photos as well as travel & hiking tips particularly in Montana
Showing posts with label winter in montana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label winter in montana. Show all posts
Wow, where does the time go? Seems like only yesterday we were welcoming spring. Now, winter is already here again. The days are already growing short and will continue getting ever more short until late December. Here in northwest Montana that means we barely have eight hours of daylight in the winter months, not a lot of time for outdoor activities. Which I suppose is alright since it's so "blasted cold" (Kinsey's words not mine). Personally, I don't mind the cold. My coat is thick and luxurious
again. So much dark isn't all that great but it's amazing how quickly
one adapts.
Tomorrow we will set our clocks back. That's a sure sign winter is on its way.
Winter coat back in fashion
Kinsey, is always trying to dream up winter projects to keep her busy. Last winter she went on a jigsaw puzzle kick. She did a bunch of them. This winter she is going to try something entirely new, acrylic painting. Beyond her camera I'm not sure she has much artistic talent but you never know.
One of Kinsey's year round hobbies is reading. She reads three or four books a month. A couple of months ago she took Amazon's Kindle Unlimited free trial and she loves it. She can read all the books she wants for $9.99 per month. Granted not all books are part of the program but so far there have been plenty of interest to choose from. Kinsey has no doubt she is getting her money's worth.
Kinsey has started her initial research into getting this painting thing going and discovered something very cool. She can get books on acrylic painting free with her Kindle Unlimited. Just one of those books is more than the monthly fee. Below is an acrylic painting book Kinsey has downloaded to her Kindle. The hard copy edition is twenty bucks!
Acrylic Illuminations-Kindle Unlimited Selection
Here's the link if you want more info on this book or to check out other acrylic painting selections that can be downloaded for free. Amazon Acrylic Painting Books
To be sure the illustrations on a Kindle leave much to be desired but Kinsey likes to read many peoples opinions and ideas and then follow her own road. The Kindle Unlimited program allows her to do just that without breaking the bank. If she decides she really wants to be able to study on the illustrations she can always buy the book.
If you haven't checked out the Kindle Unlimited thing you might want to take a look see. I'll bet there are free books on just about any hobby or special interest you might have.
Before I get started telling my stories about our trip to the Black Hills Kinsey has asked if she could preempt me to tell you why we went to the Black Hills. As you might imagine it would be hard for me to say no on so many levels. Without further adieu I cede to Kinsey.
Thank you Molly for allowing me my little preamble.
Winters in Montana can be cold and snowy. It's a time for regeneration from the work frenzy that begins in the spring and doesn't let up until the snow flies. Winter is a wonderful time to curl up by the fire with a good book and I always do.
This past winter I read what, for me, was the best history book I've read The Heart of Everything That Is by Bob Drury and Tom Calvin. It's not often I find a history book a page turner but this one was. The book is about Red Cloud a Oglala Lakota Sioux warrior who was the only Indian to ever defeat the US Army. Yes, other warriors like Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse won great battles but Red Cloud won his war.
The objective Red Cloud's war was to shut down the Bozeman trail and this he did. The Treaty of Fort Laramie 1868 gave the Oglala Lakota their sacred Black Hills (Paha Sapa). Unfortunately, the US government was only willing to give up what it didn't want. When rumors began that there was gold in the Black Hills (Paha Sapa) that was the end of the treaty.
Chief Red Cloud
Now the government wanted to round up the Lakota Sioux and send them to a reservation in Oklahoma. This Red Cloud could not let happen. He went to Washington to plead his case. Whilst there he saw that the whites were numerous beyond imagining. He knew to continue fighting would mean certain annihilation of his people.
Red Cloud prevailed in his efforts to keep his people near the Black Hills (Paha Sapa) and led his people onto the Pine Ridge Reservation about 65 miles away. Red Cloud died there at the age of 88. To have lived the life he lived, in the times he lived in, and reach such a great age is almost unimaginable.
After reading the book I knew that I had to go to Pine Ridge and pay this man my respects. I had to see with my own eyes that for which he fought so hard.
On this trip I learned that among his people there are two camps, those who think Red Cloud a hero and those who think him a traitor. I am obviously in the hero camp. He is thought by some to be a traitor because he led his people onto the reservation instead of continuing the fight. I think what he did showed great wisdom and courage. Had he not, there is no doubt his people would have been wiped out. Red Cloud was no coward. For him to do this thing surely took great courage because it went against everything for which he stood. Great leaders do the hard thing.
They made us many promises, more than I can remember. But they
kept but one--They promised to take our land...and they took it. Chief Red Cloud - Sioux
Over the past 17 days Molly and I have clocked over 2,600 miles (between Clementine & Shadow), seen many amazing sites and learned much. Mostly we have learned we were barely able to scratch the surface and we will be returning to continue our quest.
Starting tomorrow Molly will begin showing and telling of our fantastic journey to the Black Hills (Paha Sapa).
This week was all about cold and snow. We had the biggest storm I've seen in the nine winters I've been here, 20 inches in around 24 hours. And, we had the lowest temperature for this winter -11. By we I mean Koty and I. But we are very fortunate to live in a micro-climate that allows us to stay 10 to 15 degrees warmer than most other places. Of course, -11 or -25, I can't tell the difference when it gets that cold.
Koty still in bed. He is not a morning person.
After the big storm the trees were just loaded with snow.
Out at Walden Pond the warm water from the spring kept the ice at bay.
Snow piled on old grass made for an interesting landscape. Kind of looked like a lunar landscape to me.
The snow was so deep Koty had to jump along to break trail. He loved every minute of it.
101 Ranch barn and fences covered in new snow.
The view from Sophie lake east to the Galtons and Mt. Baldy
Mt. Baldy. This mountain is actually in British Columbia
This shaggy, little old pony was just standing by the roadside caked in ice. It was -9 degrees. He reminded me a lot of a horse I had when I was a kid, his name was Pancho. I know animals are designed to tolerate the cold but it still makes me sad to see them out in it. The truth is even if they have access to a barn most of them prefer to be out.
Just an old snow covered truck I came across. When I took this little tour of the valley after the storm I stayed in the car and shot through the car window most of the time at -7 to -10 it's colder than I like and I can't hardly work the controls on my camera.
Along with the pot load of snow we also has some wind. I didn't get that much at my place but other place got quite a bit. This is what the snow along the roadside looked like after the wind sculpted it. I really find these natural designs beautiful.
Just another moonset. I took this through my living room window. Too cold for me out there!
No telling what Mother Nature has in store for us next week. But, it will be interesting no doubt. Spring breakup could really be a very messy business this year. I read in the local paper, published once a week, all the watersheds are above normal for snow and some close to 150% above normal. If we get a sudden period of high temperatures this spring there will be flooding and ice jams galore, no doubt about it.
Animals are such agreeable friends they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms. ~ George Eliot (Mary Evans) 1819
It isn't even December yet and this winter is already turning into a lollapalooza! This will be my ninth winter here in Montana and there has been nothing like this so early in the season. I am quite literally up to my butt in snow. My new occupation is snow removal. I have been shoveling, blowing and plowing sometimes twice a day. One thing about it, I get plenty of aerobic exercise.
For a while there we were in the single digits. Some folks down in the valley were at eighteen below. It was so cold ice was growing on the windows on the inside. Six weeks ago twenty-eighth degrees was bone chilling. Now we have moved back up into the high twenties and low thirties and it feels like spring. It really is extraordinary how quickly the human body adapts to its environment. My blood must be moving through my veins like sludge, thank goodness.
I haven’t been out much other than to do my snow removal chores. Living alone I have very strict, self-imposed rules and one of them is I don’t go trudging in the forest when it gets below 20. The reason is; should I have a mishap and not be able to get back to the house I would be a crispy critter pretty darn quick and no one would be worse for the wear.
Yesterday, seeing as how it was nearly thirty I decided to take the old camera out and slog around the ranch. My mule deer herd has return, which is always heart warming. Of course I have Koty for company but having the mulies here is kind of like having family with whom the share the hardships of winter. Each year the mule deer come from the high country to winter where it is easier to forage for food and in the spring they leave again for the high country. It’s always like a homecoming when they return. For some reason mule deer are far more serene than their cousins the whitetail which are here spring to fall.
The mule deer are fairly unperturbed by my presence. Despite their having very big ears they must be tone deaf because I usually sing to them as I wander by and they just stand and look at me as though I’m nuts. Hmmm, they might be on to something? Yesterday I was singing, “The Wicked Witch”. I have no idea why. I just like the lyrics. “Hi ho the merry oh. Sing it high sing it low” just seems perfect for wandering in the woods.
I know this property like the back of my hand but even I might be able to get lost out there now. The roads and paths have been nearly obliterated by the deep snow. The trees are so laden with snow a few have just given up and fallen down. Others have become solid white cones of snow.
My photo taking wasn’t too terribly successful, as I didn’t take my tripod along. It was snowing and lower shutter speeds were needed. But, I was having enough trouble staying upright without it. I landed on my butt or face dawn more than once on my little junket. I was soaked by the time I got back to the house.
But, the slogging was worth the effort. It is so beautiful in the forest in the snow. The silence is deafening and the pristine purity of the fresh fallen snow is sublime. I am often asked why I stay here in the winter. The fact is there is simply nowhere I would rather be. Winter has a beauty that is too wonderful to miss. And, yet, by spring I will be glad to be done with it. I think seasons really do give balance to one’s life.
As you might imagine there wasn’t a lot of color out there but I did stumble upon one spot of color where a tattered orange leaf fallen from a cottonwood tree hung on the snow-covered bough of a fir. I thought it made a nice contrasting image.
Below are just some random photos from my fall about.
