December in Montana, then moving on . . .

One of the more important aspects of maintaining an obscure, happy life is to have "wellness bulwarks." By this, we mean multiple layers of good habits, such as good sleep, healthy diet and multiple forms of physical activity. From time to time, major life transitions will transiently compromise one of these, but having the others to fall back on keeps us from getting over stressed (or alerts us that we are at risk). For the past year, these habits have been especially important-- as we have since May moved from our Minneapolis loft to temporary digs in Lowertown St. Paul, then to a new home in Florida, quickly on to Montana then finally back to New Zealand. 

But back to bulwarks--one of which is physical activity. Because we had to abandon our well established gym routine, we relied primarily upon "snuggling 'round", whether it be through new local neighborhoods and parks in spring and summer, up hills on trips or through the skyways in winter. And so the graphic below represents this year's "bulwark" of steps, one stretching 1750 miles, almost enough to get us from Minneapolis to Mexico City, and more than enough altitude to get us there! The flights climbed would have been Denali at least twice. 

Happily, we have jettisoned this bulwark, as we are skiing, snow shoeing and skating our butts off here in MT, and have lots of excellent physical activities to resume when we arrive back home in Welly next month. 

But it is Christmas, and so little indulgences such as eggnog and Christmas cookies need not be turned away, but instead downsized--like our Xmas tree.

What has not been downsized is our joy in exploring the world around us. Montana has felt like home this winter, and so we'd like to share and remember the things we have experienced this magical month.

The bluffs above Lost Creek trail, Anaconda MT

The vista from MacDonald Pass, outside Helena

The Montana Hotel in Anaconda, waiting to be restored to its former glory.

Warm Springs valley at sunset

The view east from our cabin.

Bighorn, just outside Anaconda

Dawn from our kitchen window

Swan River, Big Fork MT

Lion Mountain trail, Whitefish MT

Herd of elk between Anaconda and Butte

View from bridge on trail in Thompson State Park, Butte MT

Richard "relaxing" after long snowshoe at Thompson SP

Hoarfrost in Butte

Thanksgiving at Rock Creek

The long Thanksgiving weekend gave us an opportunity to explore the Rock Creek area. We stayed at the Ranch at Rock Creek, a luxurious take on the dude ranch theme. Unfortunately, the Arctic decided to visit as well, and the -18 degree temperatures left us thankful for our cold weather gear, which was put to good use. 

Although the cold weather put the kybosh on our planned horseback riding and fly fishing excursions, we kept busy climbing the nearby hills and fat biking in the valley.

And it's a good thing we stayed active, because the food was simply amazing. The 7 course Thanksgiving meal was a magnificent coma-inducing feast, and topped off with a spot-on flat white from Gareth, who hails from Johnsonville, just outside of Wellington. Small world!

The following morning, we headed back into the frost to work off a small fraction of the calories, capturing these dramatic photos along the way.

We started at Moose Lake, essentially following deer paths and fence lines through the expansive fir and lodge pole pine forests.

We then moved on to the East Fork reservoir, skiing along the shore as a flock of Clark's Nutcrackers chatted in the treetops and the lake made eerie whooshing sounds as it froze.

All in all, we have a lot to be thankful for this year.

Early Winter in Montana

Kristen finally arrived in Warm Springs from St. Paul in early November, by which time the hills had begun to accumulate snow, although there were still plenty of fair days down in the valley.

We explored the expanse of DNR land that surrounds the eponymous Warm Spring, pictured above and below.

The first of many hoar frosts at dawn, below.

We have grown quite fond of Butte, a town of real grit and hidden charms, especially in the historic Uptown area.

When the snows finally came in earnest, we were glad that we had brought our skis, snow shoes and crampons along.

Our first hike was up to Ringing Rocks, which chime when struck. We were accompanied by Milan Patel, one of the other doctors at Warm Spings.

I think the photo below is one of our favorites, as it captures the austere beauty we see from our nearby bungalow every day, looking West across the valley as the morning light hits Anaconda and Mt. Hagin.

Other late fall adventures included many runs ins with moose, including this bloke along the Rock Creek road.

We have been to Thompson Park just outside of Butte several times now, and it may have surpassed Cheyenne's Curt Gowdy as our favorite "city" park. It has over 3,000 acres of dense wilderness that acts as a snow trap, and the drive through the park along MT 2 is among the most scenic around.

The 4.5 mile Milwaukee trail includes 2 rail tunnels, a 600 foot long trestle bridge (below) and, of course, the occasional moose.

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we visited Missoula and did some climbing in the Pattee Canyon recreation area, which is covered with imposing Ponderosa pines.

We also discovered this amazing lake and relation area (below) quite literally just across the highway from us, which we will definitely revisit soon.

Bighorn!

Because Columbus Day is still a holiday in MT, Richard had the day off to do a little reconnaissance of the surrounding area in advance of Kristen's arrival in a couple of weeks.

The Pintler Scenic Route is aptly named, and from Anaconda passes by the Discovery ski area and Georgetown Lake, where Richard saw a group of young bald eagles play "keep away the corpse" with a coot that one of them had hunted. They were also being intermittently mobbed by hundreds of irritated ravens. The eagles would snatch the coot out of the water, then engage in aerial dogfights , ultimately dropping it from a great height, in what appeared almost like a game. Other bird sightings included a pileated woodpecker and a pair of red breasted merganser.

Onward then to Rock Creek, just outside Missoula, where the gorgeous Sapphire Mountain Range rises. A few miles into the park, Richard decided to take a "Bighorn viewing trail", but with rather modest expectations. You see, the Bignorn Sheep is the last of the North American megafauna to elude us, in spite of years of looking.

The trail ran along a ridge over the valley pictured above. About a mile in, a group of about a dozen white-rumped ungulates moved briskly through the valley. At first, they looked like a group of young caribou. But it didn't to take long to realize that they were, in fact, a group of bighorn ewes and calves. None of them had the characteristic curved horns of the adult ram, but watching them leap easily over a 5 foot cattle fence and disappear back into the hillside was still a thrill.

The trail continued back deeper into the hills along a ravine, but a couple of miles in some ominous bones and bear scat stared to appear, so Richard turned back just above Mormon Spring.

Hiking back along the same ridge above the valley where they were earlier, these two young bighorn were seen doing the more classical rock hopping for which the species is known. It truly is remarkable the ease with which they scramble up sheer cliff sides.

Fall Fun

Just because it has been a couple of months since our last post, that does not mean that we haven't been busy. In fact, a lot has changed. A long term Alaska plan became a short term gig working (and living) at Montana's Warm Springs state hospital. We finally finished the relocation from MN to FL. Oh, and we solidified our plans to return to NZ (flying out Jan 10, 2016).

It is hard to believe that it has been 7 years since we last saw Craig and Cathy Coenson. They are living the Big Easy dream, and gave us a great insider's look at New Orleans. At least, the parts that we remember.

In our last bit of time in MN we also were able to spend time with dear freinds PK and Jodi.

We took a leisurely drive from St. Paul to Montana, stopping at small town cafes on the way and enjoying the fall colors on the northern plains.

Arrowood NWR, North Dakota

Mount Helena

We especially liked the laid back charm of Helena, and its proximity to very walkable wilderness.

Warm Springs, Montana State Hospital Campus

We finally arrived at Warm Springs on Friday, and took a walk around the surrounds. The campus has the feel of Kenepuru hill in Porirua, and we are interested to have the opportunity to live on the hospital grounds while we are here.