Ski, hike, snowshoe in late winter

 

 

The North Fork Teton Country near the West Fork needs a blast of snow

 

 

 

 

The ice encrusted lower Falls Creek Falls

 

 

Our snowshoe group at the oddly featureless Kings Hill Mountain summit

Things lined up just right in the past week so that I could backcountry ski, hike, and snowshoe all in one week.

Some of this is thanks in part to retreating snow, particularly on south and west mountain exposures.

I skied a Waldron Creek loop near Teton Pass Ski Area in the Front one day, hiked the Falls Creek Trail in the Rocky Mountain Front's Dearborn Country another, and snow shoed Hill Mountain in the Little Belts.

The wind and warm weather has really carved up and hardened the Front country.  The Mount Wright summit, one of the highest in the Front, looked as though it had been sandblasted and accessible for climbing.  The snow up Waldron Creek was hard and horrible, particularly on the side trail back to the ski area.  It wasn't so bad skiing the West Fork Road, however.

The Falls Creek Trail was relatively open for hiking.  Skiing it is out of the question.  Some of the ground cover is starting to green up.  The big waterfall was particularly impressive because of ice formations.  Bear Den and Monitor peaks looked climbable from their east faces.  There is still good snow toward the Continental Divide Trail in the high country.

 The snow off Kings Hill Pass exceeded my expectations.  Yes, it was icy down low, but the near one got to the ridgeline, the better the snow.  I wished I had brought my skis rather than snowshoes.