A Spring-like break from Winter

Big Baldy in the Little Belts from the top of Porphyry Peak

I'm in love with the flat open of the Mizpah Ridge

Old Baldy Peak in the Front.  More snow is needed.

Katie snow-shoeing on the Jones Creek bottom in the Front.

 We've had a welcome reprieve from Winter this week as temperatures soared into the mid-60s, and the winds temporarily died down.

These are temperatures that are literally 100 degrees warmer than the mid-30s below a couple of weeks ago.

However, there is still pretty good snow in the mountains and I've used this time to do modified ski on 747, a Mizpah-747 loop, and a snowshoe trip with my wife up Jones Creek in the Rocky Mountain Front.

While there was plenty of snow, the conditions were so-so.  Later in the day the snow got soft and would collect on the bottom of my skis, requiring an application of Maxi-Glide wax.  The sun and wind had hit Jones Creek pretty hard, softening it up in the afternoons and freezing it hard at night.  We found that area marginal.

It was wonderful, though, to ski and snowshoe in shirtsleeve under deep blue skies and radiant sunshine.

The Front could use more snow, particularly in the lower elevations.

Spring is still two weeks away, but is was really nice to have this short taste now.