A snowshoe, a hike, a backcountry ski brings in 2023

From the Silvercrest Snowshoe overlook, Mounts Neihart Baldy, Long, Big Baldy and Porphyry were in sight.

Mark Hertenstein pauses on our ski trip at the Blackfoot River near Cadotte Creek

Katie beneath the buffalo jump (pishkun)

I don't think I'll keep up this pace, but it was a great way to bring in the new year.

We snowshoed several miles at Silvercrest in the Little Belts on really good snow, about three inches of powder on a good base.

We hiked the rims at the First Peoples' Buffalo Jump State Park near Ulm, enjoying magnificent views of the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountain Front, while finding Indian pictographs and walking through a prairie dog town.  The warm weather and winds had blown the snow away from this park, making hiking a great option.

The snow wasn't quite as good in the Rogers Pass area along the Continental Divide as it was in the Little Belts, so we explored a gulch near Cadotte Creek and skied along the Blackfoot River.   We dealt with winds and a minus 3 temperatures when we got started.  But it warmed up quickly.

I'm always impressed when I hike the buffalo jump park.  It is a terrific place to get a 360 degree view of the splendor of the Great Falls area, the massive buttes like Square and Crown, the Little Belts, the Adel Mountains, the Big Belts and the Highwoods, and of course, the Rocky Mountain Front.