What a great place to live! Back country ski Friday, mountain climb Saturday

Climbing up the empty Showdown ski hill

Climbing to find the best place to descend

The chairs are now inanimate as the resort's season is over

Lolo Peak, the crown of the Bitterroot Mountains above Missoula

A young couple and dogs enjoy the top of Mount Sentinel on a gorgeous Spring day

 My exuberance for a good snowfall, followed by warming Spring weather on the west side of the mountains may have cost me.

I've developed what may be a painful case of plantar fasciitis in my left heel.

We got a dozen inches of new, cold powder and so I had to go out an enjoy the fresh, untracked powder on the Showdown ski hill, which had closed 10 days previously.

We did five runs before I wore out going up and down.

It was a really wintry Spring day, and doing turns was heavenly.  In the afternoon as we were leaving, the sun came out.

I love the hill when all the people are gone and there are no groomer tracks.

The quiet made the skiing seem like we were in the back country.  The chairs on the lift were frozen in place, as were the ski resort's empty buildings.  Almost eerie. 

Then it was off to Missoula to do my annual Mount Sentinel climb above the University of Montana campus.  It's about 2,000 feet to the top, and I made it to the top in just over an hour.  There were icy and wet stretches, including a large drift, which took some negotiating.

My right heel was sore when I started, but I shook it off and the activity loosened it up.

I paid the price after the hike when it tightened up and got painful.  I can barely put any weight on that left heel.

I'm not sure what this is going to mean for hiking later, but anticipate it will mean resting, ice, ibuprofen and stretching.  

A bit scary.

Another purpose of the trip was to visit a former Tribune colleague, Gary Moseman, who is doing a lengthy stay in a Missoula retirement home as he's rehabbing his health.

We're all getting on.