Wool-n-Ski: whitefish range

Monday, June 13, 2016

Alpine Biome

One of my favorite Biomes on our planet is the Alpine Biome. That transitional region from treeline scrub to no trees. This is the region I am drawn to when hiking in the summer. The plant life, flowers, lichen are all there and I just love being able to enjoy their world.

Yesterday, we had a great day up north in the Whitefish Range, close to the Canadian border. Our hike went mostly UPHILL along a ridge line. If we were to continue on this hike we would have made a loop around a basin. We hiked UP about 4 miles and had our picnic and then came back down on the same trail.

Looking into Glacier National Park from the northern part of the Whitefish Range.

Heading UP!

Having a serious girl talk about lunch when, where, and how about NOW!

Breaking out of the treeline.

Heading up snow . . . I just love being back on snow!

Tally tearing up the SNOW! She is in heaven!

I love this photo all 4 paws are in the air!

The transition from treeline to alpine world I love . . .

Sadie oh so serious.

Sadie just soaking up the sun before the descent.

Always time for a snow bath and some R&R when hiking.

Traversing an avalanche shoot.

Indian Paint Brush

Trail side colors

Miss Sadie calling it an end to the adventure. A nice cooling soak and drink.

Below is just a bit of info I googled about the Alpine Biome. Krummholz is the term for this region I remember from a science class. I always love how the word sounded.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Father's Day Hike

My Father in Law is a wonderful person. We all love to get together outside as mush as possible. This year for Father's Day he wanted to go on a short hike and fish just a bit. We drove from Whitefish up to Link lake which is in the Whitefish Range. I enjoy the Whitefish Range a lot! A secret dream of mine would be to spend the summer working on the old trails that crisscross this area. I would love to see these trails all opened back up and cleaned up so everyone could use them to their fullest. In my books the more people get out the door and enjoy the outside the better the world would be---it is just that simple!

Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature's darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature's sources never fail. John Muir Our National Parks, 1901, page 56.

Cliff once skied this north facing slope with others back in the late 60s. He is now 79 and was telling us about hiking up to the basin here and then hiking up to the top to ski. It was the year he and some of his ski buddies skied every month. He did say there was a lot less trees when they skied it.