Searching for Christmas

Where did the snow go?  It's in the mountains for sure, but the sun is shining (beautifully) and snow has melted here in town. We -- Mel Holloway and I -- drive up a nearby mountain road to find and photograph it. This is what Christmas looks like on Skalkaho Highway -- a narrow, winding road heading east, climbing high into the Sapphires and then dropping down into another valley on its way to Philipsburg, Mt. (http://www.visitphilipsburg.com/). It once was a trail for Native Americans. Then, it became a road for loggers and miners to use. Now, it's mostly regional traffic. But it closes in winter to everything but snowmobiles and skis. In summer, it's a beautiful drive but not for the faint of heart (http://www.dangerousroads.org/usa/349-skalkaho-highway-usa.html).

We drive about ten miles into the Sapphires on Skalkaho Hwy.

When we get to where Skalkaho closes, there's a big turnout criss-crossed with tire tracks, foot and paw prints.

Here's a Christmas tree for you (one of hundreds of thousands in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.)

Skalkaho Creek is just down the hill from the turnout. It gives the term freeze and thaw a whole new meaning...

...This thawing ice shelf has the aspect of a toothless smile!

...And this one features a thick slab of ice-and-snow in collapse.

White out!!

We head home along Golf Course Road and stop long enough to see a setting sun's rays on the other (western) side of the valley. Merry Christmas, everyone.