Cobweb Sky

One Spring evening, overlooking the Bitterroot Valley toward the Bitterroot Mountain Range and east of Corvallis, Montana.

A Significant Winter, 2014

Deck sculptures and a plump Adirondack settee illustrate western Montana's current conditions.

This winter's weather and snowfall revert back to an earlier era when the season was seldom mild. We've had a string of so-so winters, but this year's storms have been back-to-back and many are pleased. The snowpacks surrounding the mountain ranges of the Bitterroot are well above normal, some approaching 150% of normal and beyond.

In this semi-desert region, 15 inches of precipitation is welcomed. We await word on this year's winter total and hope the very low temperatures will blunt the pine bark beetle invasion that has devastated some of our forests, turning them brown. 

More of the Missions

The Mission Range comes smooth or craggy, all within just a few miles.

More Views of Montana's Mission Range from a Cessna 172

One Evening

The Missions dressed in their first dusting of snow, late summer, 2013.

From a Cessna Skyhawk

Those who engage in extreme sports might find the snowy crags of McDonald Peak of interest. It stands just shy of 10,000 feet.

Two mountain ranges. . . .

are shown here with the Missions in the foreground, then the Swan valley area and looking eastward toward the wildernesses of the Bob Marshall, "The Bob", and The Great Bear.