Skywatch Friday: Frost, Moose, Spiders, and more

Days have been exceptionally warm -- above freezing -- in Butte America, the great little city in the northern Rockies of Montana. This puts a lot of moisture into the atmosphere (in part from the Berkeley Pit, America's largest toxic lake). As the sun sets and temperatures plunge below zero (deg F), the moisture creates an ice fog that paints a lovely picture on the quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides):

The icy fog generally hangs just over Butte and the Silver Bow Creek  valley, only occasionally does it extend up the hill to Walkerville, my little town. And certainly by the time I reach The Moulton (Montana's finest classic cross country ski trails) 5 miles north of town, the skies are blue &  bright (I love the contrast with this beetle killed lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta):

The morning sun brings out a few spiders, their anti-freeze laden "blood" somehow protects them from the cold:

On this woody morning (nice old set of HeadT wooden laminate skis), the Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus) people have also been out and about. Those big feet make me smile every time:

Later that day, I told Mrs Rover I saw the Downey Moose. "Really?" she said. "And have they wings like a Downey Woodpecker?" Drole humor, that woman. The Downey family lives along the Moulton road, and most years a "pet" moose hangs around the yard (looks like it's waiting to load into the horse trailer):

Looks likeToyota country in the parking lot. As is common at The Moulton, I know the owner/skier that belongs to each. Small world, this Butte America:

Return to SkyWatch Friday