Skywatch Friday: Divided Skies

Butte America is at the headwaters of the Clark Fork River in southwest Montana. Our water flows to the west slope (Pacific Ocean side) of the Continental Divide. Historically, Indians and white trappers called the upper Clark Fork valley "the lodge of the white-tailed deer"--this was because the deer sought out saline seeps and wintered in the relatively snow-free valley. Note the lack of snow in this photo of lower Mill Creek (the many electrical lines and substation served the once great Anaconda Copper Mining Company smelter and railroad):

South a few miles from Butte, up and over Mill Creek Pass, is the Big Hole River valley. This water flows to the east slope (Gulf of Mexico). Clouds dump their snow on this side of the mountains, thus leaving the Clark Fork valley in a "rain shadow." For a cross country skier, this means that the Sugarloaf Mountain (aka "Mount Haggin") ski area gets much more snow (especially early in the season) than The Moulton ski trails near Butte. Here's MollyTheDog on the freshly groomed Crooked John loop:

A day later, 8 inches of snow covered that nice grooming job, making a good opportunity to take the backcountry skis for a trek around the Little California loop (this turns off from Crooked John, the main access loop):

Along the trail are some old cabins used by logging crews more than a hundred years ago, when the Anaconda Company clearcut all the timber to feed its smelter and mines. The old cabins lend the area a sense of place, and whether hiking, elk hunting, or skiing I like to stop by--like visiting a familiar friend:

Happy trails!

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