Spring Hike: Along the Big Hole River

Daughter Emily Munday was home from Boston for spring break a week or so ago, and her goals for the week included a hike (in addition to a ski). Butte and its immediate environs still had a lot of snow. After a leisurely breaksfast of elk sausage and pancakes, we loaded into the Toy p.up and set off for the desert ridges along the Big Hole River 25 miles south of Butte.

On the way, we pulled over on I-90 to check out a wreck. Apparently, the truck driver did not see the train (!!!) and ran into it:

The hills along the Big Hole are full of mule deer. It's not unusual to see 100 or more in a half day's hike. Here's Emily watching a herd through the spotting scope:

And a pic through the scope that she insisted on taking, despite my sage advice that "It won't work." Geez I'm glad to have a daughter and students who regularly prove me wrong:

RTD likes watching deer too:

Almost as much as she enjoys chewing on deer bones:

Watch where you sit, though, this place is full of pricklypear cactus (as I can attest having sat down on a few while settling in for a shot at deer or antelope):

Those spines are sharp enough to skewer a fresh falling deer turd:

Rugged country, and a great place for a spring hike:

No wonder Butte, Montana, is one of the top rated communities in America for easy access to outdoor activity.

The Moulton Journal: Spring Break for Emily

It feels like springtime in Butte: cold mornings, warm afternoons, bright clear blue skies. We did pick up some snow last week and Paul groomed last Friday before heading off for a downhill ski vacation/family reunion. Emily is home from Boston for spring break, so RTD & I have a skiing buddy again.

The moose are feeding early:

And by mid-morning they seek cool shade:

The moose, too, are anxious for spring. As Emily and I left Walkerville for a morning ski, we saw a yearling moose skylined in a fenced mine reclamation area behind the houses. Next day, the Montana Standard newspaper printed this photo of a cow and calf on a stroll through a nearby uptown neighborhood:

It was a cold morning. About 14 deg F when we left the house in the predawn, and colder at Moulton. Though the trails were a little icy (especially on those steeper, west or south facing slopes on the Sluicebox trail), we had a good "combi" ski, and skated much of time:

Poor old RTD: just yesterday it seems, RTD (aka "the Fasty Pasty") zoomed ahead on those downhills, and raced alongside on the steepest of slopes. She still runs, but not so fast. Through dogs, we learn to appreciate the trajectory of our own lives, and our aged future. Here's RTD, doing her best to keep up with Emily on the road back down to the parking lot:

And what's prettier than Emily's rosy cheeks after a fast ski on a brisk morning?:

Maybe some afternoon we'll head to the Jefferson River and catch a trout for the grill ("hook 'em & cook 'em," as opposed to "catch & release"). It's that time of year.


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The Moulton: Montana's Finest Cross Country Skiing Area

Montana Standard photo: http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2008/03/11/butte/hjjbjgiijjebji.txt

Boston University at the America East Conference Swimming & Diving Championships

Jan & I traveled to Orono, Maine, to watch Emily compete with the Boston University Terriers at the America East Conference swim meet. Seven NCAA Division I teams swam at the event hosted by the University of Maine. The Terrier men’s and women’s team each won second place overall. For the women, University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) and the University of New Hampshire (UNH) were top picks in a coaches' survey prior to the meet. For the men, UMBC was again the coaches' top pick, with Binghamton University as second. BU did well!

Though this blog entry revolves around Emily's performance, I hope I can also give reader's a glimpse into just how great this team is in overall terms. Sorry for the somewhat blurry pics--I did not use a flash when photgraphing swimmers.

If sheer physical presence means anything, you knew the Terriers were up to something big by their huddles, loud cheers, and BIG team spirit (love those red suits!):

And so they were up to something big. The Terriers got off to a big lead early in the meet, thanks in part to a strong performance by the divers. Taking 1st and 2nd in numerous diving events really builds the point total. Here are Tess Waresmith and Alex Crerar with their first and second place medals in 1 Meter Diving, looking back over the pool to their team-mates:

Swimming is a tough and very competitive sport. The individual personal victories are part of a story worth telling. For BU, there was Eric Carlson, a graduate student in the law program who came to Boston with one year of eligibility and swam for the team, and took first place in the 100-Yard Breaststroke. There was Nate Everett, a freshman who made it to finals and won 6th place in the same event. And there was Evan Morris, a graduating senior who made it to the top heat in finals and medalled for the first time. Here's (from left to right, in red) Nate, Eric, and Evan with their medals:

Relays are a tremendously exciting part of competitive swimming. The swimmers really get pumped up on the loud cheers of their team-mates and parents. BU's relay teams consistently did well, like the 200-Medley team of Sara Doersam, Emily Munday, Kirsten Tullis, and Maria McIntyre shown here with their second-place medal:

Emily also did well in her individual events. Typically, five or six heats with a total of thirty or more swimmers compete in morning preliminary events. The top eight swimmers compete in the evening's finals heat, and the next eight swimmers compete in the evening's consolation finals heat. Swimmers in both finals heats help put points on the board for their team.

The highlight of Emily's individual events was her first place win in the 100-Yard Butterfly race, with a time of 56.87 seconds in pre-lims and 56.98 in finals:

Swimming is a game of hundredths of a second. That 56.98 top finish was followed by a second place finish by Kary Goodman of UNH, in 57.03. Here's the timing display for that race:

A good crowd of parents found their way to the wilds of Orono, Maine, to cheer their swimmers. Here is the BU section:

For three and a half days, the BU women's team led UMBH. Gradually, though, we watched that lead slip away. Here's a pic of the scoreboard, just before UMBH moved into the top spot:

Swim meets, for a parent, cand be long and boring. But there are always these incredible moments when I wish I could stop time and hold those sweet seconds for eternity. I paused to soak in one such bittersweet moment near the end of the meet. UMBH had just pulled ahead in the score, swimmers hugged their graduating senior team-mates, the DJ played Semisonic's "Closing Time," and there was a spontaneous outbreak of dancing among various groups of teams on the pool deck.

Though UMBH went on to win the meet, this was one amazing event to come. Semisonic faded and the Stones "You Can't Always Get What You Want" began building. How prophetic. In the last women's race of the meet, the 400-Free Relay, UMBH started out with a slim lead. BU's swimmer in the third leg of the race, however, pulled ahead on a turn and established a BU lead (here's Emily, just coming off her turn to establish that lead):

And here is the relay team of Brigette O'Shaugnessy, Maria McIntyre, Emily Munday, and Eve Kinsella receiving their medal (And if you try sometimes you just might find, You get what you need!):

The meet wrapped up with a number of awards that made anyone associated with the BU team very proud of their season's accomplishments:
- Men's and Women's Coaching Staff of the Year: Boston University; Congratulations Head Coach Bill Smyth, Assistant Coach Jen Strasburger, and Diving Coach Agnes Miller!
- Female Diver of the Meet: Tess Waresmith, BU
- Male Diver of the Meet: Andre Watson, BU
- Female Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet: Eve Kinsella, BU

Go Terriers!

The Moulton Journal: Being Close to Nature on Montana's Finest Cross Country Ski Trails

My daughter, Emily Munday, looks forward to a ski outing or two when she is home from college in the winter. I can see why. In part, it is the physical experience of aerobic exercise in fresh, cold air. There is also a chance to commune with nature through quiet, muscle-powered locomotion--observing various tracks, laughing with the chattering pine squirrels, flushing the occasional grouse, watching the big cow moose that lives in the meadow below the parking lot, and knowing the niches where lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce, and Douglas-fir make their home. The Moulton ski trails greatly enhance this experience. They are narrow, winding, and vary constantly in grade. "Attention must be payed."

Here's Emily on Little Nipper:

Like all trails at Moulton, it takes its name from a mine or mining term. Nippers were the guys (often boys or young men) who sharpened tools and brought them to miners in locations throughout the mine. Because of their travels, they were also the "newspaper" of the mine. At The Moulton, Little Nipper is a delightful, intermediate loop for classical or skate skiing.

Here's Emily preparing to descend Widow Maker on the Big Nipper trail:

"Widow maker" had at least two meanings. It was a loose plate of rock on the roof of a drift or stope that might fall and crush a miner; and the term was also used for the pneumatic (compressed air-powered) drills that created clouds of dust that caused "miner's lung" or silicosis (also known as a Buzzy--the name for another Moulton trail). At The Moulton, it's part of the challenging Big Nipper loop--as indicated by the trail signs.

Snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) seem to prefer the spruce and willow habitat of Big Nipper. All but the ear tips and eyes turn white in winter, they are largely nocturnal, and so they are seldom seen. But their tracks are very distinctive, and the big feet help them travel over snow and elude predators such as coyotes whose feet punch through the snow:

One of the joys of hiking or skiing with Emily is that she notices things that most of us speed past or take for granted. Here, she pointed out the mouse that had been coming & going from its den beneath a rock:

Good luck back at college, Em. And bring back a few new bumper stickers for the Land Rover. The ones you decorated it with in high school are wearing a little thin:

The Moulton Journal: Winter Solstice Party, Moonlight Ski

How often does the Winter Solstice occur with a full moon? With that happy coincidence this year, and a dump of fresh snow, a large group of friends converged on Don & Andrea Stierle's ("DnA") cabin at The Moulton. Highlights of the party included food (of course), dancing naked around a pyre (well, just kidding about that naked dancing), and moonlight skiing. Here's Andrea, the gracious hostess (for info on DnA's research, see the recent New York Times article at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/us/09pit-.html):

At least one of two things is necessary, I think, if you are going to live in Montana. ONE, you need to like snowy, cold weather and the kind of outdoor activities (such as skiing) that go along with it. And/or TWO, you need a good circle of friends with whom to socialize. Without at least one of these, you will gradually succumb to cabin fever as the blustery storms of November turn to the long dark days of December, or when the bright and sunny but frigid cold days of January and February turn to the brief false hopes of spring that come in March, or when winter settles back in for the duration of April only to give way to renewed false hopes of spring in May which leads to a big snowstorm in June that bends your lilac blossoms to the ground.

Here are some of those friends, heading outside and circling a large pile of beetle-killed lodge pole pine slash:

Don't stand too close--that's Bill "The Pyromaniac" Macgregor dancing around the woodpile, pouring on the gasoline (we really should do an intervention next year, and hand him a can of #1 diesel instead):

Feel the burn. Without the annual winter solstice pyre, the days would grow shorter and shorter as the light of the sun and all are hopes grew dimmer and dimmer. Next thing you know, we'd all be building religious shrines on the ridges, such as "THEIR Lady of OUR Rockies" (see http://www.ourladyoftherockies.com/). Thankfully, that's not happening. This crowd will settle for a good old pagan bonfire:

And a ski, helped out by the Good Samaritan Groomer (aka Paul Sawyer) who spent that morning laying down the corduroy. Turns out there wasn't much moonlight, thanks to a heavy cloud cover that helped keep temperatures at a reltively balmy 8 or 10 deg F. Here's Butch Gerbrandt, Emily Munday, and RTD at Amalgamation Junction:

At the Winter Solstice we are like Robert Frost's traveler (or Emily), standing long and contemplating alternative futures for the New Year. All good wishes for whatever path you take:

Emily Munday, Boston University Terrier

Sorry folks, but a Papa has to brag. Daughter Emily had a nice write up appear in our hometown newspaper today:

from http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2007/02/19/sports_professional/hjjcjhiajigaid.txt :

Munday finds stroke in Boston

Former Butte Tarpon and Butte High School swimmer Emily Munday recently competed for the Boston University Terriers in the American East Conference Championships in Boston. In two races, Munday met up with Missoulian Colleen Miller, who now swims as a sophomore with the University of Maine.

On day one, the Terrier women’s 200-medley relay team tied with the University of Maine in a time of 1 minute, 48.31 seconds for third place. Freshman Ali Chester swam the opening leg of the race, followed by senior Lidija Breznikar, Munday and senior Marina Morie. Munday swam the butterfly leg of the race in 25.92 seconds.

On day two, the BU women’s 200-freestyle relay team of freshman Brigette O’Shaughnessy, Munday, Morie and sophomore Eve Kinsella swam to a first-place finish, breaking a 23-year-old team record in the process.The 200-free relay time was just seven one-hundredths shy of breaking the American East Championship record, as the team clocked in at 1:35.98. Munday swam a 24.02 in her leg of the race. Miller clocked a 25.09 and her University of Maine team finished in fourth place.

On day three, Munday earned points in finals in both the 100-meter butterfly and 100-meter backstroke. She took fifth place in the butterfly with a 58.08 and seventh in the backstroke with a 1:00.74.In the butterfly, teammates O’Shaughnessy and senior Tanaz Irani took sixth and eighth in 58.16 and 58.81, respectively. In the backstroke, BU’s Chester placed fourth with a time of 59.27.

On day four, the Terrier women’s 400-meter freestyle relay team placed second with a time of 3:30.16. O’Shaughnessy led off, followed by Munday, Morie, and Kinsella. Munday clocked a 53.39. Miller swam with the University of Maine relay team, this time to a fifth place finish and with an individual time of 53.68. Munday also won the “B” heat of the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 53.42. Teammate Kinsella won the “A” heat with a 51.27.

Overall, the Boston University women finished second in the seven-team field. University of Maryland took first place honors, and last year’s champion University of New Hampshire finished third. The University of Maine finished in fourth place.