The first cold front with Arctic air has moved into our area for a brief stay bringing colder temperatures and a little snow. It was impossible to resist taking a short hike up to the lower end of Spring Creek to see the new snow on the cedars and to check on the water level in the creek.
Montana Outdoors 
Super composition … the path just invites one into the mystery beyond. I expect to see something or someone peeking out from just beyond the bend.
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Comment by bleysingwest — November 9, 2012 @ 10:11 pm
I have walked hundreds of miles on trails like this one just because of that expectation! “I’ll walk just to the bend in the trail… the top of the next hill… to the ridge on the right…” On this one there are many more tracks made by the animals than by humans.
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Comment by montucky — November 9, 2012 @ 11:47 pm
Brrrr! But oh, so beautiful.
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Comment by wordsfromanneli — November 9, 2012 @ 10:41 pm
The season has changed and I have already begun to adjust to the cold. When the cold wind feels oh so good on my face, I know.
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Comment by montucky — November 9, 2012 @ 11:49 pm
I think it’s supposed to get very cold this next week. Good to hear that you’re ready for it.
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Comment by wordsfromanneli — November 10, 2012 @ 12:37 am
Yes, we’re ready, but it now appears that the coldest part of the weather system is missing us to the east this time. I’m still concerned for folks on the highways though.
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 10:37 pm
What feelings these evoke. Love those paths. I can almost feel what it feels like to be right there. wow. The water, I can almost taste. 🙂
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Comment by Teresa Evangeline — November 9, 2012 @ 10:48 pm
I hike that trail frequently, for obvious reasons, and the stream is a fascination to me. The water photos were taken a mile up the trail. Where the stream bed passes by the trail head it is dry, but when you hike up the trail, suddenly you will start to hear the sound of cascading water.
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Comment by montucky — November 9, 2012 @ 11:57 pm
I feel as though i have gone on a wonderful forest walk, thank you for sharing your walk with us.
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Comment by Tammie — November 9, 2012 @ 11:43 pm
This trail is a treasure that few people seek. It follows the stream up for miles through a cedar-filled canyon of which few people are aware and even fewer visit. And that’s fine with me.
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 12:00 am
Ohhh very nice, very nice… so beautiful =)
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Comment by Tricia — November 9, 2012 @ 11:44 pm
Thanks Tricia. The wildflowers are asleep now, but nature has re-decorated with the snow.
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 12:16 am
Loved the pictures!! Thanks for sharing them!! 🙂
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Comment by Sumithra Sriram — November 10, 2012 @ 12:04 am
Thank you! I’m glad that you enjoyed them!
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 12:17 am
Been on that path with you, Montucky. Very nice photos. The last is my favorite. We got snow too…
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Comment by bentehaarstad — November 10, 2012 @ 5:41 am
Thank you! It is good to see the snow. It is a magical thing, so necessary for the watershed and so beautiful as well.
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 10:40 pm
Pretty. Our water levels here are still ever so low, it makes you wonder if the lakes and ponds will recover. My pitiful (as in NO fish) lake is down about at least 8 feet.
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Comment by Homestead Ramblings — November 10, 2012 @ 5:50 am
The water levels here were quite low too by the time we started to get rain and now snow. It makes one concerned, doesn’t it! I’m hoping for very good amounts of snow in the high country again this winter and the weather now is at least a start, leaving several feet of snow in the high country along the divide.
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 10:43 pm
I don’t like shoveling snow-especially when it’s a roof i’m shoveling, but it sure does make the world a more beautiful place, doesn’t it?
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Comment by New Hampshire Gardener — November 10, 2012 @ 6:55 am
I have shoveled roofs and never did enjoy it! Ours is steel with a steep pitch and what doesn’t just slide off can be moved with a long scraper. Two years ago I bought a snow blower for our rather long driveway and I’m quite glad I did.
The snow is very beautiful in the forests and so vital to the land and the streams, so it si welcome.
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 10:47 pm
That path looks magical……I feel like elves and trolls will jump out at any minute.
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Comment by Roberta — November 10, 2012 @ 7:15 am
The trail is indeed magical, beautiful in the snow and lined with wildflowers in the spring and summer. I haven’t caught sight of any elves, but lots of wild things use the trail. The canyon is a kind of sanctuary for them with running water and good cover to break the wind and snow.
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 10:50 pm
Beautiful, Terry…there’s something about the trail photos that I find so compelling…maybe it’s just that they’re so inviting, but I love them. It snowed here all day yesterday…literally ALL day…and it has started again as I sit here and type this to you, adding to the 4-5 inches in the back yard, and who knows how much in the mountains. Again…beautiful photos…thank you. 🙂
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Comment by seekraz — November 10, 2012 @ 8:15 am
Trail photos are certainly compelling for everyone, especially those who are accustomed to using them. Sounds like you are getting more snow than we’ve had, but you are at a much higher elevation there (we are only 2400 feet in the valley). It is very reassuring to see it!
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 10:53 pm
Oh, yes…we got a bunch of it, Terry…all day Friday, off and on for most of yesterday, and it’s not done today…supposed to be much less here in the valley, but I was briefly up in the canyon today and it was still coming down in bucket-loads. And yes, very reassuring to see all of it…hoping it continues….
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Comment by seekraz — November 11, 2012 @ 11:38 am
The motion of Spring Creek seems poignant somehow with fresh snow on it banks…
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Comment by twoscamps — November 10, 2012 @ 8:38 am
The creek has a lot of motion. It starts in a spring 7 miles away on the slope of a peak nearly a mile above here. It is not always easy to travel the trail in winter but I have always found it worthwhile.
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 10:57 pm
What beautiful images of your wonderland…. Just amazing.
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Comment by FeyGirl — November 10, 2012 @ 9:04 am
I’m just happy that such places still exist and that I live near them.
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 10:59 pm
Vicariously feeling the moisture from your photographs! This was a refreshing post! In New Mexico we are having a front arrive today bringing wind and cold. Many degrees of latitude to the south of you all.
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Comment by C.C. — November 10, 2012 @ 9:31 am
After the summer that you have had I know that the moisture in any form looks good to you. We had a very hot and dry summer here too, one stretch equalling a century old record of 42 consecutive days without any rain. We are hoping for deep snow in the high country this winter.
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 11:02 pm
It’s beautiful, how nice that it’s almost your own private canyon. I bet all that cedar smells good, too. Kind of in touch with all your senses hiking in a place like that. I like the motion of the water you captured.
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Comment by Candace — November 10, 2012 @ 10:31 am
Yes, cedar, fir and pine. The water is pure and good tasting and you can feel the cold from the snow, yet the cold wind of winter is broken up by the thickness of the trees. There are places also under the trees where it is sheltered even from the snow.
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 11:07 pm
Great images Terry..can’t wait till it snows here !!
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Comment by Bernie Kasper — November 10, 2012 @ 11:00 am
I know. When you live in snow country you are usually very glad to see it come, for its beauty and for the water that it will provide for the next summer.
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 11:08 pm
Looks beautiful but bet it is cold!!! 🙂
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Comment by allbymyself09 — November 10, 2012 @ 3:28 pm
Much of our winter is cold here. I consider snow to be a warm thing though, relatively speaking, because the clouds that bring it insulate us from the deep cold from the winter sky, and several inches of snow on the roof is actually good insulation!
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 11:11 pm
So beautiful, thank you. No snow here yet, but winter feels close by.
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Comment by Ellen Grace Olinger — November 10, 2012 @ 3:48 pm
Yes, winter is not far away now. It will be welcome.
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 11:12 pm
Thank you again. I especially like that last shot.
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Comment by jomegat — November 10, 2012 @ 4:37 pm
I’m glad that you enjoy seeing this part of the country. I know you would like these forests!
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 11:13 pm
There is something so special about snow that sticks to the trees. Turns the woods into a magical place. We’ve gotten plenty of hard frosts, but no snow so far–and I do have more yard work to get done before the first snow, so hope it holds off for a bit longer–but am looking forward to snow, eventually!
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Comment by kateri — November 10, 2012 @ 9:33 pm
Most of this snow at the valley level will melt away in the next week or so and I also have more things I want to do before it returns for good. The mountains here should stay white now until July.
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 11:14 pm
absolutely gorgeous! my daughter works at a place called spring creek….no snow; just barbecue!
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Comment by skouba — November 10, 2012 @ 10:58 pm
“Spring Creek” is a much used place name, isn’t it! This particular Spring Creek is not well known at all, but there are many others around that are. I bet your daughter’s Spring Creek doesn’t get the snow that this one does!
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Comment by montucky — November 10, 2012 @ 11:18 pm
I can feel the cold along this trail but what beauty conveyed by your pictures !
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Comment by isathreadsoflife — November 11, 2012 @ 2:56 am
New fresh snow on evergreens is always beautiful, isn’t it!
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Comment by montucky — November 11, 2012 @ 9:08 pm
This appears to be almost exactly the amount of snow we received during our last Gulf Coast “snowstorm”. The snow was heavy and wet and clung to the palms, hibiscus and shrubbery in exactly the same way. I’m continually amazed by the ability of snow to quieten the world, no matter where it falls. I can hear the quite from here.
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Comment by shoreacres — November 11, 2012 @ 7:50 am
This kind of snow is like a blanket. It isn’t all that cold but quiets things down and acts a little like a shelter in the trees.
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Comment by montucky — November 11, 2012 @ 9:09 pm
These are so beautiful and peaceful. I love the running water shots even if it does look cold.
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Comment by Tammy — November 11, 2012 @ 9:33 am
It is getting colder in the canyons. I could see icicles forming along the stream.
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Comment by montucky — November 11, 2012 @ 9:10 pm
I would bet the walk through the woods was wonderful. Solitude, the smells, the peacefulness…
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Comment by dhphotosite — November 11, 2012 @ 2:23 pm
Yes, it always is. There are so many folks who would enjoy it; I wish they could be there!
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Comment by montucky — November 11, 2012 @ 9:12 pm
These are simply stunning! Just magical.
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Comment by Jo Woolf — November 12, 2012 @ 7:02 am
There is much magic in these western forests, Jo! The full extent of its power is felt when one arrives at the sense that the native people had (and some still have) for the wild country.
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Comment by montucky — November 12, 2012 @ 9:08 pm
I’ve got one word coming to my mind for each and every one of these gorgeous photos of yours — refreshing! Honestly, Montucky, your pictures are always inspiring.
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Comment by Mama's Empty Nest — November 12, 2012 @ 6:49 pm
I’m grateful that I am able to live in this beautiful part of the west and that I’m still able to hike alone into the back country and bring back images of the beauty that is there!
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Comment by montucky — November 12, 2012 @ 9:11 pm
Nice photos! I especially like the second water photo. The long exposer combined with the large rocks, moss and dusting of snow make a spectacular image.
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Comment by btweenblinks — November 13, 2012 @ 7:31 pm
That little stream creates some intriguing images in winter. It’s a little hard to photograph because of the cold though.
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Comment by montucky — November 13, 2012 @ 8:44 pm
Wonderfully beautiful !
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Comment by Inspired and pretty — November 13, 2012 @ 9:38 pm
I think the beauty lies in that it is natural forest. The trail was established nearly a hundred years ago to provide an access route for men on foot and horses to a fire lookout on a peak about 7 miles away. The trail is maintained to be suitable for foot traffic and horse and rider, although in places the horse would have to be walked, not ridden. The surrounding forest is completely natural.
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Comment by montucky — November 13, 2012 @ 11:02 pm
Wow – photos!
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Comment by Sartenada — November 17, 2012 @ 4:56 am
Thanks Matti!
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Comment by montucky — November 18, 2012 @ 12:03 am
I love all the colours in these – they are surprisingly varied.
In a forest, when it’s snowed, does it feel warmer or cooler from outside the forest? (If that looks like a dumb question, it probably is.)
)
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Comment by Val — November 17, 2012 @ 6:36 pm
It can be either at different times and for different reasons. I usually associate snow with warmth because it comes from clouds, which actually insulate the earth from the coldness of space.
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Comment by montucky — November 18, 2012 @ 12:12 am
Your last few posts from mid October are beautifully documenting the changing of the seasons. It’s starting to look very cold!
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Comment by Finn Holding — November 24, 2012 @ 3:11 am
We have had a few cold fronts move through but at present it is warm again. Our coldest months though are January and February.
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Comment by montucky — November 24, 2012 @ 10:34 pm