A Touch of Winter

It was the kind of snow I love:  in the mountains and not down in the valley.  There oughta be a law, and maybe in the this present political climate, it could be enacted.  

Let's draw up a piece of legislation stating that snow---from this day forth---can reside only at levels above 3,000 feet.  If it comes down this way, we'll just round it up and take it back to the mountains. 

Maybe we could even build a big, beautiful wall to keep it from sneaking too far down our way.  

I think that would be nice.  Then, I'd never complain about winter. 

I actually liked my taste of winter yesterday because we drove to the mountains to experience a fresh blanket of snow, which I noticed had caught a bunch of dying leaves, still clinging to their branches, totally offguard.

Those leaves were hanging in there in hopes of delaying their final demise by a few more days.

We embraced this new snow by driving the Rapid Lightning Creek Road northeast of Sandpoint, same road where the Pack River General Store resides. 

We did not have to drive too far up the road, maybe five miles from the store.  Once in snow country, we came upon more than a million dollars worth of newer logging equipment bound for an area along Flume Creek.  

After passing the equipment, we proceeded up the road and parked in a wide spot where a snow-covered trail led off to the east.  We felt like pioneers in the moment of putting down the first tracks in that snow.  

Liam was downright giddy when he emerged from the pickup, grabbing gobs of snow as he veered to the left and the right down the trail.  He's a young guy, and he has known snow in his life but that was a time way back in his infant months.  

So, I think yesterday's experience seemed to Liam as a first-time winter adventure.  The other dogs enjoyed the hike too, but their maturity contrasted rather sharply with Liam's "kid-in-a-snowstorm" excitement. 

We walked the trail to a culdesac-style opening, all the while maneuvering carefully through branches loaded with white stuff.  Happily, no cold snow dropped down our necks! 

Once back to the pickup, we proceeded slowly down the road.  Bill said he didn't want to continue upward because conditions might worsen.  So, I kinda scratched my head a few moments later when he turned off on the east end of a rather basic Flume Creek Road.  

The road improved, however, as we continued to proceed.  We even drove by the spot where the huge pieces of logging equipment had been moved for their next duty. 

I was amazed to see so many residences in that off-the-beaten track, including the area which was noted by Bill to be Clizer Country, a part of which, back in the 1970s was aka "Huckleberry Duckleberry." 

Are ya reading, Jamie????

That's when I told Bill that I had actually been to what seemed like unfamiliar territory way back in the 1970s when my friends Becky and Marilyn and I cross country skied into Bag End.  

Yesterday's trip offered no recollection of where we had parked or what direction we skied, but I do clearly remember the visit once we reached the Clizer earth home. 

At the time, Janet Clizer was one of my students, a home schooler who attended Sandpoint High occasionally, whenever she could catch the bus.  

She invited me to come up and meet the family. Her father had worked as a veterinarian in Western Washington before moving his family to the woods of remote Northern Idaho.   

Anyway, my friends and I loved our visit with the family.   It was warm, wonderful and somewhat magical; after all, we enjoyed our sack lunches while getting to know the folks at Bag End. 

Since those days, I've known many a Clizer, some as students, and, yes, Jamie checks in on "Slight Detour" from her home in Arizona. 

We really enjoyed our trip to snow country and we hope that through the winter, we'll always have to drive somewhere besides Selle to put tracks in the snow.  

D'ya think Congress can do something about that?  Makes sense.  The mountains need snow; the folks down below----not so much.

I think I'd better draw up some legislation.  

In the meantime, Happy Thursday.  I hope you enjoy the photos.