This is Montana after all

The snow that fell during a blizzard early last month has pretty much disappeared across most of the state.

Except here.

The streets in town are still icy and a covering of settled, hard snow blankets the landscape.

I used to take pride in that distinction when I lived in Cooke City. Early snows there tended to hang around until spring, and folks quickly embraced winter, firing up the snowmobiles and dusting off the skis at first chance.

But I no longer live in Cooke, nestled in a mountain valley at an elevation of more than 7,500 feet. I live in Malta where the nearest mountain range is miles away on the horizon, and the snow is more likely to wear out than melt.

With above-freezing high temperatures forecast for the next couple of weeks I hold out hope that the snow will vanish, but as each day passes a little quicker than the day before, that hope is fading.

A month of the bird season remains and in the past snow typically didn’t matter. Some years there was just more of it. This year, however, it’s abrasive enough to cut the dogs’ feet. Ace had four bloody paws following a hunt near town last week.

Even in the afternoon, it doesn’t soften much.

Growing tired of the bleak, Arctic landscape Barb and I loaded up the dogs and left town last week, driving 100 miles east to our cabin on Fort Peck Lake.

We hoped there would be less snow and we weren’t disappointed. Once we crossed the dam and headed south the ground was bare.

I was reminded of the old saying about Montana that if you don’t like the weather, wait 15 minutes, it will change. Except this was a case of if you don’t like the weather, drive a hundred miles.

Ace and I hunted sharptail grouse, on bare ground, and while I wore him out, he didn’t cut his feet. We even took the puppy along. She kept up, didn’t flinch at the shot, and took to it all like a champ.

Snow will soon cover the rest of the state. This is Montana after all. Before the season ends I’ll be pushing through drifts, wishing I was wearing snowshoes. In the meantime I’m sure I’ll be making that trip to the cabin a few more times, if only to walk on bare ground.

Parker Heinlein is at [email protected]