TR: Weekend in Libby.

[porter]

Winds, warmth, and that rarest of meteorological events in a Montana winter -- sun -- conspired for two weeks to ruin the snow around Missoula. Scott and I gave up halfway up Mill Point two weeks ago and Mo, Cassidy, Derek and I rallied up Sweeney last week only to find bulletproof sastrugi while the Bitterroot Valley sat 6,000 vertical feel below.







Sure, I had some decent turns on a sunset run up Marshall







and some nice times in Pattee Canyon after work







but something more was needed. So last Friday I packed the truck, left the Porterette and Lil' Porter with an open tab at Draught Works







and hit the road headed north by west.







I spend the night at Logan State Park, which was left partially open for the ice fishers. In the morning I was up early and headed to Libby. The road to Turner Mountain is 22 miles and snowpacked and icey the whole way. I found the wrong way to begin the morning: face down in Pole Creek.







When a handful of other cars that came around the corner were done sliding into different ditches, eveyone got pulled out. (This being Montana, everyone travels with a shovel, tow rope, and saw.)











Legendary Turner Mountain: open three days a week, wonderfully remote, $37. About 25 cars made it up during the day, meaning there were about 75 people on the mountain.











Turner is 2110 vertical feet served by an ancient Riblet. It's mostly a steep mountain, but not unnervingly so, and there are a handful of groomers that offer top to bottom fall line skiing.















After a mostly full day I went over Flatiron Pass







on the highway to Yaak





(You know it's remote when highway signs tell you what CB channel to monitor.)



one of the Lower 48's more remote settlements, and made an afternoon run.







I stopped by the Red Dog on the way down and talked to some patrollers before driving down U.S. 2 toward Troy and camping in the back of the truck.



Sunday dawned cooler and some snow. A mining company maintains Libby Creek Road into the heart of the Cabinet Mountains, offering suprisingly easy access to serious alpine terrain. This shot was a 45-minute skin from the parking area







After that I called it a day and had a nice snowy drive home.







Maybe that means the skiing around here will improve.

[skipink]

Oh how I've missed the Porter reports. Not many can live up to them. Thanks for giving some inspiration.

[dreamnofpow]

berry nice TR.

[Tmiller72]

He's back!



I've been wanting to ski Turner for several years. Let's rent it out for the day!!

[dj]

Great report. Really gives a sense of being there. Thanks for sharing. Now, to see if the wife would consider moving to Montana....

[davidski]

Great report Porter, thanks for giving us a shot of Montana. And thanks for the info you gave me about Glacier last summer; we ended up in Maine but your tips will be useful sooner or later, hopefully sooner





This picture cries out for a thought bubble:



"What does a guy have to do to get a drink around here? Where the hell is the waitress."

@porter 285939 wrote:

[Zeus]

Sun? In Montana? In the winter? Surely you jest, good sir.



Great TR, Porter.

[swamphox]

Man that looks awesome

[ROYMERCER]

wow, what a trip !!

[RMacSki]

very well done. cheers