LONE MOUNTAIN RANCH - Day 5 - Feb 7, 2025

DRIVERS EDUCATION: EVERYBODY READY? LET’S GO!

We woke up this morning to a blanket of fresh new snow after last night’s storm. While the morning temperature was a relatively balmy 20 degrees, the afternoon temperature was expected to be about 10 degrees. Our dog sledding excursion was scheduled for 1:00pm - perfect for a day on the trail!

Our driver, Danny, met us at the Outpost at 11:15am for the one hour ride to meet the operators of Yellowstone Dog Sled Adventures. We were bundled up in our warmest gear and ready for adventure.

The two lane highway follows the Gallitan River into the mountains towards Yellowstone National Park. The road conditions began to deteriorate within just a few miles. Snow was accumulating rapidly and visibility was reducing quickly. We passed a big rig that had slid off the road, and soon came upon a pickup truck and trailer that had done the same. 

Danny is a cautious and experienced driver and our 4WD GMC Yukon was up to the task. Eventually, we got off the highway onto what is usually a dirt road. Today it was covered in new snow, which was growing as the storm continued to increase in intensity. We climbed up into a beautiful canyon on the winding road and Danny wondered aloud whether the dog teams would go today. There was seemingly no one else around.

Finally we reached a gate with a cut out image of a dog on a fence post. We turned in and saw a few trucks, a portable outhouse, and several tents. This was headquarters.

The scene reminded me of old photos from the Klondike Gold Rush back in 1899. The old canvas tents had stoves in them and a wood campfire provided the outdoor heat. Dogs and sleds were randomly arrayed about the area. The sound of yelping and barking cut through the blowing snow. 

Danny decided to stay there rather than drive back to Lone Mountain (which is the usual practice) because of the road conditions. We jumped out and went over to the ‘office’ to sign waiver papers.  

Today, there was only one other couple besides Karen and I doing the excursion. Each couple was assigned one sled and a six-dog team. Our guide spent a few minutes going over some dog sled basics, such as, 1) the reason the dogs all looked like a bunch of mutts is because that’s what they are; 2) the idealized vision of majestic huskies and malamutes, etc. doesn’t hold true in actual practice - those breeds are more suited to low sub-zero conditions and would not do well in the ‘warmer’ climate of Montana; 3) the mutts are actually bred specifically for this job and are every bit true Alaskan sled dogs. In fact, these dogs work the winter in Montana and then get transported to Juneau, Alaska to run and work the summer on a glacier, where they do sled excursions for cruise ship tourists; 4) we would be stopping occasionally to keep the dogs from overheating.

As for driving instructions, they were brief and to the point. Stand with a foot on each skid, use the foot brake to slow the sled and to prevent slack in the lead lines, lean into the turns, and NEVER let go of the sled. The basic commands for the team are, 1) everybody ready? 2) let’s go! 3) easy now; 4) whoa! To turn left you yell ‘ha’, turn right yell ‘gee’.

Karen decided to be the passenger for the first leg of the trip and we would switch places for the second. As we got ready to go, the dogs were going nuts. The baying was deafening. The guide had a team in first position, our fellow tourists were second and we were third. A guy on a snowmobile wound around through the woods and shadowed us as a safety vehicle.

When we got the word to go and issued our commands, the sled took off like a slingshot. With the sounds of the teams, the whoosh of the sleds on the snow, and the snowflakes falling from the sky, it felt like we had been transported to another time and place.

After about 45 minutes of twisting and turning through the forest, we returned to headquarters for a 15 minute break. Then, we switched drivers and Karen took control of our sled. 

As before, we took off in a hurry. Karen skillfully led us along the trail. I was surprised at how comfortable the ride was as a passenger. Tucked into my little sleeping bag cocoon, I was very cozy.

We came to a sharp right turn at a moderate pace when the sled suddenly lifted onto its left runner with the right one in the air. I heard Karen say, ‘oh no!’. The sled returned to an upright position and immediately accelerated. In the distance, I could hear Karen’s voice grow fainter as she yelled, ‘stop!’. Locked into my cocoon, I couldn’t see behind me - I just saw the sled ahead of me growing larger as we bore down on it. Our sled was driverless after Karen had been flung from it and lay sprawled in the snow somewhere behind us. The team, sensing a lighter sled, instinctively began to run faster.

The dogs stopped before running into the other sled. The snowmobile came out of the trees and got our team settled down. Karen, who had gotten up and brushed the snow off, soon caught up to us on foot and got us going again. She did a great job overall, and she provided me with one of the more memorable and entertaining moments of our trip. I’m still smiling as I write this.

By the time we finished, the snow had stopped and the sun was coming out. The drive back to the ranch was quick and easy.

We had our final dinner at the Horn and Cantle tonight. I ordered their signature 30oz bone-in tomahawk ribeye steak dinner - a fitting meal after a long day out in the wilds of Montana.

NEXT: Drive to Missoula to meet Jeff and Joanna and finish that steak 

LONE MOUNTAIN RANCH - Day 4, Feb 6, 2025

 SLEEPING IN, GOLF COURSE SKATE SKI, SLEIGH RIDE DINNER 

Late last evening Karen got an email from the dog sled company asking to reschedule today’s mushing excursion until tomorrow. So, we slept in today and had a leisurely breakfast.

Thursday is my usual golfing day. With that in mind, I went down to the Outpost and checked out a pair of skating skis. The trails down in the meadows had been freshly groomed at 3:00am and with the temperature in the teens and low twenties, conditions for skating were expected to be ideal.

Big Sky Golf Course is closed for golfing in winter but is open for nordic skiing. To get there I had to climb some hills and then fly down some curving trails toward the condos and vacation homes surrounding the course. I haven’t been on skating gear in several years, so my adrenaline was pumping by the time I got to the bottom.

There are several trail loops that wind in and around the golf course. Located on the property, are a few historic buildings from the old Crail Ranch. I snapped a quick photo of what I figured was one of the more important of those structures.

Lone Mountain made its first appearance today. It’s been hidden behind snow and clouds most of time we’ve been here.

Tonight we went on the sleigh ride dinner. As we waited to go, we visited the goats who were ‘hogging’ the fire pit.

The two-horsepower sleigh (there were three sleighs, each with about twelve people) took us on a twenty minute ride up the hill to a rustic cabin for dinner. We were greeted at the door by a server who handed out shots of apple moonshine whiskey.

There is no electricity, gas or running water at the cabin. The restroom is a one-person outhouse. Inside the cabin, the lighting is provided by several oil lamps hanging from the ceiling. The heating comes from the huge vintage wood burning stove, which the chef used to prepare the prime rib and all the side dishes and dessert.

Our cowboy entertainment was provided by Bruce. He lives in Helena and drives to Lone Mountain every week and stays Wednesday through Saturday. He sang us several songs, some of them his own, describing life in Montana and the West.

It was very dark and snowing lightly as we rode back down the hill in the sleigh - a great way to end another fun day at the ranch.

NEXT: Dog Sledding 

LONE MOUNTAIN RANCH - Day 3 - Feb 5, 2025

 BLUEBIRD MORNING, BLIZZARD AFTERNOON, IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?

We woke up this morning to blue skies and relatively mild temperatures. Karen stayed snuggled under the covers in preparation for her mid-day massage and spa treatment in Big Sky Village. I grabbed a quick breakfast to get ready for some backcountry skiing.

Down at the Outpost I met my guide, Randy. He’s worked at the ranch for more than 20 years and he’s a native Montanan and an experienced outdoorsman. The third person in our group today was a fellow guest of the ranch, Alexander. Alexander is a medical doctor from New Jersey.

We jumped in a pickup truck and went a few miles down the road to the Porcupine Trailhead. Our plan was to ski a few miles up into the hills and do some exploring. 

The trail was pretty much snowed over from the storm on Monday - except for the fact that some horseback riders had gone up (probably yesterday) and made a real mess of things with their large feet leaving big holes in the snow. This meant we’d be breaking trail through fresh snow adjacent to the trail. It also meant we’d be going slow.

Meanwhile, the wind was picking up and our blue skies gave way to dark clouds and blowing snow. Along with that, the temperature began to drop. There’s nothing like skiing uphill against the wind.

A couple miles in, it was really beginning to storm. I had a chance to split off from the group long enough to climb a nearby hill and try a downhill run through about three feet of fresh powder. I was doing great until I did a face-plant into the soft snow. When I got to the bottom, Randy complimented me on my ‘Wide World of Sports’ performance.

As the weather continued to deteriorate, we decided to turn around and head back to the trailhead. Randy suggested we ski into the more wooded areas in order to avoid some of the wind.

We got to a small dip in the terrain where a creek flowed under the snow. This is a pretty routine occurrence when you’re skiing in the backcountry and Randy led the way down and across it. Alexander was next, and he got off to a good start until he inexplicably veered parallel to the creek. This caused his left ski to plunge downward through the thin layer of snow and ice and into the frigid water. As this was happening, his right ski went into the air and right leg crossed over his left leg. This left him flat on his back against the creek bank with his arms and legs all (as they say) akimbo.

Randy felt bad that he had led one of his guys into this situation and jumped into action to extricate Alexander. It became clear pretty quickly that this was not going to be that easy to do. Alexander’s left ski was submerged and wedged under snow and ice that covered the creek. The right ski was buried under snow on top of the creek. Alexander could not reach either ski to release the bindings. Randy took off his own skis to get down to Alexander but got his own right boot into the creek and couldn’t get to Alexander’s skis so he went behind Alexander to get ready to pull him up onto the bank.

I kept my skis on and made a little bridge for myself near Alexander’s feet. This allowed me to reach down into the creek to feel around for the binding release. Just as I was losing feeling in that hand I got the boot loose from the ski. Then I found the buried right ski and got it loose. Randy pulled Alexander up the bank and we began the search for the left ski. At first, we thought it had flowed downstream with the current because we couldn’t see or feel it under the water. Finally, Randy spotted a glimpse of some bright colors and brought the wayward ski back to the surface. Twenty minutes after his fall, we had Alexander back on the trail.

The wind and snow were really blowing by this time. Alexander’s left boot and Randy’s right boot were full of creek water and I could tell they were anxious to get back to the truck. Randy had Alexander and me go up ahead so he could keep track of us. After awhile we looked back through the blowing snow and could not see Randy. We waited for several minutes until he appeared. He had somehow caught a ski edge, lost his balance, and tweaked his ankle. Fortunately, we were less than a mile from the trailhead and we made it back in short order. I must say that there were a couple of times during all of this that I wondered how Karen was doing at the nice warm spa getting ready for a massage.

The drive back to the ranch was done in whiteout blizzard conditions, but it seemed rather tame to us intrepid backcountry explorers.

Back at the Outpost, Alexander shared some of his ‘Georgia Grape Moonshine’ from a very cool vintage copper hip flask, and Randy told the ski shop staff about our adventure. This was a great way to start the day.

After a quick lunch break, I headed back out to the ranch trail system and skied for the rest of the day. The blizzard blew through and the sky began to clear.

Dinner was great (I will try to cover the food on a future post) and we had a relaxing stroll back to our cozy cabin.

NEXT: Sleigh Ride Dinner 

LONE MOUNTAIN RANCH - Day 2 - Feb 4, 2025

Searching For Muscle Memory, Looking For Balance,  Facing Reality 

After yesterday’s storm, there was plenty of new snow waiting to be skied upon. We were up early to grab breakfast and get ski gear down at the Outpost.

With the boom of avalanche control cannons from the nearby Big Sky Alpine ski area reverberating through the canyons, I headed out to explore the Lone Mountain Ranch nordic trail system. The morning light was flat and gray, making it difficult to see details of the trail surface. This made the process of getting back into proper ski form a little harder. Also, the temperature began to rise above freezing and the snow got a little sticky, which makes for slower going. However, after the first mile or so, it was nothing but fun for the rest of the day. There was hardly anyone else out there. Trails were groomed and in very good shape.

Meanwhile, Karen checked out some of the ranch animals down at the barn and corral.

Towards the end of my 10 mile ski outing, I got to the first sustained downhill section. This is where I realized I need more than just one afternoon to get comfortable staying vertical through these sections. 

When I got back to the cabin, Karen took some video of me skiing up and then down a nearby section of the trail. The shuffling old guy I saw in that video was decidedly different from the sleek and graceful skier I saw in my mind as I was sliding through the snow earlier in the day.

NEXT: Spa Day for Karen, Backcountry Skiing for Steve

LONE MOUNTAIN RANCH - Day 1 - Feb 3, 2025

 Travel Day, Winter Wonderland, Snowy Stroll to Dinner 

The transition from Los Angeles International AirPort to Bozeman Airport is pretty significant in several ways. Leaving a city whose population is nearly four million and landing in a city of fifteen thousand (the entire State of Montana has a population of just over one million!) is striking. You immediately notice the sense of space and the slower pace. Also, there are no palm trees here. 

Our driver, Brad, met us at baggage claim and loaded us into a van for the one hour ride up to Lone Mountain. As we have found in our various travels, it seems like everyone is from California. Brad grew up in Mission Viejo, the location of my high school alma mater. However, there is about a fifty year difference between our respective high school experiences.

We rode up through a narrow and steep canyon that followed the Gallatin River. The temperature was 10 degrees and snow was falling steadily.

We got to the ranch just before dark and made our way to our cabin after a short orientation by the staff.

The Porcupine Cabin is a cozy one room space with a wood stove, heated bathroom floor, and a record player among other creature comforts.

Dinner (all our meals will be there) was at the ‘Horn and Cantle’ restaurant. It is a few hundred yards walk from our cabin. The trail is cut into the three-foot base of snow that covers this part of the ranch. 

The food was great - more on that later, and we met a nice retired couple from Minnesota (Bobby and Sally), who have extensive experience with cross country skiing.

NEXT: Get to the ski shop and hit the trails 

LONE MOUNTAIN RANCH - Preview - Feb 3 through 8, 2025

I began my regular running program more than 30 years ago in order to be ready for trips like this one - five days of cross-country skiing in the high country of Montana. Before then, when I was in my 20’s and 30’s, it seemed like there were more opportunities to just head out into the mountains when there was good snow. 

Getting a job and starting a family has a way of making you readjust your priorities (all for the better, in my case). With ski time becoming less frequent, office desk time increasing steadily, and age 40 creeping up, running became the way to stay in shape for any ski adventures that might pop up. Over the years, I’ve had many great day ski trips with Karen, Alison and Stephanie. And I’ve even managed to occasionally get away on some longer trips with my buddy, George Blakely.

George introduced me to cross-country skiing back in 1971. Over time, we somehow managed to teach ourselves how to get around in the backcountry on the ‘skinny’ skis. With our wooden Bonna 2000 skis and three-pin Troll free-heel bindings, we figured out how to use our backpacking stoves to heat up the skis enough to apply pine tar to the base. Through a sometimes exasperating process of trial and error, we learned the difference between hard wax and klister - and when (and when not) to use them for changing snow conditions. 

A lot has changed over the past 50 years in terms of  both equipment and the popularity of ski touring. And even though I’m not as agile as I used to be, I still get pretty excited when I get the chance to get out on the ski trails.

This week, instead of hibernating in a down sleeping bag for 16 hours a night in a tent in the backcountry, I’ll be sleeping in a nice warm cabin every night. Karen and I will be at Lone Mountain Ranch, where they will bring fresh hot coffee to Karen every morning and where I can ski every day on the 85km network of groomed trails at the resort.

NEXT: Getting there during a winter storm watch