Hall Peak viewed through Refuge cattails. (Keith Hammer photos)
Fourteen Swan Rangers hiked and snowshoed Bog Road in the Swan River Wildlife Refuge under blue skies on Saturday, January 18, 2014!
The snow was mostly boiler plate in the morning cold, except when one would occasionally break through to the knees!
The Rangers saw a coyote and a weasel that had been killed by a coyote, as well as tracks of elk, bobcat and smaller critters.
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Up, up into the storm clouds! (Keith Hammer photos)
Nine Swan Rangers skied Peters Ridge Road under threatening skies on Saturday, January 11, 2014!
With true Ranger charm (or dumb luck), the outing took place between morning drizzle and an afternoon rain!
Click here for a free Forest Service PDF map of Peters Ridge Road and Trail.
Click here for Flathead National Forest District maps (free as PDFs).
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A Swan Ranger checks signs of wildlife along the narrow closed road! (Keith Hammer photos)
Ten Swan Rangers skied the Peterson Creek Road on a snowy Saturday, January 4, 2014!
The snow was fresh and still coming down, so the Rangers skied as far as the first creek on the Peterson Creek Trail as well!
Click here for a free Forest Service PDF map of Peterson Creek Road (a.k.a. Bear Creek Road) #5398 and Trail #293.
Click here for Flathead National Forest District maps (free as PDFs).
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Families and friends at the first fork in the road! (Keith Hammer photos)
Fifteen Swan Rangers broke into several groups, skiing and snowshoeing various loops and returns in Krause Basin on Saturday, December 28, 2013!
With family home for the holiday, it was a cheerful romp through the hemlock forests. Though there was sign of moose, there was sadly no sign of woodland caribou that favor wet hemlock forests but are thought now absent from the Swan Range.
Click here for an excellent article on woodland caribou and a look at their saucer-sized feet that keeps them atop the snow pack.
An old network of roads in Krause Basin, snowed in during winter and great for skiing and snowshoeing, are shown on the Swan Lake District Map.
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Crossing South Krause Creek. (Keith Hammer photos)
Eleven Swan Rangers skied a loop in Krause Basin on a sweet and snowy Winter Solstice!
They skied up North Krause Creek and down Peters Ridge road in nearly a foot of champagne powder!
An old network of roads in Krause Basin, snowed in during winter and great for skiing and snowshoeing, are shown on the Swan Lake District Map.
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Swan River (Keith Hammer photos)
Thirteen Swan Rangers skied Bog Trail through the Swan River Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, December 14, 2013!
They saw river otter, swans, geese, hawks, ravens, and tracks of many a small rodent!
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Swan Range, Swan River, cold shiver! (Keith Hammer photos)
Six Swan Rangers hiked along the Swan River upstream from Bigfork on Saturday, December 7, 2013.
They ignored the advice of their breakfast waitress and braved the sub-zero temperatures to get a bit of fresh air and exercise!
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Sunny smiles on a cloudy day! (Keith Hammer photos)
Fourteen Swan Rangers hiked the Peters Ridge Road on a slightly drippy Saturday, November 30, 2013!
In several miles of hiking the snow depth increased from a skiff to gator-deep!
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Sunshine and blue sky in the old burn! (Keith Hammer photos)
Nine Swan Rangers hiked and snowshoed the Switchback Trail to get nice views on a sunny Saturday, November 23, 2013!
They turned around about midway through the area the Forest Service burned years ago to help restore whitebark pine.
This is a good trail to keep in mind with valley fog and inversions in the forecast, as it offers a mid-elevation trail head still reachable by four-wheel-drive, boot hiking to the burn, and great above-fog views while snowshoeing or skiing the burn!
Click here for a map of Switchback Trail #725.
Click here for Flathead National Forest District maps (free as PDFs).
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Got gators? The snow appears to be very deep! (Keith Hammer photos)
Eleven Swan Rangers hiked and snowshoed into Cottonwood Bottom in Krause Basin on Saturday, November 16, 2013!
The snow in Krause Basin is a good 18" deep - knee deep even when not posing on one's knees!
Two Rangers on snowshoes broke trail and the rest followed on foot.
While there is no Forest Service map specific to Krause Basin, the Swan Lake Ranger District map shows most of the trail/old road network in Krause Basin.
Click here for Flathead National Forest District maps (free as PDFs).
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