Westward Ho - ho ho ho....

It’s a white Christmas out here in the wild west!!
As we have for the last three days, we awoke before dawn this morning to discover the landscape outside our bunkhouse window blanketed in white. Snowflakes swirling above the rail fence and the thick snow filling in last night’s footprints on the stoop told us to go back to bed.
Where was Santa? Like the elusive big cat we’d been hunting for the last three days in the White Cloud range, the fat old bearded fool was nowhere to be found this morning. His sleigh was likely delayed somewhere on the East Coast, or he was drunk somewhere and pissed off about the economy. But we didn’t care. We weren’t out here in Central Idaho for the toys.
And although it was perfect weather for Christmas, the nighttime snow storm was not so perfect for mountain lion hunting. And Ryno was determined to take down a big one with his bow.
According to Ryno’s good friend Mike Scott, a seasoned guide who’s hunted this range that surrounds the Salmon River for 30 years, tracking would be near impossible this morning. If the fresh fallen snow was covering over our footprints here, than it was doing the same damage to any tracks the fearsome predator we were seeking had made during his nighttime rounds higher up in the drainages. When the mountain lions hunt during the night, taking elk and mule deer, they leave tracks in the snowpack that indicate where they have roamed in the 15 to 20 square miles or so of rugged territory they call home.
Experienced guides like Mike can spot those tracks and set their dogs on them. Once the dogs get the scent, they can usually find the cat, chase it down and tree it. But if there are no tracks to be seen, then it is impossible to find a tommy. Today we’d have to wait out the storm back at the Scott’s ranch.
We’d had good tracking weather the last three days, after a late start to Idaho’s winter that came with a series of small storms that dropped snow in the week before we arrived. And although we hadn’t seen any lion tracks, we saw lots of game moving down low during the three days we spent driving up and down forest roads and hiking and climbing the steep drainages in between the mountains in single digit temps. Predator tracks were everywhere, including coyotes, bobcats and wolves.
But no lions yet.
The break would do us good. We’d flown ourselves into Salt Lake City and joined our ski buddy Mike Budj at Snowbird for some turns. The Bird was getting hammered with snow, and with more to come, I wasn’t too upset about trading in my boards for my backpack and snow hiking gear. Besides, a bit of avalanche control work might open some more terrain in time for our return.
We had plans to come back after the hunt and ski the Wasatch. My buddy extreme skiing icon Dean Cummings promised to take Ryno out to shred his steepest stash and give him some pointers on Back Country skills and protocal when we returned to civilization. And we have reservations for New Year’s Eve in my favorite town, Park City, where we’ll start off 2009 tearing up the deep pow.
But first we have to get a cat. Today we’ll rest and wait for the game to move. Hopefully, a lion will follow.
Stay tuned – I’m not lugging my camera around in my pack for nothing!

ELK MOUNTAIN OPENING

Elk is open!

I can't believe it's winter already. Last year at this time I was riding my mountain bike in shorts and wishing for snow. This year I haven't even put away my summer gear yet and already I've got more skiing days in than I can count on my fingers. Better yet, it's just barely the second week of December!

How are we so lucky?

According to Gregg Confer, Elk's General Manager and expert snowmaker, its because we've had really cold temperatures that Gregg and his crew were able to take advantage of and fire up the snowguns early.

And the crew at Elk has blasted the mountain for weeks now. Susquehanna is plush from top to bottom, as is upper Tunkhannock, also open. To see what else is open each day check the website at http://www.elkskier.com/

I've been on the snow several times this past week since Wednesday's opening and believe me, the conditions have been excellent for early season. The snow is thickly laid out and meticulously groomed.

Any rain events don't even effect the mountain the base is so good right now. And with temps in the 20s at night, Gregg hopes to have the entire mountain open for the holiday week. I am looking forward to seeing it.

As for the crew, they've been busy too. Cheryl and Rosemarie were taking season pass photos in the office and the guys at the guard house were hanging out and practicing traffic control maneuvers.

Of course I was tickled to see some old friends and got a few runs in with Klover on the first day. And what opening week would be complete without Bonk? We skied with him on Sunday.

Next week I'll shoot a segment with the Ski Patrol to air on January 4. Then after that, I'll offer up the Elk Mountain Ski report on our FOX 56 ten o'clock news every Thursday and Fridays.

And each week on The Great Outdoors show I'll take you skiing and riding at Elk, my home base. The folks at Country Ski and Sports will show us the latest and greatest in equipment and clothing and offer lots of good advice. It's going to be a great season with lots of the white stuff and the cold temperatures to keep it. That's according to the Farmers Almanac.

So stay tuned - and tune those skis!!!!!!