We’ll, better late than never. Over the past 24 hours, a powerful Pacific Storm has finally decided to muscle its way along a more northern track, dumping a foot or more (yes, you read that right!) of the white stuff in some of the highest reaches of Idaho and Montana. Near the remote headwaters of the Salmon River in the upper Sawtooth Valley in central Idaho, the storm may have dumped as much as three feet of fresh white powder, the good folks over at the Sawtooth Avalanche Center in Ketchum report.

Of course, with heavy spring snow and the gusty winds that have accompanied it, stark danger awaits the backcountry adventurer who sets out in search of fresh turns in this newly awakened ski season.

“Eighteen to 24 inches of new snow in 36 hours combined with strong winds has obviously added a significant load to our snowpack,” Sawtooth Avalanche Center forecaster Chris Lundy wrote in his advisory today. “Even though it is spring, our current snowpack stability is more like it usually is around Christmas and New Years.”

Lundy had a lot more to say in his advisory today, all of it good advice. Check it out (and the archives of past Sawtooth Avalanche Center advisories) here.

Up here in Montana where I’m poised to begin graduate school, things aren’t much different. The cold front has brought heavy rains and wet sleet to Missoula and fresh snows in the high peaks. Looking up to the mountains surrounding town today, I enjoyed the stark white line that split our grassy foothills to the east and north of Missoula in half. Higher up in the Rattlesnake Wilderness-the high peaks you see when looking north of town-the fresh white stuff is even more apparent.

So, let me be among the first to say hello to you Old Man Winter. It’s very nice of you to drop by. Will you be staying long?

For you folks down in Idaho’s Sun Valley area (and that includes my wife, Elizabeth, who joins me here in Montana at the end of May, days before she begins her professional photography program. Hey babe!), the National Weather Service had this to say about this late-arriving winter storm on Tuesday evening. “Expect heavy snow to continue above 6,000 feet today in the central mountains and today and tonight in the eastern highlands. Winter storm warnings have been issued for these areas.”

“Expect windy conditions to continue today as a cold front moves through southeast Idaho,” the weather service added Tuesday. Looking forward, the forecasters are saying to expect mountain snow showers and valley rain to continue off and on through Sunday.

Here in western Montana, the weather service is calling for the snow to continue on and off through the remainder of the week in the higher elevations. Down lower in the valleys, continuing rains are expected.

Federal wildfire managers across the northern Rockies states of Idaho and Montana must all be crossing their fingers that this weather system continues. Until this week, poor snowfall totals have left the region with snowpacks that vary little. For the most part, they’ve ranged from just 50 to 60 percent of normal. That doesn’t bode well if the dry weather should continue.

Click here for an article I recently wrote for Sun Valley’s Idaho Mountain Express newspaper that considered the potential consequences of these dire snowpack numbers.

However, as of Tuesday morning, the regional snowpack statistics kept by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) showed a significant jump. In the Big Wood Basin-which stretches from Galena Summit south past the Sun Valley Ski Resort to the Magic Reservoir on the Big Wood River-the overall snowpack percentages jumped from about 60 to 67 percent of normal in just a day’s time, according to the NRCS. Of course, that’s still far below normal, but it’s better than nothing.

Snowpack figures are showing similar spikes elsewhere throughout Idaho and Montana. I’ve been imagining smoky skies blanketing the northern Rockies this summer. I’m sure I’m not alone in that. These fears may yet come true. Hopefully Old Man Winter will pull this one out at the last minute.

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“To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” –Mahatma Gandhi

It's not much, this small plot of dirt will serve as our vegetable garden here in Missoula, Montana. That's okay–it will be an adventure.

This week marks the inauguration of our tiny Missoula kitchen garden. On Sunday–which turned out to be a brilliant sunny spring day–I pulled out two shovels, a hoe and rake and set to work. My assignment: to weed, dig up, loosen and aerate the small irregular-shaped plot of dark brown, western Montana soil we intend to plant in tomatoes, squash, tomatillos, carrots, spinach, chard, onions, beans, garlic, lettuce, potatoes, herbs and more. Hopefully there’s enough space to grow all the vegetables and herbs we jotted down on a scrap of paper during our recent flight north from Phoenix.

To make the most of our tiny space here in Missoula–where I’m set to begin graduate school later this summer­–we’ll also be planting two five-foot by two-foot galvanized livestock troughs and an assortment of ceramic pots large and small. In the midst of all this greenery we’ll set our small bistro table–the perfect spot to toast those warm Missoula evenings with a bottle of vino.

The view from our front porch: lush vegetable garden? We'll see.

Tomorrow, Elizabeth will be ordering the seeds we’ll sow in our small patch of dirt from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (www.rareseeds.com). Established in 1998, Baker Creek sells open pollinated (non-hybrid) heirloom seeds. These old, non-genetically modified varieties hail from growing regions dotting all corners of the globe. If all goes as planned this summer, the ripe harvest we pluck from these plants will be help fuel our continuing journey of forgoing unhealthy, environmentally degrading, over-processed foods. Just think of the difference we’d make in this country if everyone with access to a small plot of dirt, rooftop terrace or sunny balcony would sow a few vegetable seeds of their own each summer.

The benefits­–both economically and physically–would be profound.

So what if I came away from my Sunday gardening chores with an achy back and dried out hands. Strangely enough, I rather enjoyed it. Our rewards–vegetables picked from the side of our walkway that extends out our front door–should nourish us until late fall.

Now if I could just find some compost.

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I stopped by Euphoria Salon in Boise’s Hyde Park neighborhood over the weekend to check out their newest art installation, a series of large-format Alpenglow Press images. We took the photographs during a late-September 2008 visit to the historic Yankee Fork dredge along the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River in central Idaho. On our way to a backpacking trip that would take us to the headwaters of Loon Creek in the nearby Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, we stopped off at the historic mining site for a photo shoot. The detour was well worth our time. (Note: Jason’s article from this trip appeared in Backpacker magazine, “Rip & Go: Loon Creek to Horseshoe Lake – Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, ID”)

We recently worked with Lizzie Stoeger, a great friend of ours who is a stylist at Euphoria, to select a series of photographs showing this interesting piece of Idaho’s mining past. We’re excited by how the large, stretch-canvas pieces turned out. Thanks to Lizzie and Melanie Neal (the owner of Euphoria Salon) for placing our photographs on the walls at Euphoria!

The Yankee Fork dredge was built after tests in the late 1930s indicated that $16 million worth of gold could be recovered from the remote valley of the Yankee Fork, information from the Salmon-Challis National Forest states. Parts for the massive dredge were shipped by train to Mackay, Idaho, then hauled by trucks to the Yankee Fork and assembled in 1940.

The dredge is 112 feet long, 54 feet wide, 64 feet high and weighs 988 tons. It was in operation until 1952. The dredge was powered by two seven-cylinder Ingersoll-Rand diesel engines, which produced the electricity that operated the massive piece of equipment. Seventy-two buckets,each eight cubic feet in size, dug through the river’s gravel ore. Today, one can view miles of mine tailings—long piles of course gravel and rounded river rock—along this tributary to the mainstem of the Salmon River. Thankfully, that era has passed into history.

The Yankee Fork dredge is located in the southern Salmon River Mountains about 13 miles east of the rural community of Stanley, Idaho.

We’d love it if you would take the time to stop in at Euphoria to view our photographs and get a great haircut from Lizzie or any of the other fine stylists who work at the salon. Located in the center of the historic Hyde Park shopping district, Euphoria Salon was voted the number one hair salon in Boise in 2009, courtesy of readers of the Boise Weekly newspaper. Check out Euphoria Salon at www.euphoriasalonhydepark.com.

Elizabeth

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Wilderness captivates me. For as long as I can remember, exploring wild places has played a key role in my life. Heading out on a multiday trek—whether to a remote alpine basin set in a sea of rocky crags or an undisturbed watershed threaded by an untamed river—helps me make sense of the world.

Autumn comes to the cascades of Bear Creek Falls in the Selway-Bitterroot backcountry.

This year, I’m entering a new phase in my relationship with wild places. I feel it’s time I give something back. I was recently asked, and gladly accepted, to serve on the board of directors for a five-year-old nonprofit organization, the Selway-Bitterroot Foundation (www.selwaybitterroot.org). With offices in Idaho and Montana, to cover both sides of the two-state Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, the group is dedicated to on-the-ground stewardship of the 1.3-million-acre wilderness area. This sprawling expanse of protected wild country covers much of north-central Idaho. It also spills over into Montana on the leeward side of the rugged Bitterroot Range just south of Missoula.

Stepping outside to the residential street in front of my temporary home here in Missoula where I’m attending graduate school, I can gaze to the now-snow covered summit of Lolo Peak. This rocky sentinel marks the northernmost limits of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. I’m reminded each day how fortunate I am to live in such a wonderful place as I watch the last light fade behind this remote crag.

The Selway-Bitterroot Foundation’s efforts aren’t focused solely on the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. They also extend out to surrounding forestlands and roadless areas of the Nez Perce, Clearwater, Lolo and Bitterroot national forests. The area covers the Selway and Lochsa river basins in Idaho and the Bitterroot River Valley in Montana. Within this rugged slice of paradise, there are unspoiled old growth forests containing thousand-year-old cedars, the ragged crest of the Selway Crags, remote Meadow Creek and much more.

The Selway-Bitterroot Foundation works with the U.S. Forest Service to help steward this stunning landscape. We take on important tasks like maintaining backcountry trails, monitoring for invasive weeds and repairing old, wind-battered fire lookouts. Our wilderness ranger internship program is another exciting venture. Its primary purpose is to provide on-the-ground mentoring for university-level students who are studying wilderness-recreation management. In 2010, up to six interns will spend the summer working and training in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness under the leadership of the Selway-Bitterroot Foundation and the Forest Service.

One of the things I like most about this organization is its strong record of bringing wilderness lovers of all backgrounds together to protect this special place for future generations. Working side-by-side in this effort are backpackers and mule packers, city dwellers and rural residents.

In my role at the foundation, I will be using my writing and photography background to help shed light on the amazing work that’s happening in the Selway-Bitterroot backcountry due to the dedication of everyday volunteers. I’m certain I’ll be blogging about this new endeavor of mine often. To learn more about our current and future efforts, check out this link to the Selway-Bitterroot Foundation’s winter newsletter, http://www.selwaybitterroot.org/SBF-Winter-2010-Newsletter-Web-Version.pdf.

Jason

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We had a difficult time deciding what to write about in our very first blog. Turns out, it’s not the simple task we anticipated when we first considered starting our own personal online forum for Alpenglow Press.

We hope you’ll follow us in the months and years to come as we write about all the many places, topics, critical issues and people that inspire us. Here are just some of the things you can expect us to be enjoying, following (and blogging about) in our day-to-day lives:

1. Critical conservation issues both here in our home in the northern Rocky Mountains and elsewhere. As passionate environmental writers and photographers, we’re also interested in weighty conservation issues that impact places like the Desert Southwest, the West as a whole, the United States, North America and just about anywhere else on the globe where something catches our fancy. You may find us simply blogging about a topic like endangered wildlife or imperiled landscapes or also linking to an article we’ve written and photographed for another publication.
2. Travel, both domestically and abroad. We feel blessed to have an occupation that requires us to travel. For now, much of our freelance work finds us journeying around the West. As we progress in our careers, we hope our professional adventures will see us traveling in ever wider circles in search of that next compelling story.
3. We appreciate the simple and beautiful things in life. A nice meal created with the best organic and locally grown ingredients. A music festival under the warm summer sun that brings together like-minded types for a soulful day of tunes. Or maybe it’s just our reflections on the changing of the seasons. We’re passionate about life and think you are too. Let us know what’s inspiring you in your life.
4. Elizabeth and I are both entering a new and exciting (and yes, a little bit scary) phase in our lives. My plan is to re-enter university life this fall to begin studying for my masters in environmental science and natural resource journalism at the University of Montana in Missoula. Elizabeth begins a five-month intensive photography program at the well-respected Rocky Mountain School of Photography in downtown Missoula just a few months from now on June 1. We’ll no doubt be learning a lot and have much to say in the months and years to come as our new lives unfold.

The name of our company, Alpenglow Press, has real meaning for us. Here in the magnificent northern Rockies we’re occasionally blessed with the fleeting glimpse of rare alpenglow on distant peaks. We live our lives in search of experiences like these that inspire and sustain us. Our hope is to document these wonderful experiences in print and in photos.

Cheers,

Jason and Elizabeth Belts Kauffman

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