On this Monday, the snow conditions in Western Montana are not so good. The Crystal Theatre at Lolo had 2-4″ of fresh surface hoar over punchy, grabby styro. Schoolroom conditions for someone of my modest abilities.

Conditions were good for foto-ing.

I hoped to hit the bunny slope for some mellow turns through the thin trees on the best snow available. (The BS faces dead north, and holds soft the longest.) Dropping in, the trees seemed much bigger and much closer together than I recalled. Darn, I am skiing badly, I thought. Reaching the bottom, I realized my mistake: all my trips to the area last winter featured 4-6 more feet of snow.

Rutrow.

It was a day for errors. If I had been mountain biking, I would have had three flats and an endo. Besides the closer conditions and tougher snow, it mysteriously got much warmer the moment I parked and suited up. I was sweating like crazy with no good way to delayer without freezing. Additionally, for 3/4 of the photos I took (including the top two), I was inadvertently shooting +1 stop. Duh, that little “+1” indicator does mean something.

But still, good to get out, see stuff, and get some exercise. Never fails.