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Oh My! Just realized that tomorrow is the FIRST DAY OF SPRING! What the heck?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

GROOMED:

• Caboose and Cabin Lanes
• Starlight
• Pileated
• Towering Pines
• Essex Road
• River Trail

6:30am – Good Morning! Another day of sunny skies is in our forecast. It is currently 17 degrees and our high today will be around 47 degrees. It always feels so crazy to start the day out feeling chilled in the brisk wee hours and end the day 30 degrees warmer basking in the sun. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the biggest temperature change in 24 hours was on January 14-15, 1972 in Loma, Montana. On January 14 at 9am it was negative 54 degrees. On January 15, at 8am it was 49 degrees. That makes for a 103 degree difference in the 24 hour period. This was due to a downslope chinook wind event. Prior to this event, the record was held by Browning, Montana with a 100 degree difference.

 

10am – All trails have corduroy on them in the last 48hrs. Dickey Road has been groomed today. The sun is shining and slowly starting to soften things up. Get out there and enjoy this beautiful day.

8am – The groomer is currently on Dickey Road, once that is complete, all trails will have been groomed in the past 48 hours. Will let you know specifics of what was done today when we hear. All trails are firm this morning and will likely soften a bit as our temps warm up today.

6:45am – I know St Patrick’s Day was officially yesterday but the Essex locals are celebrating today! There will be a parade of locals at noon, anyone is welcome to join the parade shenanigans. Throw on some green and enjoy a stroll around Parma.

By the time the parade starts, the sun will surely have warmed Essex up. It is currently 16 degrees and the stars are blazing. We are forecast for a high of 44 degrees and mostly sunny skies. The day was glorious yesterday and is shaping up to be today as well. There are only a few more weeks left of the grooming season so get out and enjoy the sunshine and corduroy while you can! Check back later for a grooming update!

What do you call an Irish spider?

Paddy Long Legs

10am – GROOMED today:

• Starlight
• Caboose and Cabin Lanes
• Essex Road
• Highline
• Essex Creek
• River Trail
• River Loop
• About 1.5 miles of Dickey Road

GROOMED yesterday:

• Pileated
• Towering Pines
• Upper and Lower Dickey Loop
• Spring Hill Down

Essex Local, Tango, enjoying fresh tracks on Upper Dickey Loop, 3/16/2023

6:45am – It is a gorgeous, clear, starry morning with a slight nip in the air. It is 16 degrees. We are forecast a high of 43 degrees and mostly sunny. Check back later for the grooming report.  Have you noticed the snow fleas are out and about the past couple of weeks?

Snow Fleas are wingless insects that are not a flea at all, they are more like crustaceans (crabs, shrimp, spiders, scorpions). They are arthropods, have 6 legs and move by walking and jumping. They are only 2-4 mm long and are around most of the year. Snow fleas are very common but go unnoticed due to their small size and dark color. At this time of year, when the days are warm and sunny, snow fleas make their way up through the snow, likely in search of food so they are easy to spot.

Have fun finding snow fleas on the trails today, they should be abundant.

Happy St Patrick’s Day!!!

9:30 Update: Shaping up into a gorgeous day! The skies are clearing, lotsa blue out there! New forecast…high of 38* and mostly sunny skies.

GROOMED:

• Starlight
• Caboose and Cabin Lanes
• Essex Rd
• Towering Pines
• Pileated
• Spring Hill Down
• Upper Dickey Loop
• Lower Dickey Loop

Happy National Panda Day. I wonder how a Panda Bear would like Montana and if they would be friends with the Bears we have here. Our bears are still hibernating, no sightings heard of yet in Essex or the surrounding areas. They usually begin to be spotted in late March to early April. The Giant Panda is the most well known of the two types of Pandas. Panda bears do not hibernate. They have the digestive system of a carnivore but have adapted to a vegetarian diet, mostly bamboo. They eat for 12-14 hours a day because their digestive system isn’t made to break down plant matter and they have to eat huge amounts to get what they need. There are many more interesting things to learn at wwf.panda.org. All this Panda talk makes me want an Oreo.

Just a few more weeks of the season! Get out here to enjoy it while you can! We have a 45 inch settled base so it should last us til the end of our grooming season. It is currently 22* and cloudy. We are forecast a high of 33* and partly sunny skies. I will report back later with the grooming update.

 

Good Morning!

We got a soft and fine inch of snow here in Essex last night! It’s looking like another beautiful sunny day, too!

Did you know that, according to the internet, the very first version of our modern day bungee-cord appeared in Siberia around 500 B.C.? Travelers used caribou guts strung together as somewhat-stretchy straps to help them carry their loads. Who’d have thunk that those strings of guts would turn into our modern-day, brightly-colored bungee cords used to hold together things like snowmobile drags!

SNOWMO-GROOMED:

• Essex Road
• Pileated
• Highline (DOWN)
• Essex Creek (DOWN)
• Spring Hill (DOWN)
• Upper Dickey Loop

Good Morning!

30* this morning and we are fairly saturated here in Essex; it rained a good portion of the night and *barely*switched to snow before sunrise. No grooming today but our temps are looking favorable later in the week!

Who doesn’t love cold March nights with some beautiful spring-like sunshine? Keep an eye on our reports as it could be a fantastic weekend up here!

 

 

9:45am – GROOMED:

• Starlight
• Caboose and Cabin Lanes
• Essex Road
• Kendi’s Crossing
• Pileated
• Towering Pines
• Highline
• Essex Creek
• Spring Hill Down
• Lower Dickey Loop
• River Trail
• River Loop

6:30am no 5:30am no 6:30am – Daylight Saving Time…It was used on and off in the early 1900s, but there was no standard. For decades, Daylight Saving in the USA was a confusing patchwork of local practices. In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act and made Daylight Saving the standard throughout our country. It was originally used as a way to conserve energy.

I know my energy would be way better if I got my normal amount of sleep last night.

Did you know???????????

It is Daylight SAVING Time, not SAVINGS. It was not intended to benefit farmers, that the agriculture industry was actually deeply opposed to it. Hawaii and Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation) do not observe Daylight Saving Time.

*All DST info was gleaned from history.com*

The moon is waning, you can’t quite tell in the pic below taken this morning but it is. It is snowing gently. It is 17 degrees on the back porch of the Inn. We are forecast for 40 degrees and a mostly sunny day. It is going to be sparkly and gorgeous out there. The groomer is having a good ol time making perfect corduroy for all of you.

9am – BEAUTIFULLY GROOMED

• Starlight
• Caboose and Cabin Lanes
• Spring Hill
• Essex Road
• Kendi’s Crossing
• Highline
• Essex Creek
• Pileated
• Upper Dickey Road
• Dickey Road from Upper Dickey to Essex Road

8am – GROOMED – Starlight, Spring Hill, Upper Essex Rd (to Kendi’s), Kendi’s Crossing, working on Highline, Essex Creek, Pileated (The plan is to leave Towering Pines ungroomed for those of you who love some fluffy pow!) and then maybe some more…..will keep you posted

6:30am – There’s a whole lot of light, fluffy, sparkly snow! We received 5-6 inches over night. The groomer is out and smoothing some of that powder into smooth corduroy. It is currently 13 degrees. We are forecast a high of 33 degrees with a 40% chance of a little more snow. Good Morning.

8:30am – It’s snowing. It’s beautiful. Get the corduroy while you can!!!!

GROOMED:

• Starlight
• Caboose and Cabin Lanes
• Spring Hill
• Essex Road
• Pileated
• Towering Pines
• Highline
• Essex Creek
• and that’s all for now folks……………………………

6:30am – Friday has arrived and the NWS is predicting a storm. The lion continues to bring March in. It is currently 17 degrees. We are forecast a high of 28 degrees and a 100% (yes, they say 100%) chance of 4-8 inches of snow today and more through the night. The groomer is out and freshening up the trails but got out there early if you want to reap the corduroy. It isn’t snowing yet but can start any moment.

 

Why wasn’t the lion honest?

Because then it wouldn’t be a lyin’ anymore.

10:30am update: GROOMED this morn: Starlight, Caboose and Cabin Lanes, Lower Essex Road (Starlight to Dickey), Spring Hill, Upper Dickey, River Trail, River Loop, Dickey Road from Upper Dickey to Essex Road……YESTERDAY: Upper Essex Road (Starlight to Kendi’s), Highline Down, Essex Creek Down, Boy Scout Crossover, Shortcut

This Beautiful Morning!!!!

6am – Happy Thursday. According to nationaltoday.com, it is National Get Over It Day. It is a day to encourage yourself and those around you to self reflect, figure out what is weighing on you and let it go. Let the past be the past, learn from it and move forward. It is currently 6 degrees. We are forecast a high of 33 degrees with partly sunny skis and potential for gusty winds and a wind chill below zero this afternoon. It sure felt good in the sun yesterday! Took the chill right out of the day.

Seems like a perfect set up to work on moving forward…..a little sunshine, a nip to the air and cruising beautiful corduroy on fantastic trails to leave some of the heavy stuff behind you. The groomer is out and an update will follow. In case you didn’t get a chance to see the Worm Moon, I got a great shot for you from Monday night.