Bear Paw Meanderings

As long as the weather stays above zero and there is a tad of snow on the ground, it is a perfect time to get out to Beaver Creek Park and take advantage of winter conditions out there.

Take sledding. There are several hills that are perfect for sledding. One is at the turn to go to Sucker Creek and another is at the Taylor Road turnoff. There are long slopes with not extreme steepness, good snow cover most of the time and it is just fun to go out with the family and enjoy sledding other than the College Hill in Havre or your own private hill that only you and your family know about.

I will never forget when I was a boy, in our Second Avenue neighborhood, we had the granddaddy of all sledding hills and not only that but it was fraught with danger. At that time Second Avenue ended with a road going up to the married students housing at Northern. We would start at the top of that hill, roar down Second Avenue, shoot through Tenth Street and try to get part way up the next Second Avenue hill on 9th Street and Second Avenue. The danger came from Tenth Street which at the time was the highway to Great Falls and very busy. We had to get across that highway without getting hit by a semi. Very dangerous.

But, I digress.

I love to take the dog and walk along Beaver Creek this time of year and walk though Beaver Creek meadows. All are very beautiful. A word of caution. Keep your dog on a leash. There is trapping in Beaver Creek Park right now and you don’t want your dog to get tangled up with a trap.

However, around dawn and dusk is a very good time to watch beaver out and about getting wood and always building something or gathering food supplies. Nothing more busy than a Beaver Creek beaver this time of year.

Higher in the Beaver Creek canyon, the snow is deeper and that affords splendid snowmobiling and cross country skiing this January. Remember, though one night of a chinook and nothing I have written is right anymore, so check on conditions before venturing forth. I imagine the ski bowl will be opening if the lack of chinooks holds up which is another great place to enjoy a Bear Paw day. What is it they say? Knee deep, cheap and steep. It is a good place to ski when it gets open.

What I liked to do when I was interested in winter sports in the Bear Paws was to get a crock pot going on the back of the stove with a wonderful mulligan of some kind and have it done when I got back to it after a day of having winter fun. Maybe making a chicken stew and then when getting home, and while having a weekend martini, adding dumplings to the crock pot and having it turn into glorious chicken and dumplings. Nothing better in January than that meal.

My dad, when he stayed in the Bear Paws for a weekend in the winter, put what he called a New England boiled dinner on the back of the old range to cook for the day. It was about like corn beef and cabbage but instead of corned beef it featured a big piece of ham as the meat for the dish. Boy was that good.

As a matter of fact, never was there a bad meal in the Bear Paws as one old timer used to say. That held true for cooking at home after a day in the Bear Paws as well. So, now I am hungry.