The groundhog Balzac Billy saw his shadow on Feb. 2 but we enjoyed genuinely spring like conditions at the High Noon Hills on Feb. 4. We walked up the first hill on concrete-hard snow, which was just as hard when we got back, but on the sunny slopes the water poured off in the afternoon, and it got muddy. On the highway we saw moose, coyote and two deer, and on the hike a moose carcass. On the highest hill we had lunch with spectacular views, warm sun (12 degrees), blue sky and not a breath of wind. To our amazement we actually found some blades of green grass on the south facing slope. We weren't sure if they were survivors from last summer or if the warm weather caused them to sprout.

We all went down the switchbacks to the Sheep River canyon, where we walked up the ice to the mouth of Long Prairie Creek. This was the crux of the hike, as we side hill gouged up the side canyon, crossed another side canyon over the ice flow on the bottom, and followed the ridge to close our loop. From the first hill we spotted an old house, near the creek far below, which would make an interesting point to find, perhaps on a new route to the Sandy McNabb Hills.

We met a family with cute little kids and friendly border terrier on the last hill, and were back to the cars at 3:15. Participants: Barb, Carolyn, Dee, Jennifer, Ursula, Robert, Joe and Carl, coordinator and scribe.