White Christmas

A snowy holiday season isn't all that unusual in our neck of the woods, but this year we got to share at Dad's house in Portland, Ore., where more than a foot of fluffy stuff fell in the weeks preceding Christmas.

For one guest in particular - my brother Stefan's girlfriend, Mia, who grew up on the far side of Maui - it was the most snow she'd seen in her life. What's a girl to do? She strapped on Jen's snowshoes and took to the backyard, playing in the powder.

For more holiday photos, go here.

Also, check out the videos at right or here.

At last, snow

We received our first real snow of the season - 4 to 6 inches around the yard - unfortunately, we weren't really able to get out and play in it.

When we woke this morning, sometime after 8, it was about 18 degrees. By noon - after a brisk walk with the dogs - it was down to about 14 degrees. And by 6 p.m., it had fallen to 2 degrees, with a wind chill of minus 20, according to Weather.com. (Our house happens to be right off the river in town, too, where the wind funnels through from Hellgate Canyon.)

The temperature's supposed to drop some more Sunday and Monday, so it looks like we'll have to wait till next weekend.

Ice capades

Between our regular errands, Christmas shopping and decorating the house this weekend, we thought we'd take a quick hike up to a small, scenic waterfall in the Bitterroot Valley.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't exactly cooperative - it tried its best to snow, which mostly ended up as rain, and the trail was coated in an icy slush. I think that's the wettest walk I've been on since tramping around Scotland in the fall of 2007.

Still it was good to stretch our legs, even though we didn't end up with much photo-wise. (What you see above is about the extent of it.)

Distance: 3 miles round trip.

Trailhead: From Victor, drive 3.3 miles south on U.S. Highway 93, 2.3 miles west on Bear Creek Road, 0.8 miles north on Red Crow Road and 3.2 miles west on Red Crow and Bear Creek roads.