They are highlighted by the last holdouts of snow in sunless folds that define their great windswept vastness. Distant mountain ranges, lonely highways, and cottonwood bottoms help frame such scenes, cutting down the overwhelming immensity of the West into a portion humans can better comprehend. Playing a jumper Along creeks and rivers, leafless willow thickets glow in shades of vermillion, russet, and gold. This bit of brightness immediately draws the eye streamside, where the cold water flows. Ice may still glaze the water along banks in shaded eddies.
Lakes are still frozen, but most moving waters are once again running free, either muddied or clear.
Unseasonably warm temperatures can raise the silt-laden water. There s a lot of snow yet to be melted in the high country. The high point of daily activity in the valley floor at this season might be when the ranch pickup dumps another morning load of hay for the appreciative herd of winter-range cattle. The Cycle of Life Clear spring water calls to anglers, too. Both aquatic insects and trout are becoming more active with the increased daylight and its warming effects.