When snows cover the hills and cattle have left the rangelands, we go out and walk the “empty” hills watching for wind-swept living trees and old standing snags.   We continue to explore until spring when we leave the ranges for the cattle.

We go across the sagebrush and grass-covered hills to viewpoints, exploring wherever our interest takes us.   On this trip into the hills above Kamloops Lake we saw many old snags.

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On the edges of the hills, trees are sometimes “shaped” by the prevailing winds.   This area gets winds from the west so the trees are mostly bent to the east.

This tree stood in a windy corridor between two hills.

One of the trees on the edge of a hill is now half-snag and half-living tree.

When spring comes, the grasses, shrubs, and trees burst out in greens.   Wildflowers emerge and we expand our hikes into upper forests.