Lacey Middlestead is a Montana native and freelance writer currently living in Helena, Mont. She loves meeting new people and helping share their stories. When she’s not busy writing articles for newspapers like the Independent Record and Helena Vigilante, she can usually be found indulging in her second greatest passion–playing in the Montana wilderness. She loves skiing and snowmobiling in the winter and four wheeling, hiking, boating, and riding dirt bikes in the summer.

With the temperatures creeping upwards and hovering at a gentle 50 degrees and only a mere dusting of white left on the tippy tops of the mountains, it seems hard to deny that Mr. Punxsutawney was indeed correct this year in predicting an early spring.

But it’s not quite spring yet.

Right now we are in the limbo phase between the chill of winter and the vibrant blooms of spring. It tends to be one of the most frustrating times of the year for me. While part of me longs to dawn bare feet all day again in my flip flops and drive with the windows down, I also secretly wish for another few runs down the ski hill or to make another attempt at learning to sidehill on my sled. Unfortunately, the current state of the weather prevents me from doing much of any of the above. There’s hardly enough snow left to play in but it’s still not warm enough to embrace the idea of many springy activities either.

Early spring is an interesting time for everyone, it seems. Most days when I’m driving around town, I usually spot the eternal optimist driving around with his snowmobile in the bed of his truck or pulling a freshly washed enclosed trailer. There are also the overly anxious ones headed for the mountains with their dirt bikes or mountain bikes tied down in their vehicles. Because lingering snow be damned…..they’re going riding!

Whether you love it or hate it though, spring is definitely a busy time of year for everyone. For us motorized toys lovers, spring is the time to change fluids and use a little elbow grease to polish everything up for the first ride. After all, when that first perfect spring day finally hits, you don’t want to waste a minute of it on logistics. For homeowners, it’s a time for busting out the yard tools and priming your yard to become a lush green haven in the months to come. Many of us start looking ahead to adventurous summer plans and begin booking camp sites at state parks. Ultimately, we just try to busy ourselves in some sort of way while we wait for winter to finally retreat and the full effects of spring and summer to descend.

Spring is a hopeful and opportunistic time that gently ushers us from one season to the next…..one phase in life to the next. This year, spring is especially hopeful for me as my husband and I will soon be moving into our first home together. So as sad as I am for the early disappearance of snow, I’m anxiously awaiting all the new joys that spring will bring with it.

Wildlife advocates and environmentalists say a proposal to lift protections for Yellowstone-area grizzly bears is premature.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday that the large predators have recovered from near-extinction across portions of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.

The announcement covers an estimated 700 to 1,000 bears in and around Yellowstone National Park.

Sylvia Fallon with the Natural Resources Defense Council says lifting protection would halt the species' recovery and prevent the animals from spreading into new areas.

Other groups also voiced concerns, saying the grizzly population faces emerging threats from the loss of key food sources and the high number of bears killed over conflicts with humans.

Removing protections would allow the states to hold the first trophy grizzly hunts since the 1970s. A decision is due within a year.

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Angela Jamison is a native Montanan and she grew up in beautiful Bozeman. I'm the mother of two girls and write a blog about our life here and taking in the simple pleasures of family and food.

A few years ago I finally figured out the key for me to enjoy winter in Bozeman was to not let the season stop me from getting outdoors. I used to think hiking was only for the summer months…when the air was warm and the trails were bare and dry. Then, we had a mild winter and because of that I continued to venture up to the mountains later into the season. One time led to another and then another and before I knew it I was full on into this winter hiking thing. Suddenly it didn’t seem so long between seasons and I found the amazing beauty that comes with a snow filled trail. For one, they are quieter. There are little to no tourists on the trails (those that are here are staying up in Big Sky most likely) and the locals that are on them aren’t the fair weather kind. They’re the ones, like me, who realize we can hike 365 days out of the year around here! The trails are also quieter because in the cold everything sounds calm. There aren’t birds chirping in every tree…just your boots crunching on the snow. It is so very peaceful. I continued to enjoy these hikes with the same ease I did in the summer time…simple and easy, throw on your boots and hit the trail. Maybe add an extra layer or two and you’re good to go. I noticed people on the trails wearing yak tracks or spikes on their shoes and thought it seemed odd. If you couldn’t handle a little ice and snow on the trail then wait until spring. Silly me.

I think I was resistant in the beginning because like I said, I loved the ease of hiking. The hobbies I am into require no more than one thing…yoga-grab a mat…reading-just a book…drinking wine-you only need a glass…hiking-put on your boots. If something gets more complicated than that I lose interest. (Seriously, I get annoyed at yoga when they ask us to grab blocks and a strap). Having to go to the store to buy something else to get up a trail seemed unnecessary. Yes, occasionally I found a trail a bit precarious, but I just took my time. When the whole family went hiking it became a bit of a joke. Husband complaining that I only liked taking them on trails that were crazy icy and kids thinking it was a new form of ice skating/sledding scooting down a trail on their booties. I heard co-workers and friends rave about the ease of hiking in yak tracks, yet still held back.

This year I gave in. I finally realized that if I wanted to continue to hike throughout the winter I needed to be better prepared. A couple months ago I headed to the M for a quick hike up. I only got a couple of feet up before realizing there was no way I was going to make it up, it was too icy. I hung my head, turned around and passed two older ladies strolling up in yaktrax as if they were mall walking. Hmmm…maybe there was something to this. Not wanting to give up the beautiful morning I went across the street to Drinking Horse, thinking that it gets less traffic and maybe wouldn’t be quite so icy. It was promising at first, but halfway in, things got dicey. I didn’t want to turn around so slowly, slowly I made my way up…moving to the side every so often so others could pass me (in yaks of course). The way down was comical…trying to go slow but then hitting a patch of ice and reaching out for the closest tree to stop my fall. By the end of this morning I had made my mind up…it was time.

The next week I made my maiden hike in yaktrax. I was ready to test them out, only to be met by a trail that was freshly covered in snow and in no way needed yaktrax. I immediately went back to my old way of thinking that they were unnecessary. Next one was up in Big Sky where we got to a point where the snow was so deep we were post holing and I ended up losing one (not to worry, we found it on the way down!) Finally the next week I made it back to the M, knowing it would be the ultimate test. I breezed my way up the icy trail and knew I was fully converted to being a fellow yaktrax user. Not to say there wasn’t still comedy in my hike…on the way down one of them shot off my foot like a rubber band and went tumbling down the mountain side, Cheryl Strayed-losing-her-boot-in-“Wild”-style. I went chasing after realizing it was only the third time I’d used them and the second time I’d almost lost one. (Perhaps I need the kind with a strap??) I suppose winter hiking is always slightly comical…whether I’m sliding down a mountain or chasing a yak track…as least the trails are quiet so no one sees me.

It took me awhile, but I get it. If you want to get out and enjoy Montana in the winter, there is more needed than in the summer. It’s just too bad that now that I’m a yaktrax believer, the trails are quickly going bare from all the unseasonable weather we are having. Oh well, there are many winters to come…