Sheep so soft and warm

I know what you're thinking: Hey Chris, tell us another story about the virtues of merino wool. Puleeeze.

Well kids, pull up a chair and I'll tell you a story about cold and snow and perhaps, just perhaps, one of the finest fabrics on Earth.

See, I got this bright idea to ski into Two Medicine last weekend, a place in Glacier National Park where the wind blows with a capital W. This winter, that wind has also been carrying in snow with a capital S, so the place is a frosted giant. If you haven't been there, the biggest drift went to the top of the General Store, which is about 40 feet high. If you have been there and you have seen the General Store, then you really know of what I speak, because not only is the drift as high as the roof, it is nearly as big as the store, and the store ain't small.

Getting to Two Medicine in the wintertime isn't awful. It's a 7.5-mile ski into the campground, which, of course, is empty.

I set up my own camp near to the pit toilet. Hint: Always try to camp near a pit toilet in the winter. Not only does it make the other end of life easier, if things go belly up with your tent, you can always hunker down and spend the night in the can, which is better than freezing to death.

At any rate, I have a Bibler Tent, which is both waterproof and breathable and a Western Mountaineering bag, which is also waterproof and breathable. I use two mats — a Thermarest and a thin lightweight foam pad.

That complete combination really doesn't weigh much and keeps you snug as bug in a rug — particularly if you have on merino wool underwear. Unlike regular wool, merino is soft and fine and fabulously warm. Most of the time while skiing I had just a thin merino wool top on and if the wind got real severe, I put on a shell and maybe another layer.

The thing about merino wool is once you start moving, it warms up quick and keeps you warm — almost to the point of being too warm. In a place like Two Med, where the wind was blowing anywhere from 20 to 50 mph, being too warm is not a bad thing.

The trip was interesting to say the least. On the way in, it was in the 40s with a stiff wind. Then Saturday it snowed and snowed and snowed with slightly less wind, and Saturday night it cooled off to the low 20s and snowed, but get this — you could also see the stars.

A surreal place Two Medicine is.

It's the sort of place merino wool was made for.

Chris Peterson is the photographer for the Hungry Horse News.