McCall snow is plentiful for this time of year and more storms are forecast later this week.  Brundage Mountain opened last week and the cross country trails are in prime condition with skate and classic trails perfectly groomed at Ponderosa Park and Little Bear.   With the opening of Tamarack Resort on December 20 McCall is going to be hopping over the Christmas holidays with lots of resort visitors and skiiers!    All of our cross country venues have designated trails for your dogs so have at it!

We are both gearing up for blue skies, fresh powder and perfectly groomed, silky trails at Little Bear Basin and Ponderosa Park!    The extended forecast for McCall, Idaho calls for what we hope will be record breaking snowfall as indicated by recent La Nina weather patterns.    We have already had a dusting of snow mid October at elevation 5000 and Brundage Mountain ski runs have a few inches.   Let it snow!

Between the McCall Fly-In, The Taste of McCall, Donnelly’s Huckleberry Festival and the Classic Wooden Boat Show on Payette Lake, McCall’s residents and resort visitors will have plenty of action and activities to choose from over the weekend of August 13-15.    The McCall Fly-In commences at 4 PM on Friday with live music and a barbeque at the airport while Saturday’s activities center around an air show from 11 am to 1 pm.  The Taste of McCall, benefitting the McCall-Donnelly Education Foundation, will be held from 1 to 4 pm at River Ranch and tickets are going fast.  The Classic Wooden Boat Show on Payette Lake promises to be another overwhelming success at the Shore Lodge.    Lastly, we are looking forward to the long awaited Grand Opening of Danielle’s Blue Moose Bistro over the weekend!    Danielle’s is  located just north of Warren Wagon Road on the way to Brundage Mountain – stay tuned for all the details of this special event.

The next big event of the summer is the every other year Auction for the Animals benefitting the MCPAWS Regional Animal Shelter, Valley County’s only animal shelter.  The event will be at the Shore Lodge July 22 at 5:30.  A fabulous live auction and silent auction with donated goods and services from the McCall area and a fine dinner make this the social event of the season.  MCPAWS boasts one of the highest save rates in the country for a community of this size – roughly 99% of dogs and cats who wind up at the doors of MCPAWS are either returned to their owner – or find an appropriate loving home.  This success is not possible without the generous support of so many animal lovers and advocates in the area.  For more information go to www.mcpaws.org

Summer is here and Bikefest McCall brought hundreds of motorcycle enthusiasts to town last weekend.  Legacy Park also offered preferential bike parking and the perfect venue for this first excellent event featuring a street dance, concert, outdoor movie, bike show and street vendors.  A good time was had by all!     Check www.mccallbikefest.com for all the details.

McCall Labbies enjoying their first swim of the summer near North Beach on Payette Lake.

With the melt in full swing and warmer temperatures at lower elevations, the Rapid River hike at the fish hatchery near Riggins is one of McCall’s best springtime hikes.   The trail is an easy first hike as it is only 3.8 miles into the second bridge with modest elevations gains and descents.  This photo was taken at the second bridge last Sunday, April 18 under sunny, 70 degree skies.   Some early wildflowers were up such as Alpine lillies, Trilliums and sunflowers and we saw an early Indian Paintbrush.  We met many of our McCall friends who were hiking with their dogs as we were – and we learned later that Spring is the best time to hike this trail with dogs since summer will bring much warmer temperates and rattlesnakes.

Summer arrived over the 4th of July with perfect weather, Legacy Park ready for resort visitors and the first ever Backcountry Aviation Exhibit at Alpine Village.  The Aviation exhibit offered a close peak at the Saint Alphonsus Life Flight helicopter and two planes that were taxied from the McCall Airport to Alpine Village.

Under sunny blue skies, the amazing snow sculptures of the McCall Winter Carnival have been judged and admired by thousands of locals and visitors. The US Forest Service exhibit, always a crowd favorite and sponsored by Homes and Land of McCall, was judged to be the Child’s Favorite while the towering castle by McCall Alpine Village is a show stopper. Underway in town near Legacy Park is where snow carvers will create sculptures to enter in the State of Idaho Snow Sculpture Championship with judging to take place this Friday, February 6. With cold temperatures and the possibility of snow in the forecast, this weekend will be a great time to travel to McCall to take in the sights and sounds of our Winter Carnival.

Dogs of all shapes and sizes, from a four month old Yellow Labrador Pup to oversized Saint Bernards were drawn to compete in the MCPAWS Regional Animal Shelter’s Monster Dog Pull last Sunday on the opening weekend of the McCall Winter Carnival. The event was a huge success with over 80 dogs competing for valuable prizes and the satisfaction of a job well done!