On the Trail of Lewis and Clark

Now that the weather has improved, with more sun and warmer temps, we’ve been able to get out more and explore the area’s mountains and trails.

One day, we took a drive along route 12, south of Missoula, called the Lolo Trail, the same trail that the Lewis and Clark expedition took over the Bitterroot Mountains, which nearly did them in when they encountered early deep snow, hunger, and dangerous mountain terrain. They were even reduced to eating a few of their colts in order to survive.

Of course, our trip didn't involve such hardship. Instead, we enjoyed a warm soak in the Jerry Johnson hot springs, one of the many noncommercial hotsprings that dot the area. Getting there required a 1 ½ mile hike along the Lochsa River. Seeing that the day was gray and rainy, soaking in the natural hotsprings felt really good. The hotsprings include three pools and on the way in, we encountered a young couple enjoying the first one “au naturale,” apparently not an usual sight according to the locals. As you can see in the picture, we didn’t feel comfortable exposing bodies in which gravity has taken a heavy toll over the years.

That day, we also held true to our eternal quest to seek out the big trees, which we found at the DeVoto Memorial Cedar Grove. Named for Bernard DeVoto, a conservationist and Lewis and Clark historian, the grove features beautiful western red cedars where DeVoto edited the Lewis and Clark journals. These massive trees can live up to 3,000 years.

Another activity that we’re enjoying is fishing in the mountain lakes, many of which require a long (1 to 2 hour drive!) over unpaved Forest Service roads. Since we don’t have a 4-wheel drive, high-clearance vehicle, this often requires my getting out and throwing rocks over to side of the road in order to continue on.

Surveyor Lake also involved hiking 2 miles up a steep and dense, unmaintained trail. The entire time I was worried about bears, so Jim and I drew on our repertoire of trail songs (this time, an endless loop of improvised refrains from “She’ll be coming 'round the mountain") so as not to surprise an unsuspecting bear. But once we got to the lake, we felt better and spent the afternoon trying to hook some brook trout, to no avail. About the only thing we hooked was our tangled fishing line, and spent the majority of time trying to get untangled, apparently a major component of alpine fishing.

Two sister lakes we fished, Diamond and Cliff Lakes, were at higher elevation and still had ice chunks floating on the surface. Although we didn’t catch any fish, we were treated to the sight of an osprey swooping down and catching one in its talons. If just one fish were to be caught that day, I’m glad it was the osprey's.

Jim's rehab is progressing well, and hiking seems to really help. We've taken two nice hikes, one an 8-mile round trip up to Ch-paa-qn peak, at around 8,000 feet, the highest peak in the Ninemile Ranger District, and another along Kootenai Creek in the Bitterroots. We also enjoy a little 1 1/2 mile nature trail right by our RV site where we walk the dog every night.

Yesterday, everyone was in a twitter as a grizzly boar was sighted just two miles from here, a rare sighting for this area. So now, we carry our bear spray with us whenever we are out hiking.

Work at the Visitor Center is pretty laid back, and we have time to spend visiting with the resident mules and horses. One of the "retired" mules, Sue Ellen, who is an amazing 37 years old, has won our hearts, and we bring her a carrot everyday we "work."

Well, all for now. Hope everyone is having a great summer.

Western Red Cedars in the Devoto Grove


Connie soaking in one of the Jerry Johnson hot spring pools


An alpine lake with clouds


Cliff Lake


Sue Ellen

A Little About Life at Ninemile

We’ve been here almost a month, and it’s rained about everyday, with temps in the 40s and 50s. While spring arrives late in Montana, the locals say it’s been an usually wet and cool June. However, this cool wet weather doesn’t necessarily mean a low fire season in July and August. In fact, it will probably make it worse as these spring rains promote more ground cover fuel when the weather turns hot and dry.

Things have picked up at the visitor center. We now average about 20-25 visitors a day. It’s fun meeting people from all over the country. It appears a mini-gold rush is underway. We’ve had several inquires about “where can I find the gold?” or “how can I file a claim? (Jim can tell the prospectors even before they come in: their vehicles are pretty beat up, and they look like they’ve been living in the backcountry for awhile) Of course, we direct them to the main office for those questions.

Ninemile Depot is certainly an interesting place. It was founded in the 1930s following a decade of devastating fires that destroyed millions of acres and several towns. Modeled after the old western depots that provided fresh stock and supplies to the calvary traveling through, Ninemile was built to provide trained and experirenced animal packers and stock (primarily mules) to transport equipment into the backcountry to fight fires.

All the buildings were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Core, which had one of the largest camps in the nation stationed here, about 600 men. The architecture is unique for a western ranch: the planners thought that having a Kentucky blue grass theme gave the image of an elite stock breeding and training operation.
In the 1940s, the smoke jumpers trained here as well. Their training facility moved to Missoula in the 1950s, but the depot still has a landing strip for when they practice out here.

Today, with the advent of the smoke jumpers and more roads into the forests, pack trains play less of a role in fire fighting. However, they are still used for trail maintenance work and assist the smoke jumpers by hauling out equipment that was parachuted in.

Ninemile Depot is also home to the Wildlands Training Center, which offers courses and clinics to both forest service personnel and the public. These fill up a year in advance and include animal packing, horsemanship, Leave No Trace for back country stock users, crosscut saw use and maintenance, log cabin construction, and use of compasses and GPS (I need to take that one!)

Well, that’s all for now. We just bought season fishing licenses and our goal is to hike into some mountain lakes to camp and fish and hopefully eat fresh trout for dinner.

The CCC Ninemile Remount Barn


Visitor Center (was the garage in depot days)


Ranger Station office (was the bunkhouse for the packers)


That's Splinters, our lifesize mule in the Visitor Center


A packing clinic at the Ninemile Wildlands Training Center


Corrals with horses/mules in pasture


A nice day at Ninemile

Starting Life at an Historic Ranger Station

We’ve been at our assignment post, the Ninemile Remount Depot, for a week. It's part of the Ninemile Ranger District of the Lolo National Forest. Arrived on Monday, May 24. And everyday, it’s rained!

On our way here, we made one nice stop: Ft. Abraham Lincoln State Park in North Dakato. It’s the post where General George Custer led his ill-fated 7th cavalry to its demise at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It’s also the site of On-the-Slant Indian Village, a Madan tribal site that was already abandoned due to small pox when Lewis and Clark stopped by on their expedition.

Here at Ninemile, we completed our training last Wednesday and Thursday for duties as Visitor Center hosts. Our first real work day was Friday. We alternate work days with another couple from Arizona, Bill and Betty Jones, who worked here the summer of 2007. It’s hard to call this a real job, as the center averages only about 20 visitors a day, which means a lot of down time to read, do cross word puzzles, play cards, or visit the corrals and feed the horses and mules. On Saturday, the Ferrier was here, shoeing the animals. Pretty laid back.

I think what makes the Remount Depot unique is both its history and the role it plays today as a working ranger station and stock ranch. In 1984, it was designated a national historic site for its role in instituting and standardizing equipment and techniques for breeding, training, and using stock to fight forest fires.
Visitors can take a self-guided tour of the facilities but if requested, we are available to give tours as well. Our work schedule is sweet: on every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and every other Wednesday, which means we have lots of time off to explore the area. Good thing, as there is lots to see and do: we are 2.5 hours away from Glacier National Park, and 4 hours away from Yellowstone. Plus, there’s much to explore and enjoy in the surrounding region, including state parks, national forests and mountain lakes and rivers as well as Missoula, a nice university town only 30 miles away, where we are today, using the library’s internet.

We have a nice full-service camp site in the pine trees, courtesy of the forest service. But we discovered the hard way to be careful about what we store outside. It’s been really cold (40s) and rainy, so we thought we’d store our beer under the motor home to keep it cold. Bad idea. We woke up on our third morning here, and the entire 12-pack was gone. Found it ajavascript:void(0) few yards away. Four of the cans had been punctured by what looked like really BIG sharp teeth. Empty of course. Not sure why it only drank four cans. Maybe it didn’t like Pabst? Also, the-host’s bird feeder was raided the same night, so we are now keeping every thing that even resembles a food or beverage container under wraps, either in the motor home or the car.

All for now. Let’s hope it stops raining and the sun comes out for good. Next post, I’ll give you a brief outline of the Depot’s unique history.

A Mandan Dwelling


Interior of a Mandan Ceremonial House


Fort's graveyard. Note cause of this one's death.


Ready for guests at the visitor center (that's Splinter, the mule in the background)


Jim with one of the depot's permanent residents


The farrier at work

Jackson Hole 2010: the Best of Times, the Worst of Times

Our time in Jackson Hole area is about to come to a close for this season. It’s been both the best of times and the worst of times this year.

The Best of Times:

1) having scrumptious meals at the Stevens, followed by rousing games of Rummikub and Hands and Foot;

2) venturing off the green runs onto the blue at Grand Targhee;

3) spending time in Yellowstone with the Woods and Jeanne Boeke in Yellowstone, where we had some beautiful cross country skis thanks to good snow conditions;

4) skiing and socializing with our friends from Dillon, Colorado, Huey and Sally;

5) joining in on the fun with the Teton International Table Tennis Society (TITTS) on Monday nights at the Wildwood, where we honed our ping pong skills and enjoyed good food prepared by Chef Bill Boney and PBR on tap;

6) enjoying our little cabin, whose magnificent 360-degree views of sunrises over the Tetons and sunsets over the Big Hole Mountains made up for its lack of space and TV/Internet. We also fell in love with its permanent feline residents: Evie and Purry.

7) and most of all--the real icing on the cake—just spending more time with Hannah, including helping Hannah to prepare for Matt’s surprise birthday party; tromping through the snow to cut our own Christmas tree in the national forest; celebrating Christmas Day with her, Matt, and Holly, a college friend of Hannah’s who drove up from Salt Lake City; treks to Idaho Falls to see movies and shop; trying out new recipes together; and taking cross country skis and walks up Darby Canyon and Moose Creek with the dogs.


The Worst of Times?

1) Jim blowing out his ACL at Targhee on February 11, resulting in ACL surgery on Feb.24, which will be followed by several months of physical therapy and rehab;
2) the third driest winter in recorded history for this area.

Now that it’s in black and white, this has indeed been a good winter: the ”Best” certainly outweighs the “Worst”. But, as they say, all good things must come to an end and we are looking forward to hitting the road for home on Easter Sunday. Because when it’s all said and done, there really is “No place like home!”

Hannah and Matt at his surprise birthday party


Hannah and dogs walking up Moose Creek


View from south window


East window's view of Tetons


Feeding time for Evie and Purry


Our cabin on a sunny day


Connie enjoying cross country skiing at Alta with Tetons in background



Cheri Stevens on Targhee's Teton Vista Trail

Fun in the sun: Winter in Wyoming

I've been enjoying friends' snow pictures from Ohio. Really pretty. Just wish we had some of that. This must be what spring is like out here.

But there is an upside. We've only paid to have our lane plowed four times since mid-December. And our heating bill is almost nil: $50 a month. But thankfully, that's only in the valley. The ski resort is another 2,000 feet higher in elevation so they've had more snow, which means the runs are good but no new fresh powder, which is fine with me as I don't ski that stuff.

Wish it was the same for Jim: last Thursday he fell skiing at the resort and torqued his knee pretty good. We're going to hear an ortho doc lecture tomorrow about knee injuries (serendipitous event) where we might get an idea if strained his MCL or tore it. If so, it means no more skiing this year, or maybe surgery.

It happened when he tried to go over a jump! If you ask me, I think it was a case of testosterone poisoning. He is taking a hiatus from treatment (at least until the next PSA test), so it's not surprising. I wanted to give him a good dope slap for trying such a stupid thing, but he's mad enough at himself.

We enjoyed having Colorado friends Sally and Huey join us for a few days of skiing. We actually met them about four years ago on a trail in the Grand Canyon. I was wearing a Wright State shirt, which prompted a conversation with Sally as she earned her master's degree at WSU. They also met us as Jim and I were hiking out of the Canyon on the last day of our "death march." Seeing them come down the trail gave me the needed boost for the last few miles.

Since we're not skiing, today was pretty laid back. The sun was out, temp about 38 degrees. So we made a picnic lunch and drove out to the Elk Refuge and ate in the car, looking at the snow covered mountains and big horn sheep that hang out there. The elk were safely off in the distance (forgot the binoculars, again!)in an area closed off to cars. We even leaned the seats back and took a nap in the car.

Tonight we're going to a program at the library: a live feed from New York City featuring Malcolm Gladwell, who wrote Blink, Tipping Point, etc. The library here is wonderful, has lots of free programs, probably 'cuz they've got a hefty foundation to pay for them.

Big Horn Sheep in the Elk Refuge


Sleeping Indian: a mountain in the Gros Ventre Range.


Connie, Sally and Huey getting ready to ride the lift at Targhee

This Is Why We Love This Place

Just a quick update while we are at Hannah's watching the Superbowl, although I'm spending more time on her computer (what else can you expect from the TV- and internet-deprived?).

It's a real blue bird day here, although we could use some of the snow that hit the East. The snow pack here is 60 percent of normal. However, there's still hope for more as Dec. and Jan. are over: the two driest winter months for this area.

Our friends from Ohio have left. It was good spending time with friends from home and had a nice time cross country skiing with them. While Yellowstone was really nice, I regret that they didn't get some really good Teton views while they were at our place, as it was overcast and foggy most of the time. But we did have one good day skiing in Teton Park that offered some clear views in the morning before clouding up. We skied into the Rockefeller Preserve, stopping for lunch at Phelps Lake.

On Friday, we went to a natural hot springs in Idaho, where we lolled in 104 degree pools. It felt wonderful until you got out!

Yesterday and today were crystal clear with some great views of the mountains. In fact, yesterday, while we were walking the dogs on the bike path near Hannah's place, four noisy Trumpeter Swans flew by, with the Tetons in the background. Doesn't get any better than that. Just wish I could have caught them on my camera.

I'd like to get credit for the following pictures, but the first four were taken by our Ohio friend, Dave Wood, whose photographic skills are much better than mine.

On our way to the hot springs, saw this Golden Eagle feasting on road kill by the road.


View of Tetons on Phelps Lake ski.


Some cowboy humor: A sign in the Cowboy Bar men's restroom


Jim and Connie enjoying the Phelps Lake view.


Today's view from our cabin window.

Land of Fire and Ice

We are spending the winter in Jackson Hole, to be close to our daughter and to play in the snow, which by Wyoming standards, is a low snow year. The snow pack, at about 18 inches, compared with a 30-year average of 25 inches, is about 50 percent of normal. But that's still enough to play in. But with December and January being typically the drier months, there's still hope for a turn around.

I'm finding that learning to downhill ski at 61 is quite the challenge. But I just keep slogging on, making improvement in nano-increments, or so it seems to me. We've made some friends from New York who have been downhill skiing since they were 10 years old. And they're giving me a much needed boost in both my morale and technique. However, cross country skiing is more to my liking, especially for back country touring in the national parks.

However, today, we took the easy route: a snowcoach tour of Yellowstone National Park. Had a very good guide, who is a park ranger in the summer, so he is very knowledgeable about the geology, wildlife, etc. Yellowstone has been very seismically active this past month: there have been 900 earthquakes, ranging from magnitude 0.5 to 3.8 since January 19. Although most are minor and can't be felt, they have triggered some changes in the underlying plumbing of some geysers, with one, called Gigantis, becoming active after being dormant for years. It's also a reminder that Yellowstone sits atop the largest underground volcano in the world.

We saw a variety of wildlife: bison, elk, coyotes, trumpter swans, and bald eagles. Because the rivers are fed by the hot springs and geysers, they don't freeze over, despite temps that can drop to minus 20 to 30 degrees. This means that wildlife like bald eagles don't have to migrate to open water in the winter, they can hunt for fish all year. The swans come to Yellowstone from Canada to winter over in the waters as well. Wish we could have seen some wolves, but would need to get to the north part of the park for a better chance to see some.

We've been to Yellowstone in the winter before, but it just keeps calling us back. It is a very special place, and I recommend winter as the best time to visit.

Tomorrow, we will be heading to Victor, Idaho, where we are staying until the end of March. It's about a 30 minute drive--across Teton Pass--to Jackson, Wyoming, where our daughter lives.

The pictures are from today's trip. Wish I could have some good ones of the wildlife, but my camera, and my photo skills, prevent any real possibility of that.

This might be my last post for a while, as back in Victor, our cabin has no internet. (Gasp!)


Gigantis geyser


Steaming pool at lower geyser basin


A steaming stream


A Yellowstone snow coach