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

Glacier National Park: Grizzlies and Disappearing Ice

We are now in the Jackson Hole area, the final leg of our five-month odyssey of the West. Doesn’t seem possible that we have been gone that long. Although it’s been great, I have to say I am getting a little road weary and looking forward to getting home sometime around September 20.

Our last big stop was in Glacier National Park in northern Montana. This is one place I’ve always wanted to visit but I’ve been a bit hesitant because it has over 300 grizzly bears and about twice that many black bears, and people indeed have been attacked and killed by bears in the park. But we were too close not to visit one of the crown jewels in our National Park system.

We spent our first week on the west side of the park. Of course, we didn’t get a good view of the beautiful scenery that week as it rained for five straight days. Just glad we had an RV to retreat to instead of a tent. However, one day we ventured out on a ranger-led hike on the Highline Trail, which starts at Logan Pass. It was completely fogged in with forecast of rain all along the trail throughout the day. But the ranger said the hike was on, so off we started, a group of about 10, in dense fog and drizzle. But as it turned out, the hike was phenomenal, as the fog and rolling cloud banks lent a surreal “Lord of the Rings” quality to the hike.
Also, the ranger warned us that this trail had been posted for bear activity, so when we encountered bear scat at four different places on the trail, we made sure our bear spray was handy and we maintained a loud chatter to avoid surprising any bears, which is not a good thing! Apparently it worked as we never encountered the offending bear(s?).

The weather much improved when Jim’s high school best bud, Jerry Bolling, and his wife, Pat, brought with them the wonderful weather they had been experiencing during their month-long trip throughout Alaska. At that point, we all headed over to the east side of the park, which I think is nicer as it’s not as crowded. We spent a week there, and the weather was glorious as were some nice hikes we did with the Bollings. One was a repeat of the Highline Trail. This time, we saw firsthand how the park system handles problem bears.

It all started while walking up the Loop Trail, when a ranger came up behind, carrying a shotgun over his shoulder. Not something you see every day. Apparently, a grizzly sow and her two cubs had been hanging out by the chalet, where we were headed for our lunch break. The bears had been hanging around the chalet and Highline trail for the past week and he was going up there to do some hazing of the bears. This is actually aversion training in which rubber bullets and cracker shells are shot at the bears with the hopes that they associate unpleasant experiences with hanging out where humans frequent. (Of course, who’s really the trespasser here?)

And sure enough, not long after we had finished our lunch, a guy ran up to the ranger saying the sow and her cubs were about 100 yards down the trail. After that, things got exciting. The ranger ran down the trail with his gun at the ready. I’d say he got within 50 yards of the mother, when he fired off the first shot. But it didn’t seem to faze her as she only went a short distance before she turned around and took a good look at the ranger. I fully expected her to charge him. But the ranger shot off another round of rubber bullets and cracker shells, which give off a deafening charge that echoed throughout the valley. She got the point and finally took off over the ridge. For a while her cubs hung back. One even stood up on its hind legs to check out the ranger more closely. But finally they too followed their mom over the ridge. And when we saw how easily they rambled up that steep slope, I have a new respect for how fast and strong those animals are.

Glacier is an amazing place, a real "do-over." But alas, global warming is taking a toll on the features for which it is named: Of the 150 glaciers that were there in 1850, only 26 remain today. And by 2030, they predict Glacier will be glacier free.

We’re hanging out here for a few more days to spend time with Hannah before heading off to visit Jim’s parent in Arkansas, then home. Looking forward to seeing everyone. All in all, Jim has done well, considering his back. Just has to pace himself. We have an appointment at The James on September 23, where he’ll get more tests and another treatment.

See you all later!

Highline Trail, in the clouds



Sailboat on Lake MacDonald: While watching, the board capsized! Was towed in upside down, everyone safe.


Mountain Goats on the Trail. Too Cute!


Big Horn Sheep on the trail


View from another trail


Highline Trail on a sunny day