I recently toured The Historic Calvert Hotel in Lewistown, Montana. Rooms in this former school dormitory have recently been remodeled and when I was there the owner was laying tile (beautiful tile I might add) in the lower level that will become a restaurant and lounge. In fact, the tile work in the restrooms in the lower lever was so stunning I took photos of that too! The hotel entrance was inviting with hanging flowers … Read more
Lewistown hosts the annual Montana Cowboy Poetry Gathering and Western Music Rendezvous the second weekend in August and I was fortunate to attend Saturday afternoon and evening. In addition to good music, we had the greatest time listening to a variety of poets. The poets write from personal experiences and definitely from their heart. Each 45 minute session I attended had attendees laughing so hard at times we could barely stop. Performing poets ranged from grizzled old cowboys to young farm … Read more
We took Montana’s recent ad campaign to heart a week ago and got lost! Well, I can’t say that we were lost but we didn’t get to where I thought I was going. I’m fairly sure it was just one incorrect turn and that turn wasn’t marked. What a drive though! We started driving to the ghost town of Maiden, north of Lewistown. We drove in to Maiden canyon which seemed lush with vegetation, hay crops and … Read more
The McClelland river ferry north of Winifred, MT is about 150 miles from Great Falls where I live but gosh, this is the second time I’ve been there in about 3 weeks. The drive from Winifred to the Missouri River and the ferry is 15 miles on a good gravel road, then a couple of miles on a dirt road. Wow, the terrain really starts to change as you get closer to the river. We followed a BLM … Read more
When I was in Winifred for a meeting recently we took some time to walk around the town. The Winifred Cafe always seems busy, plus there are two taverns, then there is the Winifred Grocery. The grocery building has a super-tall tin ceiling and neat old architecture, besides groceries and tourist information. And it was busy with harvesters, locals buying groceries, river floaters stocking up on supplies, and us. It also happened to be a … Read more
As we left the pack trip riders from 7 Lazy P’s upper ranch and turned back, I felt sad. They would have great memories of the Bob Marshall Wilderness and they would get to see the Chinese Wall. I would have memories of a very fun ride and amazing scenery, although it was just for one day. After a very relaxing late lunch, Laura, the wrangler who would lead us back, said we had better get started. She kept turning back to look … Read more
All of the guests at 7 Lazy P were excited about their 10 day pack trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness and I was no exception. I guess the exception was that I only would ride for one day. The group would ride to the south part of the frequently photographed Chinese Wall in the Bob Marshall and then back. The mule packstring was behind our group and we wanted to get some photos of it. We were … Read more
Our ride with the packstring and guests going in to the Bob Marshall Wilderness with 7 Lazy P guest ranch was about to begin. Even the experienced riders were sharing a few insecurities – after all, 10 days is a long time. We received a few instructions after breakfast and, I must digress…we also sang happy birthday to Chuck Blixrud who owns the ranch. What a guy. Happy birthday Chuck and many more! Getting all … Read more
Not only could Jayce pack a mule, we found out that he played the fiddle. I’m sure he was pretty tired after packing gear but he agreed to play a few songs for us when we pointed out that we would not hear his music around the campfire when the other guests would. Yup, a little guilt trip there! We gathered at the main lodge at 7 Lazy P’s upper ranch. Jayce finished his packing … Read more
First off, I’ve never packed a mule. But, I feel I can truly say it is hard work because I have watched the effort twice this summer! If I was in charge of the pack trip I would probably have sticky notes all over the barn with lists of things to remember. This photo is just a glimpse of some of the gear, some packed in nice uniform rectangular packages, some waiting to be packed, that … Read more