MistyCastle

old news from the Grimes family

Month: September 2013

Hiking Log Update

9/22/2013 /

One of the nice things about the Bitterroot Valley is the large number of hiking trails that head out through the Bitterroot National Forest towards the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.

little-rock-creek

At 1.3 million acres, it is one of the largest designated wilderness areas in the United States. It spans the Bitterroot Mountain Range, on the border between Idaho and Montana. It covers parts of Bitterroot National Forest, Clearwater National Forest, Lolo National Forest, and the Nez Perce National Forest. The Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area is immediately to its south, separated only by a dirt road (the Magruder Corridor). Together with adjoining public land, the two wilderness areas form a five million acre wild region.

That’s a lot of hiking opportunities! We have only been out on a few so far but they have all been rewarding. The Tin Cup Creek trailhead (TH) is just outside Darby and it runs some 20 miles or so up into the wilderness. We’ve only been a few miles up it so far and have yet to get out of the forest although we did see a bull moose in the creek. Too many trees in the way so I did not get a picture. Blodgett Canyon is located just outside of Hamilton and we hiked 4.5 miles up the canyon to the Lower Falls. It was an amazing hike, the canyon is reminiscent of Yosemite and it deserves a post of it’s own.

The picture above was what awaits us when we go back to finish the hike up Little Rock Creek. We found it the other morning while heading to Lake Como for a short hike as we were limited by time and it’s easy. However, on the way to the trailhead I got distracted by a sign pointing to the Little Rock Creek TH which I had read about the other day. Seemed a lot more interesting so we detoured and ended up driving several miles up the forest road and eventually found the trailhead.

Little Rock Creek TrailheadLittle Rock Creek TrailSignLRC-6The trail wound up through a lot of new forest growth (pines about eight feet tall) and then reached a point with a view of Lake Como, back east to the Sapphire Mountains, and west up Rock Creek. It then turned left and provided the view at the top of the post. The trail descended the side of the mountain eventually reaching Little Rock Creek and entering the Wilderness. We continued hiking through the forest but ran out of time and had to return. Definitely want to go back and finish this one if time permits.

Random Bits

9/18/2013 /

It is hard to fathom that four months have passed by since we launched out on this journey. We have progressed steadily northward but our goal of Glacier NP now looks doubtful as it’s begun snowing up there and we still have a commitment here in the Bitterroot Valley til mid-October. It’s been a really great place to “camp” though and we will find it hard to leave the area. Montana has grown on us for sure. We had originally thought we would be pursuing business interests along the way but that has not really materialized as the last decade or so of work-related stress has slowly melted away. It has been interesting watching the body and mind relax and let down into a less stressful routine. In short, life has become more enjoyable and sharing it with my lovely wife makes it even more so.

Home Grown TomatoesSaturday mornings have often taken us into Hamilton to the local Farmers Market where we have enjoyed the local produce and arts & crafts. Rhonda enjoys sampling all the home grown veggies and we end up bringing bags of the stuff home. Big Creek CoffeeI am usually happy sampling some baked goods but resist bringing anything home since I spend my money on a pound of locally roasted coffee from Big Creek Roasters. One morning I spent a little bit of time chatting with a local knife maker (Ron Panko) and left wishing that I could find something like that to take up as a retirement “hobby” that would still produce some income. He makes the knives from scrap metal like chain saw blades, barbed wire fencing, steel cables, etc. and they have some very interesting patterns to them. He also makes the handles and leather sheaths. If we end up staying in the area I might have to see about “apprenticing” with him.

Ron Panko - Knife MakerHand Made Knife

On Tuesdays we have a farmers market right here in Darby so there has not been any shortage of fresh fruits and vegetables on the table lately. On the short walks into towns we have visited other local stores as well but choices are limited as Darby is a small town and has not seen much economic prosperity in a while. It is a shame really and somewhat curious as a major US highway runs right through town and there is quite a lot of traffic. What the area needs is some industry. Since the mill shut down there is no significant employer.

Friday nights have recently become more interesting as school is back in session and we are located right next to the high school football field. The Darby Tigers have won the last two games, the most recent one being Homecoming. There was a nice Homecoming Parade that went right down Hwy 93 much to the chagrin of any motorists traveling through. Amongst all the fire engines and other vehicles there was a black 1961 T-Bird which made me think of Dad’s Lost Bird. It overheated right at the end so I was able to get a picture of it cooling down.

1961 T-BirdT-BirdWhich reminds me…we made a trip up to Helena the other day and stayed overnight in a small community called Deer Lodge. Deer Lodge happens to be the home of the Montana State Prison and they have a museum (several actually) of the old prison and part of it includes an amazing Auto Museum. We toured the auto museum and really enjoyed looking at the 150 plus cars that date back to the beginning of automotive history. It was a bit of a shocking find…apparently it is one of the top ten auto museums in the country. There was totally restored example of Dad’s Lost Bird too. Even the special edition.

The Days Go By So Quickly!!

9/5/2013 /

Well we have been in charge for 10 days straight, the owners count it as 11 (they came home last night) and are paying us a stipend! COOL! I think they are being gracious. We worked hard and the place was full most of the time. we didn’t ‘make’ it full but we were charming to the folks the Lord brought here! 😉 One of our hikers wrote an email to the owners about how wonderful we are! Was nice to hear.

I took the opportunity to deep clean some of the cabins as they needed a mid-summer clean to make it to October and closing in style. There were some challenges- we washed the curtains and they fell apart so I had to go and find something in a thrift shop to cover the windows. There are no Walmarts, Kmarts, etc here and I have no sewing machine here so what I found had to be ready to hang after a quick wash. The Thrift shop is about the only place to find something you need. I was successful! I had to be able to cover windows for the night’s reservations.

The irrigation ditch dried up. Hard to water the lawn and landscaping without that! It took several days but the water returned and life resumed as normal. Someone must have been poaching up stream.

More CDT hikers descended upon us in 2 or 3 bunches. They are so much fun but do take more time to entertain and clean up after. Since they are sending packages ahead to their next “resupply” stop with food and trail supplies, as well as replacing shoes, food bags, bear spray, water cartridges, camp fuel or various other things, they make a lot of recycling and garbage. They bring a lot of the forest in with them, not just dirt but pine needle pieces and little stones, too. Fortunately for Suzy, our housekeeper, some do tip her for her efforts. There is a trail smell that has to come out of the cabins. We have run our ozone machine to overcome that. Who would have thought when we bought that to “remove the dairy farm” from the truck that we would be needing it to deodorize cabins in Montana?! Only the Lord…..

While I was curtain shopping, the health inspector stopped by! This is all about day 3, so we didn’t have a groove yet and had all these fun things happening at once. Matt showed the inspector around the clean rooms we had just finished and our laundry – we passed inspection! We had just cleaned all the carpet between the Forest Service employees varying schedules (some are nights and some days) when a guest got ill and we had to clean all the linens, bedspread, and carpet all over. We are nothing if not practiced! It doesn’t sound like a lot but in a full house with people in early, out late, etc, it was a lot to keep all the beds clean, the rooms cared for, the laundry done, and the irrigation managed.

This was a great practice run. Matt and I have talked about running a place similar to this so it has been a great practice run. The jury is still out as to whether we would actually embark upon such a commitment at this point in life. We have run a sort of Bed and Breakfast most of our marriage. We are enjoying our freedom. We have talked though. The owners would love to sell to us. It will go on the market soon……in case any of you need a life change. We can vouch for how amazing the Bitterroot Valley is!

In Case You Have Wondered…

9/2/2013 /

What the last week has been…. I know we have been silent but with good reason.

We have been busy getting back to establishing a pattern in our own lives – learning the new finance software has been the biggie, the second one since leaving in June! Matt’s new computer didn’t like the ancient software we have used for over a decade. Matt found one on line that met our qualifications, was fairly inexpensive. We tried it but came away less that pleased with the results. Now, we are learning Quicken. Not too difficult but one more thing to learn and get set up, life seems to be a never-ending, accelerated learning curve on this new adventure! Some days, I wearily ask the Lord if I have to get back up on the “Potters Wheel” again today……

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