Day 9

Montana Saga
Day 9

Alan writes:

I think I’m becoming a mountain man.  Now that I think about it, it’s almost impossible not to be since every day we drive through, toward, up or down mountains.  What a cool state!  Today as Mimi scoured the landscape for wildlife, I looked at small towns and hamlets we passed on our journey from Coeur D’Alene to Missoula.  Some were pretty and new and upscale like downtown Coeur D’Alene; others had achieved some degree of sadness and dilapidation from years of use and neglect.  Thinking about all this as we drove inspired me to come up with a rating scale for houses and towns so that in future encounters I’ll have succinct way of communicating what we saw.  PRISTINE (brand new; without blemish);  ESTABLISHED (no  lon-ger brand new but still attractive- what we all think of our houses);  LIVED IN (some visible wear but still functional and enjoyable- what most of us actually live in); ELEGANTLY SHABBY (for South Carolinians think Pawley’s Island- you have the money and time to fix it up but just like it that way); JUST PLAIN SHABBY (you lack the money and time and, even if you had it, just don’t care);  WORN OUT (can be lived in but you ask people who drive you home to let you off at the next block- you need the air); DILAPIDATED (probably shouldn’t be lived in- only of interest to historians); CRUMBLING RUIN (can’t be lived in; can barely be found- only of interest to archeologists).  I know it appears that I had too much time on my hands today but this all came to my OCD mind fairly automatically.

On a more specific note, today as we came within striking distance of the city of Missoula, our end-of-day destination, we took a side trail in Missoula county called Nemote Creek Road.  It turned from a kind of macadam surface to gravel to two tracks of dirt with weeds in the center as we ascended past three beautiful ranches and their accompanying outbuildings, meadows and livestock-  all this in search of wildlife for Mimi.  If she’s at the beach, it’s dolphins; if in Montana it’s all manner of creatures.  As we headed back down from the heights she commented that the day would end poorly if we did not see at least one mountain lion, moose, elk, lynx and another bear.  We did not encounter any of these but did see the represent-atives of two or three deer families that Mimi recorded with her trusty camera.

My precious fawn!

Mimi says:

Possibly my favorite day! A woman of
adventure who likes the risk of an uncertain, possibly dangerous, gravel drive.


The sign read,
“Stark Mtn. Lookout 15 mi.” … but at about the ½ way point up that remote drive when the road became dangerously narrow and extremely high up the mountain side with no guard rail OR room for error, Alan found a little turn-around spot that looked too tempting to ignore. We did pile out and look through the binoculars and take a few pictures before heading back down the mountain. We were                  
definitely rewarded at the bottom with a family of deer and a precious fawn curled up in the broomstraw.

Coeur d'Alene

City of Coeur d'Alene

Lake Coeur d'Alene 

Taking a break to enjoy the St. Regis River.

Happened upon a remote scenic road.

Ranch

The long....

...and winding road (15 miles long)

Extremely high view of the valley below.

This beautiful road kept going...

and going - higher and more narrow.

Alan loves these big Ponderosa Pines

Hidden deer in the background between trees.

"Ranch"

Family of 5

On to Missoula