These days our world seems to be in constant turmoil. In the old days there were always rules of etiquette. Political views were argued by both sides, but there were lines that you did not cross. Today folks jump across those lines enthusiastically. Our religious views, morals, character and integrity are bombarded and attacked. We are constantly lied to by people with a particular bias so that we may side with their line of thought. It becomes very challenging to say the least to keep your composure and be civil when so many in our world seem to have strayed away from common decency.

When Connie and I were searching for properties in Montana many years ago, one of the goals we had was to provide a place for our family to come and get away from the stresses of day to day living in today’s world. The mountains of Montana are definately one of the last places that you can find true solitude and peace.

Last week I was able to take a couple of wilderness rides

Banjo hadn’t been on an outing for quite a while, so he was my partner for this ride. We went up the middle fork to the dirtyface trail and then down to the river.

This is a very well used trail during the summer/fall season, but it was just us today.

There were no signs or tracks anywhere. It was as if the whole forest was in hibernation.

A few days earlier Tanner and I got to enjoy a quick little ride up to Stanton Lake. This is a pretty little backcountry lake that gets quite a bit of traffic do to its proximity to the trailhead.

The trail extends up beyond the lake to a pretty creek inlet coming off the mountain front.

Although we had some company when we first arrived at the lake, it wasn’t long before we had it all to ourselves.

We truly appreciate being fortunate to enjoy these areas summer and winter. No electronic devices, no distractions, just you and your horse. Perfect solitude

This time of year most folks have pulled shoes off their horses and put them out to pasture. Truth is late fall/early winter can be a very enjoyable time to spend exploring on horseback. Prior to hunting, our horses all get bohrium studs welded  to their shoes plus snow poppers to prevent any snow buildup under their hooves. Kinda like putting studded snow tires on your 4×4. This really helps for safe riding during snow/ice conditions. I’ve been riding on the mtn almost every day, nice weather and low snow levels are very conducive to keeping them working.

The clouds parted and sun came out last week and I grabbed Tanner for a quick ride up to Apgar Lookout in Glacier National Park. We’ve ridden up here before, but it is a popular trail during tourist season and the park concessionaire runs trail rides up here, so we usually stay away until the crowds are gone.Great day to hit the trail!

The views from up at the lookout are fabulous on a clear day. 

This lookout has a web cam so you can look up actual conditions prior to trekking up there.

Looking down at the West Glacier/Coram area

The trail up is on a south facing open slope so the views on the way up are almost as superb as the views from the top.

As long as the snow depth doesn’t get too extreme, winter riding can be very enjoyable. Don’t be so quick to pull the shoes off your favorite trail companion.

For many years I have been elk hunting in the Gallatin valley near Big Sky, MT. This year my boys decided to join the group. We stayed on the 320 ranch instead of setting up a tent camp. The 320 is only about a mile from the Buffalo Horn trailhead and has nice horse boarding facilities.

First evening ride up to check out the area after the boys arrived.

After an evening ride a short way in to check out the area, we were up the following morning at 3:30 for bkfst, feeding stock and hitting the trail. Shortly after first light we ran into elk and found a nice bull. I grabbed the horses while Steve and Cody moved on foot a short distance to see if they could get a shot. They got into position and had a 300 yd broadside shot. While they debated about who was going to harvest the bull (“you take him”,  “no you go ahead”) , the bull tired of standing there and decided to move off. Cody finally made the choice to shoot. These big bulls are difficult to drop and at the longer range shot Cody had, the bull made it into the timber after being hit. It required a little bit of tracking through the deadfall, but they did find the bull.

He was a older bull starting to go down hill. Nice one to harvest.

The boys had to pack meat through the deadfall about 250 yds to where we could access with horses.

From there Freckles and Tanner took over

From that point on the standard was set, so although we did see a number of shooter bulls in the next few days, Steve opted to hold off and ended up unsuccessful harvesting his elk. Pretty sure next time he’ll take the shot. These public land bulls can be difficult to find, so when you have the opportunity you need to take it.

Although no more bulls were shot, we spent many days roaming these mtns on horseback with beautiful weather

We had about 6″ new snow one night making for a wintery ride through the forest

Starting everyday at 3:30 makes for some tired guys at lunch time.

High up on blizzard ridge.

From the smiles I saw on these guys everyday, I’m pretty sure they’ll be back for another try at the elusive bull elk.

Such a great time with my boys. One for the memory book!

Connie and I were born and raised in the small Montana town of Cut Bank. Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s in this community was awsome. This was a time when children could roam and play without worry. Be home by supper time was usually the rule. Cut Bank was also about an hour away from the east side of the Rocky Mountains, allowing for many mountain adventures. Connie and I were high school sweethearts and when we decided to marry we faced the decision of staying in the area or moving to ND to start working for my Uncle Arden who had previously offered me the opportunity to start farming. The economy in MT at the time was sluggish to say the best, so we made the move to start our life in the little community of Churchs Ferry, ND.

Churchs Ferry was a sleepy little town of approximately 130 pop. When we came it had a branch bank, grocery store, bar, hardware store, post office, a service station, two grain elevators, and two Churchs. This tight knit community revolved entirely around agriculture. Connie and I started our lives together here and proceeded to raise our family. The decision to begin here was one we will always be thankful for. Our kids were also able to roam and play safely. Being farm kids they were given work responsibilities and they learned to be successful. They were doing jobs at a young age that city kids would have been doing at twice the age if at all. They were raised in a Christian home and regularly attended our little Lutheran church. You could not ask for a easier place to raise your children than in this community. I attribute their success, work ethic, love of family, and community interest to lessons learned growing up in this small town. Churchs Ferry was not immune to the plague that most small ND communities suffered during this period. The older generation was dying and the younger folks were often moving away. With no other industry other than farming there were very few opportunities for employment. Still we had a very strong nucleus of family farms that kept the community rolling.

In 1993 the Devils Lake area (which included Churchs Ferry) started to receive rainfall substantially above normal. Large winter snowfalls along with heavy spring and summer rains seemed to be the norm and the lake began to rise swallowing up homes, farms, and ag land. Each year brought us another year of new challenges with the rising water. Around 1999 the large ag coop was forced to move and at this time the majority of the towns residents accepted a federal government buyout for their homes and also moved away. We were fortunate to purchase a farmstead a few miles north that we moved to. Many citizens were forced to move entirely away from the community.

There were a few years of respite from major additional flooding, but then heavy rains in the fall of 2008 and excess snow through that winter prompted another round of huge runoff into the Devils Lake Basin. This trend continued through 2011 when a tremendous spring melt and runoff added another 4 1/2 feet to the lake. This event flooded 10’s of thousands of additional acres in the basin. It also inundated numerous roadways that were vital to our farm infrastructure. Our farm operation centered on both sides of a drainage called the Mauvais Coulee. This little coulee grew to be a mile wide in places. There were 5 bridges along it that were critical to our operation being able to transport equipment from the east side to the west, we lost them all. In order to access our farm land that was left we often had 20 mile commutes. Virtually all remaining residents in this area were forced to relocate.

photo illustrates the flooded farmland and roads

this photo was my uncles farm and the base for our operation until the flood

this photo shows flooded farm land with Hwy 2 running through it. What remains of Churchs Ferry is in the upper left

The final breaking moment for our little community was when we lost our Church. In 2011 we were forced to shut the doors do to flooding. We did have flood insurance that we were able to collect, but with the diminishing membership we elected to disperse the funds to other organizations rather than attempt rebuilding. As congregational president I had the task of demolishing and burning the building. One of the saddest moments in my life.

Connie and I had long dreamed of someday returning to the mtns of Montana. In 2012 we purchased our property on Teakettle Mtn.. I had been leasing horses for years and we decided to purchase our own stock the next year.  Then we began the task of building new fences and additional land clearing for pastures.  We spent the next 6 years sharing our time between the farm in ND and our mtn home. This was great, but always left us concerns of vandalism happening at one place or the other during our absence. This fall we decided it would be best to rent out our farmstead to a young man that works for the farm. His wife and family will move in November. My son, who took over management of the farm for 2018, and I will continue our partnership for a couple more years with me commuting back for spring and fall

We had 37 years living and raising our family in the Churchs Ferry area. It is very hard to leave.  Loosing the proximity to our grandchildren, our many friends and our other family in the area is difficult. I loved to farm. The flooding we encountered was disheartening, but the weather pattern seems to have changed and we have been reclaiming many many acres of the productive land. I get a few more years of being active in the farm, but hopefully I will be able to continue to return and assist my son for many more.

Now we begin a new era in our lives. Apgar View Ranch is a beautiful place. Our horses get to roam on mtn pastures. We get to explore many new backcountry places. It’s a hard mtn to live on with the extreme snowfall we receive, but the rewards of experiencing this beauty are well worth it.  We hope to build a place that our family and friends can come to breathe, unwind, and appreciate the beauty that God created. Leaving the turmoil and stress of the real world at bay for at least a little while.

Connie aways says that GOD has a plan. If the flooding we endured had not happened and our community remained somewhat intact maybe we wouldn’t have gone down this road. We have to wait and see what new adventures are in store!

We’ve had a great summer on the mountain, but now it’s time to head back to ND for harvest.
This is one of my favorite harvest photos from back in 2009 when both of my boys were working harvest. Cody is planning to get a few days off to help with harvest so that’ll be fun.

We had many miles of backcountry horse trips this summer. Last winters storms left trails in terrible shape, so many days were spent just helping to cut trails.

Once July rolled around we were able to access quite a few areas. The north fork trails are always great places to explore with beautiful views.

We had a couple of trips into the South Fork of Two Medicine. One was an overnight back to Badger Cabin.Beautiful view!

The trip to Big River via the Morrison trail was a lot of fun and great to reminisce over the old pack trips of the past.

In mid July, both Steve and Cody’s families made the trip out to Apgar View Ranch and we were able to take a quick overnight fishing trip up to Elk Lake

We then took a fun little hike with the kids to Rocky Point on Lake McDonald. Highly recommend that hike if you’ve got young children along.

My 91 year old mother was able to make a train ride out with my sister to visit us on the mountain. Great times capped by a drive up going to the sun highway, down to St. Mary’s  and then around looking glass road and back to Hwy 2, looping back to Apgar View.

Steve messaged me though and said “hey get your butt back here!” Play time’s over, harvest is ready. Sooo we have to bid the mountain farewell for now.

We were fortunate to have Steve and Cody’s family’s join us for a visit this summer. Beautiful weather, fun horses, awesome hikes and some lake time were enjoyed by all.

Steve and Leah were able to get out for a ride and Bella got to take her first ride outside of the arena 

Sophia, Jaylen,Decker and Skylee kept the horses working steady

The kids had one outing to whitefish lake and another to Rocky point on Lake McDonald. Rocky point is a fun hike that little legs can handle no problem

Steve, leah,  Bella,  Sophia, Jaylen, Gavin

Cody,  Whitney, Skylee,  Decker, Emery

Mountain time is good for the soul.

There are many special places in Montana’s backcountry. One that has always been special to us is a little lake in the Flathead National Forest called Elk Lake.
My two boys were back in Montana with their families for a visit and we were able to take a quick overnight horseback trip up to this gem.Usually we take day trips up here, which means we miss the best hrs of fishing during the early morning and late evening.

This year we were able to overnight at the lake and the fishing was excellent. You can fish from shore and do well, but the float tubes they make nowadays are pretty sweet if you have the means of packing them in.

Overnight pack trips come with open fire meal preparation. The aroma of bacon cooking is a great wake up call.

The trail heading into Elk Lake is well traveled with just a few brushy areas to pass through. The climb up and over Devils Hump is a pretty significant elevation change though so having stock and yourself in shape is important.

Very special to get the opportunity to take trips like this with my boys. When your children grow and have families of their own, it becomes difficult to coordinate having the time for these activities. These trips in Montana’s backcountry are the best.

This week we revisited some areas that we always enjoy. The ride to Big River from Granite creek trailhead is a nice easy leisurely ride. It warmed up here in Montana this week, but most of this trail is shaded, so it wasn’t too terribly hot.

We did encounter another Griz. This year sightings seem to be quite common. This one was a little pissed and carried on in the brush blowing snot and snorting, but that was the extent of it. We moved through and he kept his foul mood in check. 

We dropped down to the river via the shortcut trail and had a little picnic. This area is very pretty and the fishing is usually pretty good.

Its about a 12 mile round trip ride, so pretty easy day trip.

Then Banjo and I took a little trip up McGinnis creek in the North Fork. Banjo is a fun little horse, but spoils quick and can be a PIA when he doesn’t have his head in the game. Plan was to have a little one on one time so we could correct any bad behavior.

We spent a few hours riding on these old trails and he was perfect.

This is just beautiful country to ride and explore. These old trails will be somewhat overgrown with alders and brush at times, but you can usually push through and the trail will open up again. Great for schooling a horse to deal with some adverse trail conditions.

It won’t be long and the summer season will come to an end. Get out there and enjoy!

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I took a backcountry ride up Morrison creek a few days ago. This trail is a main access for the Forest Service to Schafer meadows in the Great Beat Wilderness. I planned on turning off of the trail to Schafer and going down Big river to a location known as three forks. This is a well maintained trail to Schafer, but heading downstream the trail had not been cut yet and showed no signs of any traffic. I did end up cutting quite a bit of deadfall in the last 1.5 miles of trail. A lone grizzly was moseying down the trail on the ride in, but he scampered into the woods immediately upon seeing us. Good Bear! I haven’t been into this little campsite since on a pack trip in 2007. It is a real nice secluded area that gets very little traffic. Unfortunately the wilderness traffic in this area doesn’t come down the trail anymore. 

The number of river floaters these days is astonishing. Back in the late 70’s my father and I used to fly into Schafer meadows and float the Big River down to the Bear Creek area. We would rarely see another person, and if we did it was such an oddity that you would stop and have conversation. Today the Middle Fork of the Flathead is insanely busy with floaters and even high up in the wilderness the outfitters, guides and DIY adventurers have become regular scenery on the river.

Breakfast in the morning did get interrupted with an uninvited guest.

This black bear showed up and refused to leave us.

This bear appears to have become habituated to man. Bears with no fear that do not choose to refrain from human encounters are the ones to be afraid of. They have become accustomed and possibly have been rewarded with some food source from the numerous folks coming down the river.

Horsepackers and backpackers shouldn’t avoid these wilderness river areas just because of the traffic. They are still beautiful, challenging, and the fishing can still be outstanding.Morrison Creek – (no fishing here)

The trail crosses a shale field on the way in.

It’s about 12.5 miles from the trailhead to the three forks area, so it’s a pretty good jaunt for just an overnight trip. You can access the trail to Flotilla lake from this point, but crossing the river can be treacherous if the water is high.