Hello Everyone!
Well, as of this writing my Shadow Catcher is still in the shop, but it should be ready by the end of the day, three weeks to the day after we rolled into Missoula. I certainly never expected it to take this long and can only say that I really wish Dodge hadn’t used some strange axle when they built this van. Usually Dodge parts are pretty easy to come by, but we finally ran out of luck with this one. I’m really hoping that everything is truly set to go and that we can cruise through the rest of the summer with no problems. That said, it’s been a pretty good week out here all things considered. I spent the beginning of the week out exploring in my loaner truck, came back to Missoula for the Zootown Music Festival over the weekend and then headed back south to my friend’s house in Corvallis for the rest of the week. I just pulled back into Missoula this morning and hopefully we’ll be back on the road by this time tomorrow.
After I finished up this post last week, I went out and had a nice long walk around Butte. Butte is truly one of the most photogenic cities I’ve ever been to and there always seems to be something new to see every time I’m there. The sun was on its way down so the light was good and my camera was very happy to be clicking away. I wandered down to the warehouse district for dinner at Casagranda’s Steakhouse, a cozy little spot tucked into the old Bertoglio building with an awesome Highlander Beer mural on the front. I have really been looking forward to eating a local steak and this was an awesome place to get one. The prices were incredibly reasonable, especially considering that the steaks came with soup AND salad, fresh baked bread, a side dish and even a scoop of ice cream at the end. It was a truly satisfying meal in a lovely setting. After dinner I wandered back up the hill into Uptown to take some more photos. I popped into Maloney’s bar for a beer and then had one more at the Copper King Saloon before calling it a night. The Copper King was located across the street from the old Milwaukee Road train station and had a lot of cool history which the ladies there were happy to discuss.
I hit the gym on Thursday morning and then cruised back into Uptown Butte to take some more photos before hitting the road. I also stopped in for a pork chop sandwich at John’s, a true hole-in-the-wall and a Butte institution. It was delicious! Knowing I will likely be back in Butte later this week, I didn’t stay too long and headed just 25 minutes down the road to Anaconda. Originally called Copperopolis, the name was changed to Anaconda soon after its founding, taking the name of the mountain range where it is located. It was definitely a copper town, though, and would remain so for almost a hundred years. When Montana became a state in 1889, Anaconda was one of the cities considered to be the capital, but Helena eventually won out (perhaps through less than honest means, which I’ll tell you more about when I’m there). I was pleasantly surprised by Anaconda, which was immaculate, quiet and full of beautiful historic buildings and homes. The Washoe Theatre is one of the prettier small-town movie theatres I’ve seen in a long time, and the Deer Lodge County Courthouse was awesome at the top of Main Street. I popped into Gallicano’s pizzeria for a recommended slice of pizza, which was delicious, and then made my way out of town.
I cruised past lovely Georgetown Lake and through the pretty little historic town of Phillipsburg on my way to Drummond. From there I made my way up into the mountains to the old gold-mining town of Garnet. After gold played out in California and Colorado, miners started wandering further afield in the hopes of finding their fortunes elsewhere. While gold had been discovered in the Garnet Mountains as early as 1870, it wasn’t until a stamp mill was built in 1895 that hard-rock mining became possible and the town of Garnet was born. By 1898, Garnet was home to over a thousand people and, according to the town’s website, boasted “four stores, four hotels, three livery stables, two barber shops, a union hall, a school with 41 students, a butcher shop, a candy shop, a doctor’s office, an assay office, and thirteen saloons”. Unlike most mining towns in the country, Garnet was apparently pretty family-friendly and miners often brought their families with them when they came. Garnet went through several ups and downs over the next 40 years or so, but World War II marked the beginning of the end for the town. With young men needed for the war effort and dynamite prohibited for non-essential use, the mining came to a halt and people moved away to pursue other opportunities. Today, Garnet is considered Montana’s best preserved ghost town (although I thought Bannack was bigger and better) and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The old Kelley Saloon and the Wells Hotel were really cool to explore and the weather was pleasant and clear during my visit. Leaving Garnet, I headed just down the hill a little ways and set up camp near the tiny old ghost town of Coloma, which is more ghost than town at this point. It was a beautiful little campsite and was one of the quietest night’s sleep I’ve gotten in a long time.
I was up and out pretty early on Friday. I stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Missoula for breakfast and then zipped down the road back into the Bitterroot to my friend Renee’s house in Corvallis. Renee’s friends Dennis and Crystal joined us and then we cruised back up to the Missoula Fairgrounds for the first night of the Zootown Music Festival. We got some food and a few drinks and then settled into a nice spot in the shade for the evening. The Head and the Heart, Rainbow Kitten Surprise and The Lumineers played that night which was a pretty awesome lineup. They were all good, but The Lumineers definitely stole the show.
We were all up early on Saturday and headed to the airport in Stevensville to watch Renee make her 100th skydive, a pretty epic milestone in her skydiving career. She was able to arrange a whole plane load of her friends to go with her to mark the occasion and it was fun to be there to watch. We hung around the shop for a few hours and Renee made another jump before we headed back to the fairgrounds for the second night of the festival. Saturday’s lineup brought us Trampled by Turtles, the Tedeschi Trucks Band and The Chicks, all of whom put on a solid show. We had a great time and we laughed a lot throughout the evening. We made a good little group and it was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend.
We headed back to the skydive shop on Sunday and spent the day hanging out there. I got some more photos, hung out with the dogs and had a fun day. In the evening we went back to Renee’s house and everyone came over for their weekly “family dinner”. It was another great evening with good company. I really enjoyed being able to hang out with this really interesting and fun group and to share some time with them.
Renee and I both had work to do on Monday, so we spent most of the day on our computers. After work, her friend, Kai, came over for a chat and a drink. We hung out at her house for a while and then walked down the road to the Corvallis Tavern for a couple of beers over there. After Kai took off, Renee and I sat up talking way too late into the night, but we had a really good conversation and that was pretty great.
I was planning on taking off back to Missoula yesterday, but the weekend had really taken its toll on me. I slept in late and just couldn’t find the motivation to get moving. I ended up just hanging around for most of the day, reading my book and relaxing. Renee and I chatted for a while after work, but both of us were in bed by 8pm, which was an excellent decision.
I said goodbye to Renee this morning and headed back into the city. I can’t express how grateful I am to her for everything she’s done for me over the last few weeks. These weeks could have been really lonely and difficult if I was just hanging around alone without my van. She introduced me to her friends, included me in everything she was doing, taught me a lot about skydiving and became an even closer friend in the process. The time passed by quicker than it ever would have if I was on my own and I had a really great time.
And so here I am, back in Missoula for hopefully the last night for a while. It’s going to be the end of the day by the time I get my van back and I will need to get in and sort everything out, get some groceries etc. before I take off. From here I will likely be headed back to Butte and then continue on to Bozeman and then south towards Yellowstone where I hope to hit the trail for a couple of overnight backpacking trips. Then I plan to continue south in Wyoming to hike in the Wind River Range on my way to South Pass. We’re expecting rain this weekend which is much needed here in Montana and will cool things down a little bit. Better when I’m in my van than in my tent, that’s for sure. I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to get into in the next week, as my plans have been very much up in the air until I get my van back, but I sure hope to be well on my way south and back to my regular schedule soon. I hope you’ll check back in with me next week and see what I get up to. Until then, stay safe and cool out there and thank you, as always, for reading.
-Mike