Tiny Wisdom, Montana takes its name from explorers Merriweather Lewis and William Clark’s name for the river which runs through town. Today we call it the Big Hole River, but who would change a town called Wisdom? It would seem unwise to me. Resting in the Big Hole Valley between the Pioneer, Anaconda and Beaverhead Mountains, Wisdom is also surrounded by Beaverhead-Deer Lodge National Forest. The Big Hole Valley is also known as the “Valley of 10,000 Haystacks” due to the ranching in the area which uses the beaverslide hay stacking technique developed nearby. There isn’t much to Wisdom, but I found it a pleasant place nonetheless. I stayed at the immaculate American Legion campground just outside of town and enjoyed a visit to the Antlers Saloon. My friend, Crystal, grew up in Wisdom and remembers it as a fun place when she was a child. Her grandmother owned several businesses in town and her brother still lives nearby. Today, Wisdom’s big draw is fly fishing, but it’s also along quite a popular cycling route. I hope you enjoy these photos from tiny Wisdom, Montana - a cute little town in the Big Hole Valley.
Hello Everyone,
I’ve got good news and bad news to start off this week. The bad news is that Shadow Catcher is still in the shop in Missoula, waiting on parts. My new axle housing has made its way all the way from Florida to Indiana where it is currently being rebuilt. They should be putting it on the road to Montana by Friday with it arriving early next week. Once it’s here, it should only take a day or so to get it on and to put everything back together again. I will likely be writing this post from Missoula again next week, making it three weeks since we pulled into town, but I will hopefully be on my way soon thereafter. The good news is that the shop has loaned me a truck in the interim, so I have packed up my camping gear and hit the road in it. I’m very grateful to them for the loaner as it has allowed me to get out and do some exploring this week. It’s not the easiest way to travel, but it sure beats sitting around on my hands in Missoula. I think if I had three weeks to sit there and stew, it would be hard to bounce back from. This week has taken me south through the Bitterroot Valley, across the Big Hole and the Bozeman Trail and is winding up here in Butte, where I am writing to you from today. The weather has been great and I’ve definitely been enjoying myself despite the difficulties of being out here without my van and the stresses involved with that.
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After finishing up this post last week, I went out and enjoyed a wonderful night of music with a songwriters’ round at the Zootown Arts Community Center there in Missoula. This event brought together four unique songwriters from around Montana who took turns sharing their songs and the stories behind them. It was the first event of the newly formed Montana Songwriters Collective and it was really enjoyable. After the show, I went down and had a burger at the Missoula Club and then headed back across the river for the night.
