Savenac Tree Nursery

On our way back from our bike ride, Dave and I stopped at the Savenac Nursery.  This nursery was started after the fires of 1910 to grow trees to replant the forests that burned.  They no longer use it as a nursery, it is a historic site.  They stopped using it in the 1978 (if I remember right)

Elers Koch started the nursery.  He was the forest supervisor on the Bitterroot National forest in 1906.  He later became the deputy Regional Forester of Region 1.

 Below is the visitors center.  It used to be the offices of the nursery.  They have made a museum out of part of it.  Most of the buildings are still located on the premises, but are not open to the public.

 This bridge supposedly is the first (original) bridge on the old Highway that was built.

 Now it is part of the interpretive trail around the nursery.

 This is a Western Larch tree.  The nursery has an arboritum with tree species that are identified along a trail on the west side of the nursery grounds.   

 There is a firefighter memorial dedicated to the firefighters that died in the fires of 1910. 



Riding the Hiawatha!!

Dave and I took our bikes Saturday June 18th to the Hiawatha trail.

It is located between Montana and Idaho just South of I-90

The trail is an old train track that was an electric passenger line between Idaho and Montana.

We started our ride On the Montana side at the East Portal trailhead.

It costs 9.00 to ride the trail.  There is also a shuttle service to take you back to your vehicle that costs 9.00 also.

The beginning of the trail starts out at the east portal entrance of one of the tunnels.

This tunnel is really long and headlights are required to ride this trail and you really need them!

Because it is as dark as the inside of Dick's hat in there!

And you need to let your eyes get adjusted when you start.

It was really cold inside the tunnel.  I was wishing that I had gloves.  It was so cold you could see your breath.  About the middle of this tunnel is the state line between Montana and Idaho.

This tunnel is where the Idaho crew met the Montana crew to finish the train track.

The track was finished in 1904, just before the fires of 1910 which burned much of the area where this railway passed.

The scenery along the trail was spectacular

When we started the ride it was partly cloudy and sunny.  We finished the ride just in time because it started to sprinkle when we got to Pearson and by the time we loaded the bikes up and headed to the highway, it was raining.

I lost count of all the tunnels

Part of the trail is shared with vehicle traffic (3 miles to be exact)

And then there were tressels...

The view from the tressels was pretty cool.

We picked a good weekend to go.  Apparently during the middle of summer they have over 3000 people riding the trail in one day.  Way to crazy for me.  But we only saw people occassionaly so it was a very enjoyable ride.

Dave riding on the tressel

The tressel behind me was another one that we went over.

I think there were about 7 or 8 tressels that we crossed.

And of course I have to show some of the flora.

These violets were yellow.  I don't think I have ever seen wild yellow violets.  I don't know if they had a fragrance or not.  I didn't take the time to smell them (take time to smell the roses--opps?)

I don't know what this flower is, but it was pretty.

This flower looked like a hosta crossed with an orchid. 

(looked it up and found out it is called a Trillium)

And after I saw the white, I found several clusters down the trail in several degrees of pink.

Along the trail there are kiosks and signs that tell some of the history.  The Olympian Hiawatha was a plush passenger line that ran this section of railway.  It is the inspriation for the trails name.  This was the longest electrified train in the United States.

The end of the trail is at Pearson.  This is where the shuttle busses pick you and your bike up to take you back to the west portal of the first tunnel you come thru.  You get to ride the longest tunnel twice.

Inside the long tunnel, there are little alcove's periodically.

Most of the tunnels had seeping water.  I think it was probably more while we were there due to the late spring and the snow run-off.

Dave and I really liked this trail. 

It was so pretty and we really enjoyed it!

Riding thru the tunnels and on over the tressels was pretty cool.

I think this ride would be awsome in the fall.

We started the ride about 1100 and finished around 1400.

We had lunch and took our time to enjoy the scenery. 

I am going to do some research to find some more rides that we can take.

Memorial Day Weekend 2011

Dave and I went to Lake Como on Saturday. 

Lake Como is south of Hamilton, MT.  The turn off is just before you reach Darby.

 Lots of things blooming this time of year.

This cabin is available for rent from the Forest Service.  It is under construction right now, it is getting a new roof.

On Sunday, Dave and I went to Bigfork, MT.

It is located on the North end of the Flathead lake.

Bigfork is a tourist "Village" that has a lot of gallaries and art stores.

They were having Kayak races.

 Dave and I ran into friends while we were there.  Our "neighbors" Shari and Joe had decided to take a road trip to Bigfork also.  We hadn't talked to each other for over a week so we had no idea about their plans for the day.  It was pretty funny to run into them.

Another Summer of Farmer's Markets

The farmers market hasn't had a lot of produce yet, but they have a lot of plants for sale.

They also have a lot of baked goods for sale.  Last year there were some ladies that made "gluten free" baked goods.  They were really good too!

The Garden City Gondolas are in full force.  They will take you around town for a fee That you get to determine.

There are several Markets within a couple blocks.  There is the Missoula Farmers Market above,

and the Clark Fork Market below.  The Missoula is located next to the train station and the Clark Fork is next to the river just off of Higgins.  Then there is the People's Market which sells crafts and hand made items.  It is located between the 2 markets. 

 There are a few stands that have cold weather veggies.  I have been eating beets the last couple weekends.  I love beets!

I bought a stevia plant and a peppermint plant at the Clark Fork Market.