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Glendale
A Ghost TownJuly 1 - 5, 2008
Canyon Creek Ranch, Melrose, Montana
Mike, Judy, Donna and, I drove to Canyon Creek Ranch from Billings on June 30th. The ride continued to afford us incredible vistas of country side none of us had seen before. We arrived at Canyon Creek Ranch for dinner and the week was off to a running start.
We (Michael and I) are here for the July session of
"The School of Fly Fishing". This is a four day school that begins with a day and a half of classroom education. Of the ten available student spots only our two are filled for this session and we get very personalized attention from Dana Cole. The session also includes a half-day of fly fishing on Canyon Creek, a day-long, float fishing trip on the Big Hole River and, a day trip of sorties to various lakes and rivers in the region including the Big Hole and Wise Rivers. These are beautiful locations and the fishing was great. The fish we caught included Rainbow and Brown trout, and White Fish, all wild, not from a trout hatchery. And I can assure you, it is considerably more difficult to catch wild trout than I
Open Range
Cattle roam the plains, mountains and, road way. had anticipated
The ride to Melrose from Billings was beautiful and scenic from the interstate. The 17 mile ride from Melrose to Canyon Creek Ranch took more than an hour over U. S. Forest Service “roads”. In the first thirty minutes we covered just 7 miles and the last four miles took another thirty minutes. We did however race along the intervening six miles in less than 20 minutes. From Melrose at 4,500 foot elevation we climbed to 7,400 foot elevation at Canyon Creek Ranch. Given the change in elevation, we enjoyed numerous and astounding drops, cliff and, meadow and valley views. Along the ride we passed through a ghost town (Glendale) and stopped for a short visit to the
Charcoal Kilns . The road also crosses open range which means that cattle roam freely on or along the road. As they say here: “We’ve heard of the beaten path, just can’t actually see it from here.” After this ride, the ranch gate was a welcome sight.
Canyon Creek Ranch is a guest ranch situated in a high canyon, surrounded, closely, by 10,000 foot high mountains (
Ranch Entrance ). The Ranch is a collection of five cabins, a Lodge, and corral and stables for
Storm Brewing
Storms are visible from a long way away. the horses, all nestled in a series of small clearings in the lodge pole pines. These arrow straight pines have very short branches and soar far above the ranch. Canyon Creek is a deep, fast-moving creek that runs along the edge of the ranch and down the canyon along the road. (We stored drinks in the creek so cold that ice formed in our soft drinks.) The scent of pine and clean mountain water are delicious, refreshing, invigorating and, intoxicating. The ranch uses a generator for electricity, propane gas for heat and cooking and, the water is directly from Canyon Creek. Communications is only available by satellite for telephone and internet access.
The Lodge, which dates its history back more than 70 years, is the dining room and sitting room for the Ranch. It has been modernized but still bears in its square log walls, the brands and carvings of 75 years of guests to this hunting and fishing lodge. The lodge is the central gathering place for guests with a living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry, and staff quarters. Sitting in the living room’s leather covered, overstuffed sofa and chairs, a guest can look out through the wall
of large picture windows at the sheer rocky face of Sheriff Mountain which rises another 2,600 feet above Canyon Creek below to its 10,000 feet elevation. A telescope standing in the sitting room allows guests to scan the slopes of Sheriff Mountain for the mountain goats that live there.
Our cabin is a duplex we shared with Mike and Judy. The cabins are clean and well appointed with massive, western style, pine furniture. A stove in the main sitting/bed room is fueled with pelletized wood and warms the cool morning while adding the charm of a flame to the setting. A large porch along the front of the cabin overlooks the creek below. Most evenings we spent time on the porch listening to the creek, discussing our day and, sharing a glass of wine before dinner. For most of the week we and Dana Cole, our instructor, are the only guests.
As you might expect, our fly fishing school experience includes lodging and meals. To say that Karen, the Ranch’s “cook”, is a wonderful cook would do her an injustice. The meals were great; everyone enjoyed seconds even if we were not hungry. We enjoyed frittatas and casseroles,
the best tasting French toast, bacon and sausage for breakfasts; soups, chili, burgers from the grill and, salads for lunch. Dinners were pork roasts, chicken breasts, Ahi tuna, prime rib, fresh corn, asparagus, green beans, salads, soups, and marvelous, freshly prepared desserts and sour dough or whole wheat rolls with real butter. Karen prepared three meals a day at times we decided were best for our day’s planned activities.
While Mike and I learned, practiced or, went out on our fly fishing field trips, Donna and Judy explored the mountains and trails. Tuesday they walked the trails to “kingdom come”, read and, rested on the front porch. Wednesday they drove to Vipond Park, a meadow of wild flowers and grasses atop one of the 10,000 foot high mountains. After enjoying the Park they drove over the dirt roads to Melrose to shop. Thinking they were lost Donna stopped at a convenience store only to learn that it was a saloon (one of the grizzled patrons offered to take them in his truck and show them where they wanted to go). At Melrose they found two fly fishing shops and two saloons (not exactly the shopping experience they were looking
for). On Thursday, they floated the Big Hole River for half a day taking pictures and sight seeing while Mike and I floated it all day fishing. After their float trip the girls headed for Dillon for lunch at Papa T’s. They explored a local bookstore where Judy bought “Montana Wild Flowers”. From Dillon they rode to Elkhorn Hot Springs to soak in the hot mineral baths (they decided not to soak after all) then on to the Pioneer Scenic Byway. They stopped at the ranger station to check out a potential problem with the truck and met Ranger Tom who has relatives in Athens, Georgia. At Butte they decided to shop as a sideline to the day’s trip. Mike and I lunched on the river bank and walked a high pasture above the river before heading out again to fish.
On Friday, Mike and I, with Dana, fished the Big Hole and Wise Rivers, Canyon Creek and, the Meriwether Ranch “pond”. Donna and Judy went horseback riding up into the mountains toward the snow cap. The horses were well behaved, the wrangler and guide experienced and cheerful and, the trip through wild and scenic country was an exciting
and beautiful ride.
Friday evening we shared our last dinner at the Ranch, talked about our day and, planned our Saturday drive plans. We all wanted to stay longer.
Our Saturday drive plans include stops in Nevada City, Virginia City and, Yellowstone. The drive will be a long one but we want to share the exploration of this part of the country together. The best laid plans oft go astray, as they say, and we were to make “adjustments” to our plan. Check back for more on Saturday’s trip in the next BLOG entry.
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Beth
non-member comment
Howdy!
Howdy guys, Glad you are having fun. I printed this for mom and dad. We love you! Beth