Dunrovin Ranch has the great fortune to have Geoff Pepos use his many talents as an artist and film maker to help us tell some of Dunrovin’s many stories. Recently Geoff has been working on a series of shot films about various aspects of Ozzie and Harriet’s story. This means that Geoff and I (SuzAnne) need to make occasional trips to Helena to follow Ozzie’s postmortem journey to become part of a permanent osprey display at the beautiful wildlife educational center, Montana Wild, which is operated by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. Recently (2/19/15), Geoff and I made yet another road trip to Helena to witness and film the taxidermy process involved in bringing Ozzie “back to life” as a museum mount. I will soon write a separate blog about Ozzie specifically – but here I simply want to share the fun that Geoff and I had on the drive itself.
The day started off with little snow in sight, temperatures well above freezing (horrors – we NEED winter snows), and with a brief, but beautiful, bright pink sunrise as we headed east from Missoula. The morning sky turned a pale blue as the sun slowly climbed into the sky. One my favorite parts of the drive to Helena is the Little Blackfoot River Valley with its steep rock canyon walls, clear river, old homesteads, and tiny towns of Avon and Elliston. The valley rewarded us almost immediately as we exited Interstate 90. A group of three golden eagles and four or five crows were vying for the remains of a deer that had been hit by a car and was dead along side the highway. They all flew up into the trees as we stopped to get a couple of photos. We drove back and forth two more times, waiting for them to return to the kill, but we were unable to lure them back within better view.
One old homestead caught our eye, which necessitated a second photographic stop. Geoff was unfamiliar with the Montana Beaverslide contraption that the early Big Hole ranchers from Beaverhead County (hence the name Beaverslide) used to create big hay stacks that were both windproof and waterproof because the top layers formed a thatched roof over the hay beneath. Many Montana ranchers continue to use them in spite of the availability of modern baling equipment – which can be more costly to purchase and operate than a team of horses.
We couldn’t help ourselves from stopping two more time as we drove up and over the Continental Divide at McDonald Pass. In the 1930’s, all of Montana’s steep mountain passes were equipped with water fountains on both sides – not necessarily to provide drivers and passengers with a cold spring water drink, but to cool down hot engines and replenish over heating radiators in early model automobiles. We Montanan’s are used to seeing these water fountains along nearly all of our mountain passes – some are defunct and abandoned, some are in ruins, and other are still operative and continue to invite passing cars to stop to fill bottles with the sweet mountain water. Those of us raised in Montana in the 50’s clearly remember begging our parents to stop at each and every one of these fountains to escape the car, refresh ourselves with a drink, and start a water fight with our siblings. What great memories!
Topping the pass and catching that first glimpse of the Helena Valley and the sweep of the Mountains to the east always requires a momentary stop in the scenic turnout to marvel again at what a wonderful thing it is to live in this great state. My heart will never tire of seeing such Montana scenes roll across my windshield. Nor will my heart ever tire of sharing these scenes with such fun and interesting friends as Geoff. Thank you, Geoff and Montana, for a most enjoyable and memorable day.