That would be the Sleeping Giant you see in the Beartooth mountains that are part of the Rockies that surround this gorgeous part of the planet earth. Everyone that's ever been to Helena Mt. would tell you the Giant is the centerpiece of this setting.
The Beartooth Ranch is 1,000 acres that includes the Giant and has been in the Synness family for going on 200 years. So for 50 years we've heard about the Giant from people in town and of course my friend for life Curt Synness who as life goes is now the gatekeeper of the families ranch. Curt had a young couple contact him for permission to climb the mountain to celebrate a birthday and called to see if me and MPeasy would like to come along as he guided them to the trail head....
It was threatening rain and blowing 15 to 20 knots I'd guess when we met Nate and Camy at the first of several gates. A couple were barb wire posts gates and a couple were these ingenious counterweighted swinging gate like this one Curt is opening.
We gained serious elevation as we crossed from ranch to ranch and finally pulled up to a beautiful meadow surrounded by the original cabins and the shadow of the giant. Here's a pic of the crew . Curt on the left.
Curt gave the 4 of us a cool history lesson of his grandparents and great grandparents. The history of the homestead and the hardships and joys that all went together through the years . We then walked a mile or so up to the marked trailhead that would take the young people to the nose, us ahhhh.....older folks... decided we'd just kinda call that part of the hike good enough.....here's the crew and Camy on the nose eating her birthday cake....well played mam.
That would be the Gates of the Mountains on the Missouri river below pretty much in the area of Mann Gulch which is Famous for the smoke jumper tragedy years ago, this stretch of river is the prettiest place to boat that I've ever experienced, discovered and named by Lewis and Clark of course. You can see the elevation and with the wind howling and scattered rain and hail Nate and Camy summited the nose AND the chest of the Giant in 6 and 1/2 hours....And us, well we beat feet over to Curt's cabin for a civilized viewing of the wide expanses of Montana.
They got that board nailed from the front deck out to tree they topped with about a forty foot drop down. That's about as far as I wanted to go out on it...guess I'm finally run out of stupid .
If I were one of these guys, this is the place I'd be.
and my favorite sign of the day was this one....you know how I love signs.
So,a very special day for me and MPeasy. A special day for our enduring friendship, so thanks Curt. and speaking of friendships have a lookie see at that counter. When I started Mile 14 I thought my first 10,000 reads were impressive and I was humbled and excited for that....well, here we are at 1/2 a million....that's a lot of smiles....THANK YOU to all my friends....How's about a song ?Keep an eye out for a new Mile 14, I got a really cool song that's coming next.
Mile 14 on the Kenai River, well, its a special place on earth. I tell people the Kenai river is like my first girlfriend, always changing, fickle, unpredictable but absolutely gorgeous. This place is the major league of salmon fishing, and you'll see why. No politics here, well maybe a little fish politics, just plain simple fun and adventure.
I have been a fulltime guide on the Kenai River here in Alaska since 1981. I'm a fishing machine between my summer job and surf fishing in Mazatlan Mexico. I've been married to the best person I know for 32 years. I'm a musician , health nut and I like to have fun. Mile 14 is where I live on the Kenai River. So this Blog will be my views, experiences, huge catches and adventures right here from Mile 14...and most of them will be true.
