Garnet, Montana

Garnet is a great town that has actually been restored to a degree by the Bureau of Land Management and many of the buildings are safe to enter.  You can actually take guided tours and a lot of artifacts found during the reconstruction are on display.

 

The road to Garnet is pretty well maintained and you're very likely to see wildlife along the way.  Historic markers let you know when you're approaching points of interest, such as this cemetery.

Some of the really great details in these old ghosts have to do with the contrasts between wood and metal.  Weathering does some really gorgeous things to both, and when they're together they have a character that really is unmatched.  Couple that with the fact that those wooden walls sheltered people, and those metal tools were wielded by the calloused hands of our forebears and that natural beauty increases exponentially.

 The say that Garnet was built to last....well at least some of it was!  This old cabin is clearly succumbing to its many years, while the school in the background is in much better shape.  I'm not sure how the BLM decided which buildings deserved preservation and which would be left to their fate, but the difference can clearly be seen here!

 The kids are so used to having their pictures taken it just doesn't phaze them very much anymore!  Here our day of hiking is catching up with Jackson just a little, I think.  He and his sister were having a rest in "The Honeymoon Cabin", a structure which newly married couples occupied while they waited to finish building their own dwelling.

Upstairs in the Wells Hotel I took some time laps pictures in an attempt to manufacture 'ghostly' images of the children.  This was Jackson, who leaned against the wall then walked toward the steps.  If you look carefully, you can see his progress.

 

Using some of the great light coming in the attic window at the Wells Hotel.  This is Jackson again.

 

Liam walked down the stairs of the Wells Hotel for me.  It isn't quite the image I was looking for, but it still has a vaguely ghostly quality!

 

Jack and Moira outside the front doors of the Wells Hotel.  This is one of my favorite pictures of these two!

Some of the artifacts found during the town's reconstruction are on display, including this stocked kitchen in the Wells Hotel.

This room in the Wells was reconstructed to try to give visitors an idea of how the hotel may have been appointed.  That armoire in the corner is absolutely beautiful!

Try to imagine that one of these cabins is home.  There are pretty good descriptions of how good the shelter was during the severe winters this town suffers, being so close to the top of the mountain.  The cold must have been incredible with the wind blowing through the chinks between the logs.  I've seen pictures of Garnet in winter, with three feet of snow on the roofs of the cabins and only the rooflines visible above the drifts.

 

Evidence of Garnet's mining history is all over the area, and this ore cart made a great fort for the kids to rest in.

 

One of my favorite pictures of Liam was taken in Garnet.  It often makes me wonder if another blonde-haired boy stood in this same spot during the 1860s!

 

Garnet has its own official website, so I'm enclosing the link so anyone interested can have a look.  There's a lot of great information on the area, and really gives one some degree of insight into early Montana history and the importance of mining to the region.

Garnet Ghost Town Official Website 

Happy Hunting!

Comet, Montana

 A few years back I was privileged to visit the mining camp of Comet, Montana.  It is considered one of the best preserved, not reconstructed, ghost towns in the state, with one of the best preserved mills.  It is slowly crumbling under the weight of its many years and soon the pictures may be all we have left of this wonderful piece of history.  I hope to get back to Comet soon, before we make our move back west! 

 

 This is the hillside full of cabins across the creek from the mill.  The town was big enough during the 1890s to have 20 children in its school.

 When I visited in 2007 the mill seemed to be in 

very good condition.

 Lilacs embrace most of the buildings in Comet, so if you want to visit the town while they're in bloom, the end of May or beginning of June might be a good bet, depending on the amount of snowpack the town gets during the winter, of course!

I made one of the pictures I took at Comet into this composite...I think it really showcases not only the town's namesake, but its short, illustrious history and its bright spirit at the same time!  I'm also enclosing a link to an article I found, written in the same year I visited, which details some of the history of the area.

http://www.mtstandard.com/special-section/local/article_459937d7-4ac6-551a-9539-717a444ce7ef.html

There are many other sites on the net that can give the reader information on this great little town, so feel free to do a search on "Comet, MT" and see what you can find!  

Winter Portraits Courtesy of Wonderful Friends

Christmas last year would have been a little less merry without the help of some very special, and unexpected, friends. 

Here the kids model their new coats and gloves, courtesy of the 
Big Sky Auto Club.

Geez, give a kid a coat and look at the attitude 

you get!

 Here's your next model, London Fog!

Jackson, of course, couldn't stay out of the snowbank!

 

Jack was the one who couldn't stay out of the snow...it was nice for him to be warm while playing!

 Covered in Snow, and still nice and warm!

I love these pictures of Liam in his new coat!  He was fully able to ham it up and be warm...but where are his boots???

Blue coat for Blue Eyes! Perfect choice!

We spent Christmas with John's Mom in Kalispell, and there was plenty of snow to test out 

the new gear in!

What boys do...

Best Buddies!

The kids have needed these coats this year; we've had plenty of below zero weather, lots of wind, and plenty of snow.  I think Jackson, for certain, will still be able to wear his coat next year, 
and Liam may as well.  
I can't thank the members of the 
Big Sky Auto Club enough!

St Jude Thaddeus 3rd Grade Fishing Trip

Our children attend St. Jude Thaddeus School, and every year this school along with the public school, sends their third grade class out to learn about ice fishing.  They learn how to tie flies, how to bait the hooks, how to place the rod, and how to jig the line to entice the fish.  This year they also got to see not only a fish finder and how its used, but a camera which was lowered into the water so the kids could see the fish swimming around in their environment and interacting with the bait.  It was a wonderful time for all of us!  Here are some pictures of Jackson at the event!

It took him a while and some coaching to catch something, but he was a trooper and waited diligently by his hole!

Here he was watching the fish finder...I think I learned as much as he did about that!

Looking for the telltale signs of fish on the fish finder...

Learning to finesse the rod, jig the line properly...and above all pay attention to catch the slight movements of fish nibbles!

Reeling it in!

It was an active little guy!

We were told that a REAL fisherman always kisses his catch!  Don't laugh, Jack was very proud of this!

Jack's first perch!

In Memory of Tres

 

We lost our dear, sweet friend yesterday.

He was our children's best buddy.  He put up with everything they did, never showing an ounce of aggression or even impatience.  When our daughter was around him he melted like a marshmallow in the microwave!

He had the most amazing eyes God ever gave a cat.  They were expressive, intelligent, and infinitely lovely.

He was one of my favorite models...always seemed to know where the best light was and how to use it!

He was a big, tough, smart, and sassy boy who, despite his missing leg, was able to catch birds, gophers, and the occasional feline interloper!  He had us out of the house on more than one night worried he was getting in over his head, but he rarely came home with even a scratch.

 They say antifreeze tastes good, though for the life of me you wouldn't know it for the smell.  It was a deadly poison for our friend.  His kidneys shut down, and there was nothing we could do for him.  Our gentle vet helped him home to God.

This has been a lesson to us as a family.  Though I loved watching our cats prowl around in the Great Outdoors, we've shut the doors and windows to them now.  Gwen will only see it from the window from now on.  I would implore all of you who read this to pay attention to the antifreeze you use.  There are brands that add a bad tasting ingredient to the mix which discourages pets from drinking it.  Please, please, choose those brands rather than the ones that poison our friends.  

Tres is only one victim of many.