FSR 09 Tour Descript

TOUR DESCRIPTIONS

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Grant Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site and Historic State Prison Museums (2) Tour, Deer Lodge, Montana, 8 AM to 5:30 PM

The Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Ranch Site tour includes a tour of the ranch house and the other exhibits on the site. This ranch site was the headquarters area for one of the largest range ranches of its time and was operated from the 1860’s through the 1960’s. This tour involves a quarter mile walk from the visitors center to the ranch house with additional walking to the other exhibits on site. This half of the day’s tours takes about two hours.

The Historic State Prison Museums tour includes the old prison tour and an antique automobile tour, both housed on the old prison site. This half of the days tours should take about two hours. Attendees will be split into two groups and will alternate sites with lunch on their own at Deer Lodge restaurants. Soft drinks and bottled water will be available on the highway coaches for the trip from the Hilton Garden Convention Center in Missoula to Deer Lodge. Attendees should be prepared for the possibilities of either a cool day or a warm sunny day. The buses will take advantage of one of the rest areas on the rides to and from Deer Lodge. The cost per person for this tour will be $45.00 which includes transportation and all fees. Tour buses depart Hilton Garden Convention Center at 8:00 AM. Tour leader and coordinator is Chuck Sundstrom. Additional information about the sites on this tour can be found at: www.nps.gov/grko and www.deerlodge-montana.com.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

These tours are “all-day” tours, so you can only attend one. Each tour can accommodate only a certain number of folks and will be assigned on a first come, first serve basis. You will have

the opportunity to state your first, second and third choices of tours if you so desire.

# 1 Airport Complex Tour

Smoke Jumper Visitors Center/Forest Service Fire Sciences Laboratory/National Museum of Forest Service History/Museum of Mountain Flying, 8:30 AM

to 2:45 PM.

Your tour will begin at the Hilton Garden Convention Center at 9:00 AM. We will be loading on buses for a short trip to the Missoula Airport site. The tour will include approximately 45 minute tours of each of the four sites. You will be returned to the convention center at 3:00 PM.

At the Smoke Jumper Visitors Center we will view the firefighting and smoke jumping

procedures, smoke jumping history, and other fire related issues, and visit an actual fire

lookout from 1937.

At the Forest Service Fire Sciences Laboratory we will be guided through the facility with demonstrations of the projects the laboratory has developed and is currently working on in support of the wild fire fighting efforts and

the use of prescribed fire in land management.

The National Museum of Forest Service History Site is in the state of development and currently includes an actual ranger station,

and fire tower with an array of historical equipment, tools, paintings, etc. in the collection.

The Museum of Mountain Flying preserves legends, lore, and historical legacy of pilots and other individuals whose pioneering aviation exploits helped bring America’s Rocky Mountain West into the Air Age. The Museum seeks to acquire and display any and all items related to this region’s mountain-flying history, including appropriate vintage aircraft, memorabilia, artifacts, historical documents, photographs, personal narratives and diaries, motion-pictures footage, tape recordings, newspaper stories, magazine articles and books.

The cost per person for this tour will be $58.00 which includes, bus ride, all fees, box lunch and drinks. Tour bus departs Hilton Garden Convention Center at 9 AM. Tour leader and coordinator will be Stan Cohen.

#2 Ninemile Remount Depot and Ranger Station, 9AM to 3PM

The historic Ninemile Remount Depot and Ranger Station is located 25 miles northwest of

Missoula on the Lolo National Forest. This site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its rich history and Cape Cod architecture. The site is steeped in history and often referred to as the Grey Towers of the West because of its significant role in livestock management and backcountry fire management. Following the historic fires of

1910 the Ranger Station became the center for horse and mule use and technology to suppress fires in the backcountry.

Patterned after the US Calvary Remount program it became a place where livestock was trained, wintered, and made available for backcountry fires in the northern region and beyond. Attendees will enjoy a guided walking tour of the site, a presentation on the history of the site and a presentation on the Ninemile pack string which still provides service as needed for work in the back country as well as appearing in parades around the nation, representing the Forest Service. Attendees will be provided with soft drinks and bottled water while traveling to and from the site and will be served a Dutch oven dinner prepared by Colleen Sloan courtesy of the Friends of Nine Mile for the mid-day meal.

The cost per person for this tour will be $48.00 which includes, bus ride, Dutch oven dinner and drinks. Tour bus departs Hilton Garden Convention Center at 9 AM. Tour leader and coordinator is Rick Hafenfeld.

#3 Historic Daly Mansion and Trapper Creek Job Corp Civilian Conservation Center, 9:15 AM to 3:30 PM.

The first half day will be a guided tour of the historic summer home of “copper king” Marcus Daly which evolved from a two-story farmhouse into a 24,000 square foot mansion with 25 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms located just northeast of Hamilton, Montana in the heart of the Bitterroot Valley. The Daly Mansion does

have an elevator for any attendees who don’t do well on a lot of stairs. Another short bus ride south up the Bitterroot Valley and then up the West Fork of the Bitterroot River will take attendees to the Trapper Creek Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center where a lunch prepared by the trainees will be served. After lunch, the attendees will be given a presentation on the training programs available at the Job

Corps Center.

The cost per person for this tour will be $40.00 which includes, bus ride, lunch and drinks. Tour bus departs Hilton Garden Convention Center at 9:15 AM. Tour leader and coordinator will be Al Hinman.

TOUR DESCRIPTIONS

#4 Boat Tour on Flathead Lake (8:00 AM to 5:00 PM)

The bus ride to beautiful Flathead Lake takes approximately 2 1/2 hours with a ½ hour stop midway. We will be traveling north from Missoula through the Salish/Kootenai Reservation, just north of the Rattlesnake Mountains. We will pass through the Jocko River basin to the town of Ravalli, then up along the South East boundary of the National Bison Range to a ridge and a midway stopping point

(rest area). From the stopping point you will be able to view the Mission Valley in the foreground and the southern end of the extraordinary Mission Mountain Range in the background. You will be paralleling the Mission Mountain Range to Polson where you will board the cruise ship “Shadow” for a three hour tour of Flathead Lake. From Polson we will cruise through East Bay and the narrows out into the main lake and around Wild Horse Island. Wild Horse Island is a State Park and contains wild horses, rocky mountain big horn sheep, deer, and black bear. A catered lunch will be served on the ship.

The cost per person for this tour will be $75.00 which includes, Deluxe bus ride, catered lunch and boat tour. Drinks on the bus

ride will be provided and a no host bar will be available on the boat tour. Tour bus departs Hilton Garden Convention Center at 8 AM. Tour leader and coordinator will be Jon Dunlop.

#5 Raft Trip through Alberton Gorge on the Clark Fork River, 8 AM to 5 PM

This full day raft tour through the Alberton Gorge on the Clark Fork River about 35 miles west of Missoula includes transportation, all safety gear and a deli style lunch, including cold beverages. The Alberton Gorge is the spectacular result of flood flows which resulted from ice dam failures and the draining of Lake Missoula during the last ice age some 15,000 years ago. Attendees should wear layers of non-cotton clothing, gloves and caps in case of cool temperatures below 70 degrees F. Rain gear is advised just in case the weather goes south during the float. At the other extreme, sun screen is also advised. Folks planning to attend this tour should be mobile enough to get into and out of the rafts and should be able to sit long enough for the morning and again for the afternoon raft rides.

The cost per person for this tour will be $62.00 which includes, bus ride, all fees, lunch and drinks and raft trip, provided by Lewis and Clark Trail Adventures. Tour bus departs Hilton Garden Convention Center at 8 AM. Tour leader and coordinator will be Jim Hagemeier.

#6 Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, 9 AM to 2:45 PM

The tour includes a one hour tour of the 32 acre grounds which requires walking on paved paths. The tour will include an apple cider press, one room schoolhouse, steam locomotive, fire lookout, and the WW II Alien Detention Center. An hour is spent inside the main Museum building reviewing Missoula History, the 1918 Flu and World War I exhibits, and the Rodeo Photographs of the 1930’s. Following the provided box lunch, we will see a demonstration provided by the Society of American Foresters of a “Steam Powered Saw Mill” in operation.

The cost per person for this tour will be $40.00 which includes, bus ride, all fees, box lunch and drinks. Tour bus departs Hilton Garden Convention Center at 9:00 AM. Tour leader and coordinator will be Jim Hogan.

#7 Garnet Ghost Town, Mine Works and Garnet Bark Beetle Stewardship Project, 8 AM to 5 PM

The search for gold and the mining of gold in the 1890’s was the basis for the existence and

growth of the mining town of Garnet, which grew to one thousand people during its heyday. The gold ran out after about 20 years and the town was abandoned. The old town is well preserved. The tour of Garnet town requires a short walk from the parking and picnic area down to the site and back. The elevation change between the parking area and the town site is approximately 200 feet. This part of the tour takes between an hour and an hour and a half.

The tour of the mine works involves about a quarter mile walk to the site with an elevation change of about 300’. This part of the tour also takes between an hour and an hour and a half. The tour group will be split in half with one group going to each area in the morning and then switching after lunch to see the other areas. Attendees will also see and hear about the bark beetle stewardship project completed by BLM in the Garnet town site area last

fall. A box lunch will be provided to the attendees between the two segments of the tours. Soft drinks and bottled water will be

provided for the hour trip each way on the buses and for the lunch hour. Toilets will be available at the parking area. The elevation at Garnet is relatively high and warm clothing and coats are advised in case the weather turns cool.

The cost per person for this tour will be $43.00 which includes, bus ride, all fees, box lunch and drinks. Tour bus departs Hilton Garden Convention Center at 8:00 AM. Tour leader and coordinator will be Kirk Thompson.

Wednesday, September 9

Companions Quilt Tour in Missoula, 9 AM to 2:45 PM

We will visit four quilting shops in Missoula staying about ½ hour in each shop. This may not give time for serious buying but you could check out each shop and return later if something really interested you. The names of the shops are Vicki’s, Quilter’s Quarry, Timeless Treasures and Bernina. Two of our shops are large, the other two are small, and they all have quality fabric. Fabric choices include Civil War, the 30’s, brights, batiks, western, wildlife, novelty prints, oriental's and Kaffe. There

are cottons and flannels. Each shop has many samples of quilting ideas for your viewing that are hanging on the walls. The owner of Timeless Treasures has offered to demonstrate her long arm quilting machine. After visiting three shops, we will take a break for lunch, which is included in the tour package. Three of our Missoula quilters who go beyond basic quilting will have a “show and tell” for us. We will then continue on to the fourth shop, Bernina, and view one of the newest machines on the market and marvel at its capabilities.

The cost per person for this tour will be $33.00 which includes, bus ride and lunch. Tour bus departs Hilton Garden Convention Center at 10 AM. Tour leader and coordinator will be Sue Blunn. Sign up early, maximum of 40 attendees.

2009 Forest Service Reunion

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