Distinctly Montana Magazine

The ghost town of Coolidge DONNIE SEXTON (2) the mountains and filled in the valleys behind the moraines, forming these huge, lush meadows. Creeks meander through the grasslands, attracting bea- ver, muskrat, otters, moose, waterfowl, and fly-fishers. Get back deep into the West Pio- neers and you can get as rugged and remote as you please. My favorite overnight hike here is Trail #50 Bobcat Creek to Bobcat Lakes. This is a fairly challenging five-mile hike in to a gor- geous lake with good camping. From the lake you can easily visit upper Bobcat Lakes and climb Bobcat Peak. A popular backpack trip in the East Pioneers takes you up Jacobson Creek Trail # 752 to Tahepia Lake and Shultz Lakes. Pack the fishing pole for some splendid high country fishing. These high, wild ranges shelter some of Montana's most rare and imperiled wildlife—wolverine, wolves, mountain goats, and perhaps a few Canada lynx, a species protected by the Endangered Species Act. DISTINCTLY MONTANA | DIGITAL Travel the scenic highway online. Go to www.distinctlymontana.com/pioneer114 The smooth pavement and extraordinary scenery along the Pioneer Route lure road bike riders from far and wide. Each June, hundreds of road bikers participate in RATPOD, Ride Around the Pioneers in One Day, a fund-raiser for Camp Mak-a-Dream, a Montana facility providing cost-free, medically-supervised positive experiences for people affect- 24 ed by cancer. RATPOD is a challenging 130-mile ride, beginning and end- ing in Dillon, with several mountain passes to negotiate. The highlight is the 49 winding miles of Highway 73. Bring your moutain bike too. Sheep Creek Trail #216 is one of the few you can ride into the East Pioneer Moun- tains from Highway 73. Most trails on this side, including Jacobsen Creek and David Creek, are closed to bikes and other mechanized transport since the Forest Service set aside a large area of "recommended wilderness" in the East Pioneer Mountains. There is a better mountain biking access west of the highway, in the West Pioneer Mountains. The Lacy Creek section of the Pioneer Loop National Recreation Trail #750 offers great biking through vast meadows. It's best to wait for this and many other trails to dry out, espe- cially in a wet season like 2011. Pettengill Creek Trail #245 allows you to bicycle way back into the mountains on an excellent two-track. Just watch out for the big bad bovine bulls that summer back in these remote drainages! Or try Wyman Creek Road #2417 into upper Anderson Meadows and beyond. Don't miss the ghost town of Coolidge. Named for President Calvin Coolidge, this remote mining town is now mostly in ruins, but some buildings still stand, in a swayback, unsteady fashion. Coolidge grew up around the Elkhorn and Idanha mines, dating back to 1873. Silver ore from these mines was hauled by bull teams as far as Corrine, Utah, to reach a railhead. The ore then proceeded to San Francisco, then by ship to Wales to be processed. The two mine sites at Coolidge were connected by a long chute, Locals using big frying pans slid down the chute in winter for fun! By the 1920s this town was in decline, and DISTINCTLY MONTANA • AUTUMN 2011

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