INFORMATION FOR NEW READERS OF THIS BLOG
Because others are now reading my online blog, I thought it would be appropriate to give the new readers some background.
A lot of information can be read on my page at My Space, which is www.myspace.com/montanaalbert
After retiring from a career in teaching, and working as a Detective in Sexual & Elder Abuse for the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department, I traveled full time in my RV.
While traveling, I always looked for possible places that I would enjoy settling down to spend my later years.
I found my spot during the spring of 2005, while traveling through Montana. It is an 1863-patented mining claim in the middle of the Helena National Forest. It is more isolated than most people would appreciate, but it is perfect for me. I am surrounded by almost a million acres of forest, with my closest neighbors being about five miles away, in the ghost town of Marysville.
I have always been one of those people that prefer to be alone and I am happy keeping myself occupied. Living alone always gives me the last word, and I win all of my arguments. I do have companions that keep me from feeling alone and fill my daily life with joy. Zoey, my calico cat was the first friend to keep me company, and then came Zack, a German Short Hair Pointer. He is one smart dog and we spend all our time together. Both of my friends travel well and go on trips with me in the motor home.
Zack travels with me all of the time, whether it is just a trip to the Continental Divide for a cell phone signal, or a trip to town, meaning Helena, or some other place. He likes to travel and see new places, being perfectly happy to stay in the car when he can’t accompany me.
My property had a modern seasonal log sided cabin built in 2002, and I have adapted it for full-time living. Every morning when I get up, I say to myself, “Another day in paradise,” because it is. The wild life that visits me on a regular basis includes deer, mule and white tail, elk, moose, an occasional black bear, and I have seen a wolf and the signs and sounds of a mountain lion. None of the more dangerous animals bother me and Zack always warns me when one is on the property.
The deer and moose frequent the mineral salt licks I have in my yard, and even play with Zoey once and a while. I have several families of Least chipmunks that entertain me, playing in the firewood pile just outside my window. I hide peanuts and sunflower seeds for them to find.
Most retired people want to move away from cold winters and the snow, but I sought out this environment. If one prepares themselves for cold snowy winters, it isn’t difficult, and I love to watch the snow fall and feel the changing of the seasons. I use an Argo for my winter transportation to and from town. It is an 8-wheel drive amphibious vehicle with snow tracks.
My place is so peaceful that the only man-made sounds you hear are those you make yourself, with an occasional airplane flying high overhead. Sitting on my deck, the songbirds and the breeze rushing through the trees is all you hear. Because of my altitude, I don’t have frogs or crickets, and no snakes or other reptiles. Another nice thing is that I don’t have fleas or pesky weeds like foxtails or burrs, to remove from Zoey or Zack.
I do worry a little bit about Zoey when she goes out hunting, as I do have Red Tail Hawks, Golden and Bald Eagles looking for a meal, but she is a wily cat and dashes from place to place, never staying in the open areas for very long.
My property is a Placer mining claim, and a creek runs through it that is fed year around by a spring. There are trout in the creek, but they aren’t very large, so I don’t fish for them. There is also gold in the creek, but the amount of work verses the amount of gold dust doesn’t make it profitable for me at this time.
Many of my friends ask me what I do with all my time during the long winter nights, but the days and nights aren’t long enough for me to do all of the things I enjoy. I write, mostly my daily log, but also books. I do artwork, mostly pencil, pen & ink, and water color work. I read or listen to books on tape, while sitting by a cozy fire watching the snowflakes slowly drift to the earth. I have satellite television and Internet, so surfing the net or becoming absorbed in a television program or movie is always available to me.
Living off the grid, meaning I produce my own electricity and pump my own water, can be challenging, but also very rewarding. If I have a power outage, I don’t wait for the power company to fix it, I do it myself. I also have no utility bills to deal with. Living my lifestyle may seem stressful to some, but challenging myself to overcome problems tells me I am alive and not just living.
And now that you have some background information on me, let me say that I love my lifestyle and many of my friends are jealous of me. I hope that those of you that love your lifestyle can enjoy it as much as I do mine.
Now, I invite you to keep up with my daily log and allow yourself to live vicariously through me.
Mountain Man
