I set off for a first official visit to Missoula as local land-owner to bless my land and start meeting with the professionals who will turn it from a raw piece of beautiful nature into a haven for me and my loved ones within the natural order of things. Here’s my parcel, located 13 miles southwest of the Fish Creek Exit of US Interstate 90 (#66), just 28ish miles west of Missoula:
The northwestern side of the road (kind of sparsely vegetated thanks to Plum Creek Timber) is surrounded by National Forest. It’s like my own hiking mountain, with a lovely, mostly level bench (flat area) about 1/3rd of the way up, perfect for a panorama viewpoint rest area. The southeastern (across the creek) area is also a “mountain”, and is even more steep (not that that stopped us from getting up to the saddle!) and bordered by land owned by the Nature Conservancy. The northern part of the meadow (in upper right corner of photo, between the road and the creek)) is privately owned, but in the floodplain, so no building allowed there. Although 80 acres in toto, initial work will be done on the 27+ acres of meadows that is located between Fish Creek road and Fish Creek itself.
Lots of planning and imagining: main and guest cabins nestled somewhere in the woods. Exploring the hillsides on the other side of the road and creek! Fish Creek runs year-round, is indeed filled with trout (about 8 – 14 inches), is about 8 feet across, and in the springtime running up the sides and deep enough that anyone can plop their behind in an inner-tube and have some fun. There are beaver ponds on the property, as you might be able to see in the lower left-hand corner, and one seasonal and one year-round spring.
OH! Please feel free to submit names for my little slice of heaven, if you like. Thinking it will come to me after spending time up there…