Montana Winters

As I sit quietly in my one bedroom apartment, I relive the best time of my life. The quietest time of my life. With pencil to paper my memories start to flood back of my time in Montana. I left my childhood home and headed to Montana . To get to Cooke City you had to go through the Northeast entrance station of Yellowstone National Park. The next town is Silver gate then on to Cooke City. What a beautiful small town of fifty in 1976.,the elevation is 7,608. As we turn to head up the road, the road is full of divots and pot holes, very bumpy. Lined with Big Fir, Spruce, Lodge Pole Pines, White Bark Pine and Aspen. As the road wound around, we went from the tree lined forest to the beautiful alpine Meadows. Dormant low lying shrubs and grasses. Autumn colors of red, green, liage like huckleberry shrubs, hardy Forbes and grasses. As we drive up in elevation, the trees become stunted and twisted and then we hit tree line. Getting closer to our cabin, the first thing I see was an old loge cabin on the left. It had fallen partially down. On the right was are cabin. Set on a block foundation. Across the road was a stream. The water was very cold and crystal clear. Flowing off the top of the pass. I have never nor will I ever taste water like that again. As we began to warm up and the sun was going down, Terry pulled out his twelve string. It was so magical and in the quietness of the night, he would play. My life had forever been changed. My soul lives in that cabin to this day.