When we left Washington with Legend in tow, we had several days left to enjoy him. One of the things on John's To Do list was to stay overnight in a watch tower. Legend loves to be outdoors and to camp. John found a list of fire watch towers that have been decommissioned and are rented out to the public and we decided we'd take Legend to one. We stayed at the Big Creek Baldy Watch Tower about 30 miles northwest of Libby in the Yaak. We were able to drive to the base of this tower, but we were glad we now have a 4-wheel drive vehicle cause we wouldn't have made it up the last bit without it. We hauled our gear 41 feet to the top and found a propane stove, 2 propane lights, 2 chairs, a table with a bench, a double bed, and a single bed (no bedding, you bring your own...we brought sleeping bags.) We had a 360 degree view here, even from the ground. The old cabin next to the base of the tower is where the watch keeper slept long ago before the quarters at the top were enlarged.
We hiked around for a bit to enjoy the views, then built a fire and roasted hot dogs for dinner (with smore's for desert, of course!) Last year Legend told me that roasting marshmallows was his favorite part of camping.
John had gotten a slingshot and given Legend a lesson a few days earlier, so they brought it and Legend got in a little practice...
We watched a gorgeous sunset and settled in for the night. The next morning John and Legend made entries in the log book and Legend got a lesson in calling in a fire and determining it's position.
The next morning we gathered up our gear and got ready to leave. While we were packing the Explorer, we noticed some Mountain Bluebirds going in and out of the nesting box that was at the bottom of the stairs to the watch tower. I got my long lens and waited patiently for them to get brave enough to go to the box with me standing there. My patience was rewarded!
Being the hardy campers that we are we loaded into the Explorer and stopped at the Libby Cafe for breakfast on the way home. We had a great time staying at the tower and are planning to do it again next summer for a longer time. We also stayed at one when Trevor was here in August...watch for that later.
Stay tuned for more Legend stories.....