Two Trips to Jefferson Creek/Memorial Falls in Two Days
We 5 met at 4 B’s restaurant at 7:30 and headed out to Jefferson creek In one car instead of two. We had some cancellations due to illness which shrunk our group into “one car fits all”!!
We traveled to the Memorial Falls parking Lot and stopped to use the facilities before heading out to the Jefferson Creek trail up the road a quarter of a mile. It turned out to be a pretty chilly morning with 0 degree temps registering on Sue’s thermometer. Who even knows what the wind chill begat?! We decided to hike on up to Memorial Falls first !! This trail is always a delightful opportunity to experience the frozen trail navigating some icy spots along the creek bed with some overhanging frozen and quite treacherous icy pathways!
What a treat to see the curtain of frozen falls sporting running water flowing behind the veil.. Spectacular for sure!! Once back at the car.. We drove up the highway one quarter mile to the next parking lot adjacent to the Trailhead to Jefferson Creek. We donned our snowshoes and poles and headed up the trail for .6 miles before stashing our snow shoes behind a tree near camp ground marker 267 F and continued on hiking!!
We walked the rest of the trail which was packed down enough to allow for a nice hikers pace ! Temps fluctuated from 15 degrees at the parking lot to zero degrees as we travelled parallel to Jefferson Creek from the bridge and beyond the 2nd “pack in... pack out” sign for 1 3/4 miles. As the sun began to rise, we basked In it’s welcome warmth on our return trip to the car for a total of 4 miles including our diversion to the falls.
We headed out to “Bobs Bar “ for a little lunch and conversation with Tony and the soon to be new owner, Janice. They hope that paperwork will finalize the sale officially in the next few days!! What a great day!! We drove back to Great Falls in plenty of time to attend the MWA Christmas party!!
Attendees; Sue M, kuntz, Mary N., Vicki, and Christi K.
We traveled to the Memorial Falls parking Lot and stopped to use the facilities before heading out to the Jefferson Creek trail up the road a quarter of a mile. It turned out to be a pretty chilly morning with 0 degree temps registering on Sue’s thermometer. Who even knows what the wind chill begat?! We decided to hike on up to Memorial Falls first !! This trail is always a delightful opportunity to experience the frozen trail navigating some icy spots along the creek bed with some overhanging frozen and quite treacherous icy pathways!
What a treat to see the curtain of frozen falls sporting running water flowing behind the veil.. Spectacular for sure!! Once back at the car.. We drove up the highway one quarter mile to the next parking lot adjacent to the Trailhead to Jefferson Creek. We donned our snowshoes and poles and headed up the trail for .6 miles before stashing our snow shoes behind a tree near camp ground marker 267 F and continued on hiking!!
We walked the rest of the trail which was packed down enough to allow for a nice hikers pace ! Temps fluctuated from 15 degrees at the parking lot to zero degrees as we travelled parallel to Jefferson Creek from the bridge and beyond the 2nd “pack in... pack out” sign for 1 3/4 miles. As the sun began to rise, we basked In it’s welcome warmth on our return trip to the car for a total of 4 miles including our diversion to the falls.
We headed out to “Bobs Bar “ for a little lunch and conversation with Tony and the soon to be new owner, Janice. They hope that paperwork will finalize the sale officially in the next few days!! What a great day!! We drove back to Great Falls in plenty of time to attend the MWA Christmas party!!
Attendees; Sue M, kuntz, Mary N., Vicki, and Christi K.
Sunny, But Cold Day, Sets Up Tony's Last Day at Bob's
 How many meals have we eaten at Bob's Bar and Restaurant in Neihart? Who served them to us and suggested a huckleberry cream drink to go with our Reubens and sweet potato fries? It was our friend Tony, a guy who has been quietly bemused by our sometimes crazy winter outings in the Little Belt Mountains. So this day was no different; we started it with a fun day of snowshoeing three miles along Jefferson Creek, followed by a quick trip to lower and upper Memorial Falls, followed by a late lunch at Bob's, for Tony's last day of cooking and serving food. After 36 years, he deserves a vacation, trips to see his children and just some rest; still, it was hard to say goodbye. The day started at 8:30 a.m., seeing us on trail around 10, after a quick trip to the Inconvenience Store to drop off some plastic and paper sacks and using the facilities. At the trailhead, we had a few false starts. It was so cold, that most of us decided on third or fourth layer, a heavier jacket, bigger gloves and even another pair of pants. Despite the cold, the day was gorgeous, not much wind, blue skies and sun. However, we didn't get too many pictures on the way going as we were too cold to get out our cameras. The few times Gail and Katie pulled out their cameras, the shutters and zoom made weird noises and were a bit slow to focus. Nora tried to use her phone but the battery died immediately due to the cold. We trekked to the bridge and decided to keep going until we hit the Pack-It-In, Pack-It-Out sign, making a full three miles. On the return to the cars, we finally started to warm a bit, so we stopped a bit more for pictures as the crystals along the creek were amazingly large and sparkly. Then it was off for a trip to see Memorial Falls all frozen in winter wonderland glory, just a quarter mile down the road. And it was gorgeous. The entire walk along the creek leading to the falls was magical. We had to watch our step along the frozen spring section as the ice was quite slippery. After enjoying the main waterfall, we decided to follow the well-worn trail to the upper falls. Again, the icy crystals were so pretty. The falls wasn't frozen over the way the lower falls were, probably owing to the sun shining directly through the trees. The lower falls is in the canyon, not receiving much light, if any at all. At 12:30, we finished our hike and headed to Bob's, to catch Tony on his last day. Sure enough, he was there but hanging out in the back. Instead of him giving us our familiar menus, a woman came over and did so. We inquired if she were the new owner and she replied she was. We found out her name is Janice and she plans to keep the same menu except run specials. She didnt' want to mess with tradition. Most of the gals were happy that the Reuben and sweet potato fries would be sticking around. Janice is from Texas but was raised in Indiana and the Chicago area. She said her boys have graduated from high school and she always wanted to run a motel, so now she is. And she is interested in joining our group. Katie gave her the info.Service was a bit slow, and Tony pretty much kept to the back until we dragged him out, gave him a card, promised to get him and buy him lunch when we are in town and asked for a last photo with him behind the bar and we in front. .He was smiling. Who went: Nora, Gail, Sara, Katie | Susan C's Recipe Lime Jello Salad Prepare 3 ounce Lime Jello as directed on the package. Mix 1 cup shredded green cabbage, 1 cup drained chopped fresh pineapple, 1 cup almond slices, and 1 pomegranate. Pour jello into mold. Add vegetable, fruit, nut mixture. Let it set for 4 hours. |
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