By Alkali Springs Correspondent
What a beautiful week this last one has been. It has just been a week to get out and take a walk, stroll or hike through some part of the beautiful Bear Paw Mountains.
And how happy it makes us that in Beaver Creek Park and adjacent lands, there are folks doing just that.
You know it used to be that the only people who saw much of the Bear Paws were hunters. The rest of us just stayed in picnic areas or close to the beaten trail and that was that.
That is all different these days. Why, just last weekend we were driving through the park and saw three separate groups of people, mostly young people at that, taking off up mountains with back packs and all the equipment necessary to really see the sights of the mountains.
Not only that, but most any time of the weekend and plenty of times during the week, you will have company when climbing Mount Otis. Not to worry though. It is a long trail and a big mountain. Plenty of room for several parties.
And we keep seeing signs at the wonderful Rocky Boy Recreation area of more trail building and advertising of those trails. That area is as much like wilderness as there is in our island mountain range.
In that area valleys are deep, mountains are high and the views of peak and plain are spectacular. Ranger Creek is a pristine wilderness in itself as is Sandy Creek, Muddy Creek and some of the deep valleys leading away from Bowery Peak.
This is a great time to do some walking in the mountains. Nights are cold, mornings are cool and it never does get real hot like it will in the middle of the summer. Not only that, but old Ma Nature has made the early spring flowers into such a showy lot that a walk up some valleys is a lesson in color and mass. Unbelievable at times the amount, variety and colors of flowers these days.
Hearing about various fence projects throughout Beaver Creek Park leads us to think that maybe car accidents will go down in that area. But then reality steps in and we know that no fence will help in stopping the real culprits out there. Youth, booze, and speed.
Early one morning a few weeks ago, we were heading north on the top of Rotary Hill and came upon an accident involving three teenage boys who had just driven off a shallow curve at a high rate of speed and turned over their car several times. The three were bloody, but all right. That was a miracle! But you know, gentle readers, each spring it seems like that road claims some of our young people and it has nothing to do with cattle or even deer for that matter.
Find a fix for that problem and see how quickly folks would support it. The problem is that there is no fix for that one. That is a home problem and a problem for the whole community to deal with, not just people who may or may not want some or no fence in Beaver Creek Park.
The three kids we came upon were, oh, so very lucky! And maybe we as a community will luck out and there will be no more spring accidents on that road.
And keep doing your part too. If you know kids that drive on the Beaver Creek Road, you cannot tell them too many times that it is a dangerous road and so is booze and speed.
It may seem like you are talking to a blank wall, but you just never know. You may be saving someone's life! Maybe three or four someones' for that matter.
