blackfoot-valley

The Ranch lies in the heart of the Montana Rockies, not in their highest or most rugged parts, most of which lie to the north, but in a pleasant grassy val- ley surrounded by wooded hills with moderate to steep slopes topped by mostly rounded summits. The highest peaks in the immediate vicinity, a short distance from the Ranch property, are in the 6,800-foot range. These are Chamber- lain Mountain and Granite Mountain overlooking Wales Creek Reservoir in the northern two sections of the Ranch (separated by a mile or two of land owned by other ranches). Other peaks of 7,000-foot elevation in the Garnet Range that form part of the Powell-Granite county line, rise above Douglas Creek in the southern section. The Garnet Range is the group of mountains rising from just south of the Blackfoot River and Nevada Creek to just north of the Colum- bia River’s Clark Fork. That modest range runs a greater distance west to east, from where the Blackfoot and Clark Fork join near Missoula, to its eastern end where it is cut off by the Avon Valley near the town of that name. The high- est peak in that range is “Old Baldy” at 7,511 feet above sea level, about half- way between Helmville and Avon. All the peaks, except those north of Nevada Creek, may be considered part of the Garnet Range. More rugged glacier-carved peaks in the 9,000 foot range are seen ris- ing from northeast of the valley, along or near the Continental Divide. On a clear day more distant to the northwest, the sharp-toothed crest of the Mission Range is visible from Helmville. Less high, but much closer to the southeast, 13