Greetings

[MtGrizzly]

Let's see -

I live in Montana, in the Northern Rocky Mountains.

I am a retired commercial paramedic.

I read mostly historical non-fiction and trashy, escapist fiction. Larry Bond and Tom Clancy come right to mind for escapist fiction.

My current favorite author is C.J. Box - the Joe Pickett series [Extremely well crafted mysteries.]

My all time favorite author is Robert Heinlein - particularly the future history series

The best recent books I have read are Generation Kill by Evan Wright and Prophet's Daughter: My Life with Elizabeth Clare Prophet and the Church Universal and Triumphant by Erin Prophet.

I am a 'binge' reader - I will read three or four books in a couple of days, then I won't read any for another couple of weeks.

I am a photographer, not professional, but I do sell some images. My favorite subjects are ghost towns of Montana, (My avatar is a picture of the Hotel Meade at the Bannack Ghost Town in Beaverhead County, Montana.

I have two golden retrievers, one is a puppy who sometimes likes to eat books I am finished with... ...some before I am finished.

Oh, and I am working on a fictional novel of crime and punishment set in the Bob Marshal Wilderness Complex of North Central Montana. I will probably self-publish either in e-book form or publish on demand.

[froglipz]

Hey MtGrizzley I am still kind of new myself, but welcome!

Those ghost towns sound really interesting. Are there "public" ones for tourists only, or is there a chance of "discovering" one for yourself?

I am also a fan of Heinlein, Methuselah's Children, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, but never cared for Stranger in a Strange Land.

[MtGrizzly]

Hey MtGrizzley I am still kind of new myself, but welcome!

Those ghost towns sound really interesting. Are there "public" ones for tourists only, or is there a chance of "discovering" one for yourself?

I am also a fan of Heinlein, Methuselah's Children, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, but never cared for Stranger in a Strange Land.

Go to http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/mt/mt.html This page contains a pretty comprehensive list of most ghost towns. There are, technically, over 150 recognized historical sites in Montana that once were towns. Most have no ruins. A lot of the ghost towns on this list are on private property, although most on private property are not closed to the public. Some of the towns - such as Copper Cliff; Hughesville; Granite; etc are accessible only via four wheel drive or ATV. Some of the sites are walk in only. Some sites, like Independence require a great deal of determination to get to - the road to Independence starts at the end of 13 miles of rough dirt road. The actual road is accessible by foot, horseback or ATV and involves a climb of 6,000 feet in five miles, (count on, at least, 3 hours each way), to a final altitude of 10,000 feet.

Bannack is a state park and is well preserved using original materials. Bannack was the original territorial capitol of Montana Territory. It is accessible year round from paved roads in Beaverhead County.

Garnett is maintained by the BLM in Granite County. They have repaired the ruins using modern materials, so there is very little that is original. The road into Garnett is gravel and only open from late spring through early fall. It's easy to get to, but not really worth the drive.

Granite, also a state park, is four miles up a very steep and rough road from the paved road in Philipsburg in Granite County. The road is particularly bad in the spring and late fall. I either take my 4x4 pickup or ATV when I go there. The ride up the hill is worth it.

Comet is about five miles off I15, exit 163, just south of the Boulder off-ramp in Jefferson County. Easy drive, with a lot to be seen at the end.

Virginia City/Nevada City are billed as ghost towns, but are really old towns that have been reconstructed into tourist traps; charging admission and trying to sell you everything that isn't nailed down. Both are on Highway 287 in Madison County. Not worth visiting, except if you go through, (they are on the main route to the West Yellowstone entrance to Yellowstone Park, coming from the west).

I have posted images from 25 different towns at my Flickr site, at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtgrizzly/ ... 827652616/

Sorry about the run on... I really love ghost towns and historical photography...

I've never read Methuselah's Children. Stranger in a Strange Land is a really difficult book to classify. It's science fiction, but as with most of Heinlein's books, he put a huge amount of social commentary into it. My favorite work of Heinlein is If this Goes On, which is a long 'short story' or 'short novel', in the Future History series. A lot of social commentary there, too. It is particularly hard on theocracies...

[froglipz]

I went and glanced, wow, those are so cool!!!! I might try to make that a vacation destination for this summer, if we can afford to go on one... Some of those look to be more recent and modern, like the one with license plates and the trailer.

I will have to look for If This Goes On, I've never read it.

[oblivion]

Welcome to BT! Members who are "owned" by book loving dogs are always welcome. And your avatar is beautiful.

[Veneer]

I am Veneer and I am really mad because I thought I was going to slip into the chamber. In fact I wrote a post that took me two hours. Not since Ralphy's essay on What I want for Christmas, has there been such a wondrous piece of literature. A++++++. When I clicked SUBMIT I got this message:

"You do not have the required post count to post in this forum.
In order to make a post in this forum, you must have 50 posts.

You only need 24 more posts."

When I do get into the chamber, 23 posts from now, I am going to kick a$$.

[froglipz]

That happened to me too LoL just wait a few more posts

[Chris OConnor]

Welcome to BookTalk.org. Those ghost towns sound so cool. I've love to explore them.