Retired Mountain Lady: November 2022

Today I'm sharing some memories Jon and I enjoyed with our friend Ann.

Ann was a woman with true grit and I do not say that lightly. I have never known. a woman as strong as Ann Wimberley. She was also very kind, smart and funny. A retired doctor of internal medicine. A tireless worker at whatever she decided to devote her time to, she was always ready for a party or a good time. A true friend for both the good times and the bad times.

When we first learned that the people who had bought the house adjacent to us were from Alabama (2003?), we were definitely curious about what kind of neighbors they would be. Our first encounter was meeting them in the driveway as we drove out. They were driving a rig with license plates that said, "Roll Tide". Football fans. That was a good sign.

We soon learned that not only did we have a love of football in common, but that we shared many interests. They were eager to learn about life in North Idaho and we really knew very little about the southern states, including Alabama.

Ann wanted to have a garden, and not just any garden, she wanted an extensive garden with raised beds, herb gardens, a pond, a fountain, a greenhouse, a vegetable garden... You name it, she planted it. She and I both shared a passion for gardening and one year both of our gardens were honored to be chosen as one of the gardens on the annual Bonner County Garden Tour.

Neil and Ann wanted to go hiking, learn about mushrooms and mushroom hunting and camping. They were interested not only the history of our area. (Ice Age Floods, David Thompson, etc.) but also the native flora and fauna. This resulted in Ann and I both took the Master Naturalist Course one summer. Ann also completed a Master Gardeners course. We became members of the Ice Age Floods Institute and supporters of Scotchman Peaks, the Bonner County History Museum and avid readers of all history concerning the explorer David Thompson.

We rented Lunch Peak Lookout at least five times over the years. We would hike Mt. Pend Oreille more than once and hike into Lake Estelle for an overnight camping trip.

A hike to Greens Falls, located near us, in January. The one and only winter that it was accessible by foot and on snowshoes.

This photo was taken on one of our hikes to Mt. Pend Oreille. Jon loved the fact that this granite boulder is at 5127 feet, and was dropped from the glacier that covered this area many years ago.

Ann at the top of Mt. Pend Oreille. What a gorgeous day that was.

We made trips to both the Oregon and Washington coasts. One of Ann's favorite things to do was beachcombing. We came home both times with the back of Neil's pickup filled with our treasures.

Lots of sea shells!

She was always game for a good time. Here we are on New Year's Eve. I did many things I thought I would never do with Ann's encouragement.

When I retired in 2006, I decided that I wanted to take guitar lessons and Ann and friend Ellie decided to learn to play the mandolin. We searched for an instructor who would give all of us lessons together and found guitarist and vocalist, Doug Bond, who took us on. We had so much fun at those lessons every week. When summer rolled around every year we added Kristine Rolofson, on the violin, to our music sessions. I really don't know how he put up with all of us.

The music lessons evolved into many wonderful experiences. One was the formation of the Cougar Creek Band. The band had it's roots from our music fest on New Year's Eve, the Oyster Party, Mardi Gras and then the 4th of July parade in Clark Fork. Some of the band members were experienced musicians, while others were newbies who bought instruments and took lessons. It was fun!

From within the Cougar Creek Band, came the Hope Mountain Blues Band, which consisted of our Doug Bond lessons group, plus our bass player, Neil Wimberley.

Ann, Ellie Lizotte and Linda Heisel in the photo below. There was always a lot of laughter at band rehearsals, even though we were all very serious about our music.

Our hiking adventures took us many places. Ann and Neil were major supporters of the Scotchman Peak Wilderness organization and Ann wrote the newsletter for several years. They made the climb to the top of Scotchman.

They were also members of the Monday Hikers group and Jon and I joined them on this hike at Cloud's Ledge, near Hope.

Our hike up Middle Mountain, above our places on Cougar Creek, was a rehearsal to hike Scotchman Peak. It turned out to be steeper than the Scotchman hike, plus we had to "bushwhack" our way up in places since there really was only a trail part of the way up the mountain. Our goal was to reach Trail 120 at the top.

5,120 feet at Trail 120.

We did make it and in this photo we are taking a break and eating lunch. We were astonished to hear a motorcycle while we were walking along the trail. We met Royal Shields on his bike, with a small chainsaw on the back. He was driving the trail, and clearing downed trees and brush on his way from Clark Fork to Trestle Creek.

These photos were taken at various locations along the 120 Trail. Down behind Ann and Neil is Porcupine Lake.

This photo is from a separate trip to Moose Creek. We were looking for huckleberries and doing some creek fishing.

In those days during the winter we would put on our snowshoes and go for a hike. Sometimes it was just out our back door and down Cougar Creek or over towards Hidden Creek. It just depended upon the snow quality and depth.

One February we decided to snowshoe in to Ross Creek Cedars. We had to park our rig at the gate at the bottom. I didn't realize how far we hiked until the following summer when we drove into Ross Creek Cedars. Six and a half miles round trip. Uphill and downhill.

In this photo we are in the cedar grove and getting ready to eat our lunch. Jon had brought a garbage bag to set on the bench so that we could sit down to eat lunch. Good idea.

Jon, along with Neil and Ann, took part in wolverine research and snowshoed into specific sites in the winter to setup cameras and monitor wolverine activity. The hikes on the snowshoes was very difficult in mid-winter and I wasn't even close to being up to participating. It was very interesting work to follow though.

This photo is of our hike into Lake Estelle. It was an overnight camping trip. The planning took weeks as we tried to decide how much weight we could each pack in and out for the trip and what gear we would need. Jon claims that when we were loading up for the trip, everyone tried to put stuff in his pack to carry in.

What I remember was that the ground was really hard to sleep on (too many small rocks and roots), but the fish we caught for dinner and breakfast tasted really good. It turned out to be one of our easier hikes in and out. Piece of cake!

As I said earlier, the Cougar Creek Band decided one year to join with the Scotchman Peaks organization and build a float for the 4th of July parade in Clark Fork. Our band combined the 4th of July celebration with Mardi Gras as the Krewe of Cougar Creek's second line marched behind our float. It was a big plus to add some live music to the parade.

Over the years we won a lot of trophies!

Ann and Neil brought Mardi Gras to Hope. Ann was the organizer.

We really didn't know much about it and they taught us the history. We decided to have a Mardi Gras celebration on Fat Tuesday, or as close to the date as possible. We formed a board and they chose the King and Queen each year, which was kept a secret from the party goers until the parade.

The celebration would be a parade in a loop around our driveway, with the King and Queen declaring, "Laissez les bons temps rouler".

There would be flambeau bearers to light the way and a grand marshal on a horse to lead the parade. The second line, including the band, following the float. Moonpies, beads and gold coins would be thrown for all of the kids to gather.

The Krewe of Cougar Creek was the real deal. Mike Chartock created the bow for the front of our pirate ship.

We held this celebration for more than ten years. Sometimes there was snow, sometimes there was mud and/or ice. We never knew what the condition would be, but the celebration went on as scheduled.

The backdrop for our throne for the King and Queen. The creation of the pirate flag, Krewe of Cougar Creek banner, throne, scroll for the proclamation and "bow" for the front of our "pirate ship" reminded me of creating floats for the homecoming parade back in my high school days. What fun we had putting it all together. I don't remember who made the royal robes and crowns for the king and queen, but someone probably does.

Ann and the King and Queen sorting through the bags for their throws of moonpies, beads and coins, which would be thrown to lots of kids on the parade route.

After our first year, a friend of Ann and Neil in Alabama, sent them boxes filled with dozens of costumes from a krewe that no longer used them. They added a lot to the festivities.

The planning each year took from 4-6 weeks. Ann was in charge of every detail. The decorating the days before the event was extensive. her entire house was transformed into "Mardi Gras" locale.

Everyone helped out with and decorations and also the menu for at least 50 attendees. My contribution each year was chicken gumbo. Ann gave each of us the recipes for the menu. I learned to make a roux, which I had never done before. The trick with the roux was to get it as dark as possible, as in dark chocolate color. I can't say that I ever did that, but I got close.

The band played music in the loft.

In this photo they are putting together the shrimp and avocado salads with remoulade dressing. The shrimp wasn't just any shrimp. Ann had it Fed Exed from Louisiana.