Mike Ripatti once owned the Lovestead.
We learned that yesterday while on a drive to see the fall colors up Smith Creek near the Canadian border.
After leaving Selle with Foster in the back seat and where bright blue skies and sunshine had combined for another perfect day, we drove to Bonners Ferry, picked up some groceries and then headed toward our destination.
After going up the north hill, we could see that our goal of enjoying fall colors at Smith Creek might be futile as layers of smoke permeated the valley and especially the mountains to the west.
Still, we kept going, with both hope. After turning onto the West Side Road and driving through more smoke, we began to pass through pockets of fall brilliance, figuring that our route might bypass all that smoke.
We also commented that, unlike the rest of us, these residents probably have not enjoyed the fall, thanks to late summer forest fires which are still putting up plumes of smoke in the mountains.
Not far from the Smith Creek turn-off we encountered a sight which has been a regular affair since September when local ranchers started bringing their cow herds down from the mountains where they feed on rangeland.
A few weeks ago while fishing at Smith Creek, Bill had already met one of the Amoths, directing part of the family herd down the mountain.
Yesterday's encounter involved Mike Ripatti and his ranch hand Judy. Cows and calves were happily plodding down the road, lured onward by a pickup load of hay.
Judy told me they had traveled nine miles and would go a little further before turning the herd into a roadside pasture.
I don't know who had the more fun visiting, Bill or me, as he talked with Mike and I got to know Judy, a proud daughter of an Indiana hog farmer and former 4-H'er who has done her share of hard work while living out West for the past few decades.
Finally, we all gathered together talked and laughed together.
Mike mentioned at the outset that he used to own 20 acres of land off from Selle Road, about two miles in from HWY 95.
The more snippets of information exchanged, the more his 20 acres sounded like our farm.
Finally, the mention of Dr. Paul King, sealed the deal, as the former local veterinarian had, indeed, owned this farm.
We also talked about mutual experiences at the University of Idaho where both Mike and I lived at the Wallace Complex during our first couple of years of college.
Mike, who graduated from Bonners Ferry High School a year behind me, received a degree in engineering.
While we talked on and on and swapped stories, the cows happily munched off a good share of those hay bales. As we left them, Mike was stuffing as much hay as possible back into the pickup bed before starting the cows and calves on down the road.
It was a fun encounter, but we had also lost some time in driving to Saddle Pass on Smith Creek.
What the heck, though!
Bill had promised that he would help me lead the horses up from pasture if we arrived home after dark.
So, we made the most of the day and drove through beautiful areas unaffected by smoke.
On our way up the Smith Creek Road, we met another rancher named Bob who told us to expect to see a cow and calf in the road (apparently the last of his herd to come down from summer range).
We eventually passed by a makeshift gate with another permanent gate. Bill said the Canadian Border was just a few feet beyond.
The three of us enjoyed a pleasant walk along Boundary Creek in an area where Bill likes to fish.
The trip turned out to be above and beyond successful with the added opportunity to see a bit of cattle ranch life in action.
I told Mike about an a two-page photojournalism piece I had done way back in the 1970s for the Sandpoint New Bulletin when several Bonner County cattlemen joined their Boundary County cohorts in preparing their herds for the summer range.
They had gathered at corrals a short distance from where we were visiting.
And, so the day also included some nostalgia from my journalistic adventures, and that made it all the better.
Happy Monday.
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