The folks at Lone Mountain Ranch have renamed what was historically called “Little Bavaria.” It is now called “Walkin’ Jim’s Way” as a memorial to Walkin’ Jim Stoltz , legendary musician, environmental activist, horse drawn sleigh driver and Ranch crew member for more than 25 years. Of all the Ranch trails, this one Jim and Leslie skied together most frequently. January 24, 2011 My daughter and I had a glorious ski on “Walkin’ Jim’s Way” at Lone Mountain Ranch last week. We were delighted that LMR saw fit to honor Jim in this manner, renaming their most remote trail, previously “Little Bavaria”. The pristine conditions and absence of anyone else along the trail was apropos with our memory of him. Walkin’ Jim reminds us of all that is grand, all that is beautiful, all that is good on this earth. Thanks for all the entries, the poems, the love that exudes from the “Stories of Jim” tab on his website! May we all have eyes so merry and wonder so childlike as we partake of nature! Lori, Robin, Rob, and Elizabeth Byron
Leslie and Friends on Walkin’ Jim Way Lone Mountain Ranch, Big Sky, Montana |
Walkin’ Jim’s Way at Lone Mountain Ranch in Big Sky, Montana (pictured is Leslie Stoltz next to trail sign):
It was just a few months ago (4/3/2010) that Jim and I were hiking here in Arizona . I had written him several years earlier asking for permission to use his trademark name for a trail I had blazed through a cattle allotment into wilderness just north of Phoenix . He said okay, and the Walkin’ Jim Trail was born. I never really expected him to accept my invitation to walk the Walkin’ Jim with me, but he didn’t forget and the next time his tour brought him to Arizona he went 100 miles out of his way to hike with me. It was a joy to spend the day with Jim seeing the sonoran landscape with its unique flora and fauna through an artist’s eye. His almost childlike love of nature was undiminished by the mounting years. I added the “at Cottonwood Creek” appendage to the trail name so that there could be other Walkin’ Jim trails in other states, and maybe someday a grand backpacking trail will bear the WJ name much like the John Muir trail in California . For more information on the Walkin’ Jim Trail, go to www.hikearizona.com. Click on the “W” icon. Check out the followng, too: |
Walkin’ Jim Trail at Cottonwood Creek in Arizona dedicated by Bob Gregg: