| Blixruds
Strive for Perfection
at Seven Lazy P
by Melody
Matinsen
Sharing the beauty of Montana's wilderness
and the warm tradition of rural friendliness with guests
is the hallmark of Chuck and Sharon Blixrud's Seven Lazy
P guest ranch.
"You get people up here on vacation
and basically you share your country with them," Chuck
said as he sat at the kitchen table in the Seven Lazy P
lodge during a late August interview.
Sharon says she and Chuck have always
worked to make their vacation ranch operation one that highlights
family values, appreciation for the land and a quiet restorative
peacefulness.
"You feel there's such a need
for it - people want and need to come to a place that's
peaceful," she said.
Located 30 miles west of Choteau in
the North Fork of the Teton Canyon, the Seven Lazy P operation
today includes a rustic lodge, built of native logs; a tack
shed built for maximum efficiency; and handcrafted guest
cabins of varying sizes and design, all located beneath
the spreading branches of the evergreen forest.
The Seven Lazy P's crew offers pack
trips into the Bob Marshall Wilderness, hunting and fishing
expeditions, hikes and nature walks and educational programs
on local ecology, botany and wildlife, among other activities.
The guest ranch's active season runs May 1 through November
30.
Their clientele ranges across the economic
and social strata, drawing in families, couples and even
single people.
The ranch had a "little gal"
here last week, from Connecticut, worked in a fast-food
restaurant, saved her money, and came out here for a week
all alone, Chuck said.
The state Board of Outfitters has named
Chuck, Outfitter of the Year, according to the board's executive
director Bud Solmonsson. The board selected Blixrud for
that honor at a meeting in August. Rita Orr, a member of
the Montana Board of Outfitters who was in charge of the
awards program, refused on Monday, however, to comment on
the award. Orr said the state Board of Outfitters would
be writing its own press release, which, once approved by
staff attorney, would he made public.
Blixrud was nominated for the award
by fellow outfitter Allen Schallenberger of Sheridan.
In his letter of nomination, Schallenberger
said Blixrud has been involved with guiding and out-fitting
since 1954 and has been an outfitter since 1958.
"Chuck and his wife, Sharon, are
individuals who always strive to do a top job no matter
what they are doing," Schallenberger said. "They
take great pride in taking care of the land, their excellent
livestock, fish and wildlife and go beyond the call of duty
to help clients and guides."
Schallenberger also obtained 16 letters
of recommendation from industry sources and other individuals.
The Blixruds said they were overwhelmed
by the honor, especially since there are more than 700 licensed
outfitters in Montana. "There are a lot of good outfitters
out there who are very deserving, too," Chuck said.
In an interview last weekend, Schallenberger
said there were no specific criteria for the award, but
that it was designed to highlight outfitters and outfitting
in a positive light.
Schallenberger said he hopes the state
board agrees to continue the awards program in the future.
Both expressed a pride in their operation and a genuine
concern for national forest and wilderness land and their
use of it.
There are folks that say you can not
put a value on the "wilderness experience," Chuck
says, but "we feel we know different."
"I feel we'd lose something great
if we lost the wild areas like this."
They have a well-trained crew, most
of whom have been with the operation for years. That experience
gives them skill, consistency and a healthy respect for
outfitting and guiding on public lands.
"Our crew helped us win this award,"
Sharon says.
The Seven Lazy P's origins stem from
the mountain ranch started there in 1931. Sharon's parents,
Steve and Thelma Durfee of California. and a partner bought
the ranch in 1948.
After high school, Chuck began working
at the ranch, and after his first season there, he bought
out the Durfees' partner. Under he and Sharon's management.
the outfitting business began to expand and the guest ranch
business to develop.
"I think it was a dream we had
to do this," she said.
They have expanded the lodge and the
cabins, installing bathrooms in each of them, and building
a few more so the total at the Seven Lazy P now stands at
six.
Down the road a bit, at the former
Cow Track lodge site, more new cabins are under construction
and, Chuck and Sharon plan eventually to open the former
restaurant as a lodge to serve guests staying there.
They say the emphasis at the Seven
Lazy P is tradition: They want to give their guests an old-
fashioned, traditional guest ranch vacation.
"There's an old saying: If you
want to see the wilderness, you have to get a horse between
your legs," Chuck says.
Standing inside the Seven Lazy P tack
shed, with the pungent smell of leather and horse sweat
heavy in the summer air, Chuck's care of and love for horses
is evident as he looks at the rows of saddles and bridles
hanging on named pegs.
"People pick up on how we treat
our livestock - we treat them pretty good," Chuck says.
After 37 years in the business, Chuck
and Sharon said they're not ready to retire - the satisfaction
and pleasure of their guests keeps them going.
"I've always felt that this is
a place where friendships are born," Chuck says.
They have new guests and folks who've
been coming back every year, including a hunter who's been
there annually since 1959. Another guest, Bill Swift, has
been on more than 20 pack trips with the ranch over the
years.
The comments of their guests are usually
similar: They are overwhelmed with the beauty of the back
country and warmed by the friendliness of the ranch workers
and people in the Choteau community.
Chuck says he figures guests keep coming
back every year because they like the way the Seven Lazy
P does business.
"It's a lifetime dedication for
us," he says. "It's a lot of hard work, but
it's nice work.
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