Our beginnings
Our brief history
And future plans.
Trilogy part I
Último hombre en pie = Last Man standing
Nudists were being displaced into a nomadic existence!
Our beginnings,
We stepped up to fill the void; Montana's only nudist resort (nudist country club) closed; Montana's only naturist organization nudist club began winding down operations, preparing to close. The next nearest nudist resort in Worley Idaho was being sold and switching to a textile only Resort (The future of Montana nudism was evaporating before our eyes) All of these organizations had a long standing history of reliability, good management and excellent stewardship. They provided a valuable service to Nude Recreation; It's a niche sport, appealing to only a small percentage of the national population, Montana is part of the least populated regions of the US, and more spread out than the rest of the US. Most of us enjoy the elbow room. Nevertheless, this vast expanse of sparse population, creates a challenging environment for nudist organizations in Montana (and region)...... On the other hand, there's plenty of room to go nude in Montana, just not a lot of people here to do it with. (In a nutshell the challenge is a large region, small population spread out hundreds of miles. Gathering a sufficient number of clientele to support a nude organization in this region is a huge problem, of small population).
Montana does have a vibrant tourist industry for about 1/4 of the year, perhaps a modest size resort could capture some of that traffic. (Most resorts find it's more profitable dealing with textile clientele, since there's so many more clientele to pool from, not surprisingly, many of the nudist resorts have switched to textile only).
We've found montanans are accepting to nude recreation, there just aren't that many montanans as a whole.
My wife and I decided to organize a nude Recreation area by utilizing a portion of our ranch as a primitive clothing optional retreat, a primitive private park where the less modest could camp, hang out, swim, mingle, barbecue, while clothing optional comfort. Our conceptual Park could provide low cost recreation, by saving the costs of hosts, and unnecessary amenities. (Cheap but basic! ). It's primitiveness appeals to an even smaller sliver of an already small population (many naturist are afraid of spiders, snakes and wildlife). (FakeNaturist?) The logic being, an Open primitive nudist park, is better than a closed upscale nudist resort.
Our concept of a Nudist Park, was never designed to compete as a resort.
In time it's grown into its own rite, having advantages a resort doesn't.
Trilogy part II
Nothing ventured, Nothing gained!
Our ranch had an ideal corner of property to accommodate the nudist project, a gorgeous 33 acre mountainous uplift high above the valley with abundant old growth juniper trees, a few pine trees. Bordered by Federal rangeland, a private setting, the state highway being far below at the foot of the hill added to it's privacy also, making access easy. The perfect location for a nudist retreat.
At this point, we needed a name: Entering the 33 acre parcel, traveling East, at the base of the ascent is a pond that supports deer and other wildlife. The perfect name was obvious; Oasis 33 was born.
The Oasis 33
A view from above from the first level lookout
Oasis 33 area
The highway below
A few pictures of the Oasis 33 area, and the highway below. Privacy, with good access!
An old timer stopped to chat (this was decades ago) I was working on a highway fence, he said in his younger days Big Whiskey was his drinking stop. He pointed up to the lookout Hill, (now Oasis 33) said in the late '60s a hippie group had moved in up there. He giggled saying he and his brother liked to drive up the lookout road to see if the hippie women were out and about naked. Adding, the women would come up to his truck, talk to them, trying to panhandle, he winked saying he always made sure to carry plenty of change.
A fascinating conversation, if it's accurate, that would be an interesting coincidence.
Trilogy part III
Ever forward......
The now named Oasis 33 was in its distant past a forestry fire lookout and encampment. The rangeland to the West of the Oasis 33 (is also a portion of our ranch) was once the unincorporated mining town of Big Whiskey Montana (later Big Whiskey Ranch/ then bought out by OK Cattle Company) The highway came through in the 1950s effectively dividing these areas, Oasis 33 to the East (entrance is East from hwy) Big Whiskey is to the West. Nothing remains of the town/ranch now, except two dirt roads, one heading West, the other North, and some debris here and there. We are in the process, leveling some parking and set up spots in this area to use for overflow. Easy highway access and fairly level makes it suitable for larger RVs, a primitive parking, set up, and camp area. However still used for cattle grazing, so it's not like a refined campground at all. Both areas are frequented by all types of wildlife, including the occasional bear, (black and grizzly, we believe they are passing through between the Beartooth and Prior Mountain mountains on two sides of our rangeland. (we had a grizzly cub break into a a building we stored barley in, I walked in on him face to face) standing the enormous claws over the opening of a 55 gallon barrel (The cub booked it out livestock chute opening, ran nearly under two horses standing outside, the horses just stood still like nothing unusual was going on). Leaving the bears alone goes without saying. Dere, coyote, rattlesnakes, etc....Free range cattle are common here and can be deadly dangerous, especially with calf. Let them move through without harassing them. (An old range cow is lightning fast, and will stomp you to death). So far the humans and the animals have been getting along just fine!
Dossier
It's deja vu all over again.....
We don't know where we're going but we're making great time!
Yogi Berra
Trilogy (part IIII?)
Wendy's Wasteland, apocalyptic doom
300 acres of Apocalyptic Doom!
Costume and clothing optional Event
And for casual Recreation in between the apocalyptic doom event.
4x4 and ATV trails
Adventure in the big wide open!
A large project currently underway!
It should be open to small-scale access soon, it still requires a lot of dirt work, and the improvements to the spring (channeled into a very small heated pool) (a man-made Hot springs if you will). 300 acres of elbow room to bring your four-wheel drive, ATV, or hike.
Future events; we are in wait and see mode.
We are proceeding cautiously before we plan any large events, America is in a fentanyl crisis (other dangerous drugs reaching crisis levels). Some organizations have even canceled events; we are anxious to see how other organizations are able to navigate these risks.
This summer the California desert will host two very large apocalyptic themed events, we are keeping our fingers crossed that everything goes well!
At this point, we are waiting to see how well other event organizers can manage to navigate current risks and challenges. Based on the outcome, we will make plans here accordingly.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch; we will continue with our construction projects and improvements.
Badlands area
A look around the Badlands project area
The Badlands area is 300 acres, we are working on the access and other roads, four-wheel drive vehicles, atvs, hiking, and for larger events. We are torn on the name, AKA Wendy's Wasteland.