My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

The month of July in Montana was a brutal one. Eighteen straight days at the cabin with high temperatures in the 90's.....and rain.....it was non-existent. I've never seen a summer like this one. We did nothing to speak of during that entire heat wave. Finally towards the end of the month the weather cycle broke, and we headed for the mountains.....



It was only a day trip.....into the Custer Gallatin National Forest.....



We hiked deep into the dense forest.....



Made multiple stream crossings.....







.....and hiked higher up into the mountains.....we eventually entered the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area....



Today's goal was simply to spend a day away from the cabin, have a meal in the forest, and to take the dogs for a swim in Lava Lake.....after a brutal July, I sure felt that they needed it.....



After a bit more than an hour of hiking, we reached the often visited (yes, lots of people come here) shoreline of Lava Lake.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

The dogs.....well, they immediately jumped into that ice cold lake.....



Me.....I wanted to explore.....I wanted to see more.....I wanted to walk the shoreline at the very least.....





The mountains in the background.....they were calling to me.....but a light rain began to fall so we took shelter under the branches of a densely limbed Spruce tree and we just simply relaxed instead, as we consumed our late lunch.....



Once the rain let up, we were right back out there.....admiring the artistic beauty of Mother Nature.....



We heard some kids swimming in the lake.....and Tanner was gone like a bolt of lightning in the sky. I climbed across a pile of boulders and found that Tanner had already made some new best friends.....





We didn't climb any mountains that day but oh man, did it ever feel good to get back out into the mountains.....and the lake was definitely the icing on the cake.....



As evening approached we decided to head home.....a short hike down the mountain.....



And then one more sunset at the cabin.....it was indeed one fine day in Montana.....

 

[halseyt]

good to see you doing well with the new hip

 

[Arjan]

Great to hear from you !

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

halseyt.....the hip is doing great.....thanks.....

Arjan.....we are currently and have been on the road again.....I'll be posting again soon enough. Tonight it's cold.....camped above 10,000' with rain & high winds in Wyoming.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

For the next roadtrip of 2024, we drove east.....east on Interstate 90. I found a spot, once again, along the banks of the Yellowstone River to spend that first night.....



Sure the sign says "No Camping" but I've never had a problem camping at these types of spots. I feel like we're low impact.....generally arriving late after the fishermen are gone, and leaving early in the morning as well.....we're rarely seen.....



The fields here were full of deer.....both in the late evening and the early morning.....



We drove east on Convict Grade Road.....the sun was just rising in the east as we left our overnight campsite behind.....



To the north of us.....the rocky cliffs of the Sheep Mountains.....I wondered if we should try a climb.....



Nope.....we continued driving east & eventually crossed over the Yellowstone River once again.....



We spotted a lone Antelope near the rivers edge.....



.....and several more deer crossing a small stream.....



When we started this road trip, I only knew where we would stay the first night, and I knew where I wanted to end the trip, but I had no idea where we would go in between, and of course I had no idea how long we'd be gone. It was that first night camped along the Yellowstone River that I decided where we would go next.....



Some years back, I had a conversation with an old cowboy while camped at the Big Timber, Montana Fairgrounds.....he asked me if I had ever explored around the Boulder River and when I said no that I hadn't, he said you sure should. Well, that conversation came back to me that evening for some odd reason.....and I decided right then & there that we would head for the Boulder River.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

We headed southwest out of Big Timber, Montana along Main Boulder Road (Highway 298) passing along the meandering banks of the Boulder River.....I don't know for sure.....after driving maybe 10 miles or so through ranch lands, we entered the Gallatin National Forest.....



After a few more miles we found our first place of interest and of course we made a stop.....



There were already a few cars parked here when we arrived but it certainly wasn't packed. We walked out to a foot bridge that crossed the Boulder River and from that vantage point, we had a fair view of the rapids above and the falls below, or so it seemed.....



I noticed these man made viewing platforms below the bridge, so off we went (never giving a second thought to crossing the footbridge & walking along the trail at the end of the footbridge).....



I only mention all of this because it would become important later on in this day.....



What we found here was much more than a mere waterfall.....this is yet another example of a disappearing river as the water had cut it's way through the soft limestone rock.....(Foy ? Care to chime in ?).....



It's after several hundred feet of no water, that the river reappears as a waterfall.....(this view is actually taken above the disappearing water & the waterfall).....



It seemed unfortunate to me that I couldn't make my way down to the base of the waterfall (or could I ?).....



Well, I didn't that morning.....but the day was still young. We continued on down Main Boulder Road (Highway 298) taking in the sights. This highway abruptly ends somewhere around Independence, Montana.....approximately 53 miles from the interstate and Big Timber, Montana.....



That road was rough, and got rougher as we drove on, and we only made it approximately 43 miles of the way. The views of the Absaroka Mountain Range were spectacular.....and the continuous views of the Boulder River were as well. Maybe one day I'll need to return here with the Jeep.....as I still wonder what's at the end of that road.....it too must be just as spectacular.....

 

[Ace Brown]

Im going to be exploring NW Montana in a couple of weeks. Ill have to look for some of your finds.


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[chet6.7]

Some very interesting geology.

 

[Foy]

Me, blather on and on about Montana rocks? Why sure!

As mentioned a number of times since I've been tagging along with you, the thick sequence of Mississippian age carbonates throughout the Rockies (mostly limestones approx 325 to 360 million years old) provides incalculable resource values in terms of groundwater and surface waters as well as plenty of very cool topographic features and hydrologic features. Most are aware that limestone terrains are prone to development of underground voids which we call caves and caverns, The limestone horizon of Mississippian age in Montana is known as the Madison Group and most if not all of the major caves and caverns in Montana are within the Madison. The Madison is a thick rascal of up to and in paces in excess of 2,000' thick, so when you compress it into broad folds then erode it and the rocks over and below it you end up with wild patterns of Madison zig-zagging all over the state. The development of caves and caverns is often shows surface expressions such as sinkholes and is referred to as karst topography. Sometimes karst development comes soon after deposition of the limestone, sometimes later. Either way, some amazing networks of underground plumbing which can move vast quantities of water is the result. In arid climates such as Montana's, limestones are ridge formers due to the relative lack of surface water percolating down as weak carbonic acid breaking up the limestone. Practically any medium to dark gray bluffs, cliffs, buttes, and mesas within and around Montana's mountains are exposures of Madison Group carbonates. Notable examples are the cliffs along the Smith River, the Big Snowy and Little Snowy Mountains, the upturned "palisades" encircling the Little Rockies, and too many ridges and mountains to mention in southwestern Montana. The hydrologic features include the Natural Bridge Falls, where the Boulder River cut into a cavern system at one place and emerges from it in another. The same situation is present at Sinks Canyon State Park in Wyoming, where the Popo Agie River disappears into the Madison before emerging a quarter mile downstream. You have visited the Ice Caves at the crest of the Big Snowies. The Ice Caves are hosted in Madison Group limestones which are draped over an upward bulge of younger igneous intrusions not themselves exposed at the surface. The Madison's underground plumbing system takes in snowfall and rain from the Big Snowies and delivers it back to the surface at Crystal Cascades, whichyou and I have visited, and again at Big Spring down in Lewistown, a good 25 air miles from the crest of the Big Snowies. Madison plumbing also delivers the goods at Giant Spring State Park in Great Falls, where it is the source of the world's shortest river, the Roe River which flows but 200' from the spring to the Missouri River.
So, Yessir, you found yet another special Montana place delivered by the Madison Group carbonates. Keep on exploring and you'll surely find more!
Foy

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace.....hopefully you get in some peak bagging. I haven't seen you climb anything since that 14er in Colorado.....

chet6.7.....it really is. As you'll see, I returned later in the day cause I was just so curious.....

Foy.....you sure have a way with words and a vast amount of knowledge. I (we) appreciate the time you take to educate us.....



While it may be awhile before we return to the end of that road, it wasn't long before we would return to the Natural Bridge Falls.....I just couldn't seem to get it out of mind. I really wanted to stand at the base of the falls.....I wanted to see more.....



We crossed over the footbridge and followed the path into the forest. It wasn't long before we found a "Y" in the path and we took the one that paralleled the river.....



.....and that path also had a "Y" in it.....





One path dropped down into the canyon and the other followed the riverbed downstream.....first we followed the riverbed downstream as far as we could and here we saw a second section of dry riverbed.....





Then we backtracked.....and took the steep zig zag path down to the bottom of the canyon.....





It truly is an amazing place.....



We visited during the dry season (August) when the water level was low but this river completely changes during the wet season. Check out this screenshot I borrowed from the internet of the real waterfall dropping 105 feet during the wet season.....this place obviously has two faces.....and that's all that I've got to say about that.....

 

[Ace Brown]

I doubt I’ll be doing any serious climbs anytime soon. Recently diagnosed as having Long Covid. At least i know now why I’m so fatigued constantly. Even the six block walk to our coffee shop tires me. Fortunately for my sanity I’m still able to ride my bike. Even riding at 10,000 ft.


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[Sierra Valley]

We headed southwest out of Big Timber, Montana along Main Boulder Road (Highway 298) passing along the meandering banks of the Boulder River.....I don't know for sure.....after driving maybe 10 miles or so through ranch lands, we entered the Gallatin National Forest.....

View attachment 848707

After a few more miles we found our first place of interest and of course we made a stop.....

View attachment 848708

There were already a few cars parked here when we arrived but it certainly wasn't packed. We walked out to a foot bridge that crossed the Boulder River and from that vantage point, we had a fair view of the rapids above and the falls below, or so it seemed.....

View attachment 848709

I noticed these man made viewing platforms below the bridge, so off we went (never giving a second thought to crossing the footbridge & walking along the trail at the end of the footbridge).....

View attachment 848710

I only mention all of this because it would become important later on in this day.....

View attachment 848711

What we found here was much more than a mere waterfall.....this is yet another example of a disappearing river as the water had cut it's way through the soft limestone rock.....(Foy ? Care to chime in ?).....

View attachment 848712

It's after several hundred feet of no water, that the river reappears as a waterfall.....(this view is actually taken above the disappearing water & the waterfall).....

View attachment 848713

It seemed unfortunate to me that I couldn't make my way down to the base of the waterfall (or could I ?).....

View attachment 848714

Well, I didn't that morning.....but the day was still young. We continued on down Main Boulder Road (Highway 298) taking in the sights. This highway abruptly ends somewhere around Independence, Montana.....approximately 53 miles from the interstate and Big Timber, Montana.....

View attachment 848715

That road was rough, and got rougher as we drove on, and we only made it approximately 43 miles of the way. The views of the Absaroka Mountain Range were spectacular.....and the continuous views of the Boulder River were as well. Maybe one day I'll need to return here with the Jeep.....as I still wonder what's at the end of that road.....it too must be just as spectacular.....

View attachment 848716

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The end of the trail looks awesome ive been wanting to take this route for many years.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace.....dang that sucks. Sorry to hear that. I feel like I've been so lucky to have never had Covid-19. Hang in there.....

Sierra Valley.....you'll see soon enough that we visited places which would (I think) be very similar to the end of that road.....there are so many majestic places to see.....




Now we were at that point in the day when we needed to find ourselves a dispersed campsite. Not too far up the highway we pulled onto a quite steep Forest Service road and headed up into the foothills.....



This road was random.....nothing special.....as was our eventual campsite that I chose.....



Well, actually there was one thing special about here.....and that was that nobody came here.....



Our first campsite was maybe only a mile off the main highway.....the following morning we stretched our legs with a walk deeper into the forest and foothills.....



I'm not sure exactly why it is, probably a multitude of reasons, but it always seems like the further I am from mankind and the highways, the better I begin to feel. Later that day we moved to a new campsite.....even further from the main highway.....and even further from the sounds of man.....



Now we were perched on a small hill with some really beautiful views of the valleys and the foothills.....



At this point in what was a so far short trip, I decided that we needed a bigger plan.....not a really big plan but something to keep us busy for the next week or so. For some reason I got to thinking about the movie "The Bucket List" with Jack Nicholson & Morgan Freeman.....remember that one ? I sure do.....



"Witness something truly majestic".....that would be our goal.....



We spent a couple of days playing here.....making a plan, walking the roads, wandering around the foothills, and we even managed to climb a small mountain.....it was truly bliss ("a state of complete happiness or joy").....our stay here.....



Now about that small mountain that we climbed.....certainly not "majestic" (majestic would come later on in this trip).....but it certainly was a lot of fun.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Black Butte (6,119') certainly was not a difficult climb although we did face a few challenges. First off, climbing in Grizzly country is a bit challenging cause you're constantly on the watch. The picture below shows a portion of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.....and it is within this area that this entire trip took place. The dark green area indicates the Total Grizzly Bear Occupied Area. The individual black bears indicate sightings of Grizzly Bears that have wandered beyond their normal range. The brown line indicates Interstate 90 and Black Butte lies just south (below) Interstate 90 (the brown line).....



Our other challenge, while not significant, was picking our route to the summit. This was yet another mountain that had no trails.....complete bushwacking.....



We hiked up the road maybe a bit more than a mile, then headed straight up the western slope of the mountain.....



We had to stay clear of a north south running rock band along the saddle.....



And then made our way to the actual summit.....



I had packed myself a lunch (which of course I had to share with my best friends) and brought along a bag of dog treats. We sat in the rocks, kicked back, and enjoyed our meal as well as the fantastic views.....





Before leaving, of course, I needed to get my pictures of the dogs on the summit.....it's probably a tradition by now.....





"It's not what we have in life, but who we have in our lives that matters".....