My Journey

[Trailboss]

Yes, the colors, mountains and wildlife were amazing, and so were the crowds at times (but nothing like they would be in the summer). I think I took over 900 photos over 13 days in northern Wyoming. I tried to cram everything into one trip since due to my age, health and family commitments, I can't count on getting another big block of time to allow me to return. I'll just have to keep following your travels .

I chuckled when I saw your last photo with the horses. Those must be the most photographed horses in the west. I camped just a few miles from there, and every time I passed, there seemed to be 4-8 vehicles at that pull-off. Hell, I've owned probably 60-80 horses over my lifetime (still have 4 at home) and even I took 3 photos of those horses in front of the Tetons. The 3 horses and one mule we have left are in their late teens and twenties and are just pasture ornaments now, living out their lives in green grass and sunshine.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

the deputy.....after that trip to the Tetons, we hung out at the cabin for just a few days when the "itch" hit again. So.....since completing the trip to the Tetons, we've driven north for an adventure in the Little Belt Mountains and we also did a short 3 day trip to climb a mountain. We currently are traveling again.....I've got a few ideas for this trip but we'll just see how it goes.....

Trailboss.....I actually pulled into that turn out to rethink my idea of going home. When I stood there, with both my feet in pain, with the huge crowd gawking (as was I) at the beautiful scenery.....well, it was right there that I knew for certain that it was time to go home.....




And one more horse & mountain picture.....what a beautiful world it is.....sometimes it's just hard to believe....



And here's the last of my Teton Mountain pictures that I'll post (like Trailboss.....I have so many more).....






We spent our last night camped in a small campground just southeast of the Snake  River.....again very close to Flagg Ranch.....



This was the same campground where we encountered the huge Grizzly in a prior stay, but this year, even in our long walk into the forest, we didn't see any wildlife.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

And once again, while out walking, we were stopped and asked by a young couple if I knew where there were any open campsites.....at this point I think you know what I said.....



The following morning we drove north through Yellowstone National Park.....





Oh man I just love those early morning shots.....certainly my favorites.....






Overall it was a great trip.....I know that I probably complain just a bit too much about the crowds but it can be overwhelming at times.....sometimes I just wish I could be more like the dogs.....they just don't seem to care.....



And they're pretty darn funny too.....this is what it looks like when we get home.....they don't stray too far from the rig.....cause they never know when we're going to go.....

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

The posts with the Tetons, and my old Wyoming home; I have been soaking up, like you wouldn’t believe. Even just the pictures give me some extra peace.
Thank you, it’s been a few years since I have been back.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace.....sorry, I forgot to include you in the last post. The statement I made about the moose was definitely misleading. I was referring to that particular trip. I've seen plenty of moose over the years. I would imagine that there are many moose pictures throughout these 362 pages. While they're not common to see here in Montana, I'd also say that they're not uncommon to see as well.....if that makes any sense.....

PNWY.....I see that you're headed to Peru real soon and I couldn't be any more envious (not jealous of course !). It's one of my favorite countries in the world and if the wrong person becomes the President, I may have to consider moving there. I sure do hope you take & post tons of pictures and tell us about your travels. I'm actually excited for you ! Good luck and safe travels.....



We're currently camped in the mountains.....but before I get into this trip, I still want to journal about our previous trips. I'll get caught up one day I believe. We have lots of stuff to share with those that follow this thread.....thanks.....

Sneak peak at what we were up to earlier today.....

 

[the deputy]

Loved all of the pictures.

But, my OCD is off the chart with this one...



And boy, you sure don't take much time to heal up.

 

[Arjan]

Awesome Pictures - many many thanks !!

"Which actually read "DON'T STOP ON THE HIGHWAY TO VIEW THE BEARS".....no idea why it doesn't show up that way in my pictures.....as it was quite clear from the highway....." Because the frequency of the lamps/LED's play havoc with your camera "shutter"
Happens very often with pictures of signs and you can't change the "shutter speed / exposure time"

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

the deputy.....I'm never healed.....I'm just always good enough.....thanks.....

Arjan.....well, I never knew that. I sure was frustrated that day. I remember thinking that this picture will look great on my XP post. After about a dozen attempts, we moved on. Life is too short ! And thanks.....



We hung out at the cabin for a week and then it hit me.....we needed to get back out. Winter is coming and our time exploring Montana would soon come to an end.....



The sun was rising so I began to pack the rig. It was looking like a good day to hit the road and the weather forecast was excellent.....Montana was calling our names.....



The dilemma is always the same.....where do we go ? So many outstanding choices right outside our backdoor.....we chose north.....north to visit the American Prairie Reserve once again. I was curious.....were there the same striking fall colors in the prairies as we just saw in the Teton Mountain Range ?





Before I knew it, it was late afternoon.....as we drove north on Highway 191.....



Just south of Judith Gap, Montana, we stopped at the windmills.....cause I know.....that this is a great spot to spend a peaceful night.....





We spent that evening walking amongst the windmills....."whoosh, whoosh, whoosh".....the sounds of the blades turning in the winds.....it can almost be hypnotic if you choose it to be.....



A tractor was working in the fields.....it was late.....too late to still be working. He drove forever it seemed to me.....directly to the east.....and eventually he'd do a 180 and drive forever to the west.....or so it seemed.....



Sleep was good that night with the skylight barely propped open listening to the "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh of the windmill blades.....

The morning sky was clear.....the weatherman got it right.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

I was sitting at my table that morning debating with myself.....looking at my road atlas.....mountains or prairies ?



Once I got back onto Highway 191.....I'd have to make that final decision real soon. We drove north but just a few miles when I suddenly changed our plans for this trip and so it was that we went back to the mountains instead.....





I guess the good news was that we got a small taste of the prairies.....yesterday and that early morning.....



We hung a left off the main highway.....and drove a bit to the west on Buffalo Canyon Road.....



Not too far down that road, we hung yet another left and in maybe a few hundred yards of driving.....or not much more.....we drove into Buffalo, Montana.....



I knew nothing about this town before we came here.....and honestly, I still don't.....



Certainly it seems as though it had seen better days.....



We walked around town.....and it was peaceful here. I don't recall seeing another human here as we admired the loneliness of this tiny, run down town.....after Jackson Hole, Wyoming.....I knew that this is what I had come for.....



The loneliness of the places rarely explored.....

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

The tractor you saw, was most likely- and by the looks of the implements was seeding. Its called an air seeder. AKA, “No till Drill” Where they replant the winter wheat directly into the stubble without working it again. As tilling the soil all the time causes erosion to be worse, and you lose the good topsoil. It’s a big deal for them to get the winter wheat planted before the first solid freeze, as the ground temp needs to be 54-77f, for best germination. You can plant as low as 40F, but you usually see a yield loss.

Yeah....Jackson, not a place I like to spend much time in. Too many people for me.

 

[ghostdancer]

If you find yourself in Dubois WY again, hang a left, going east, on North Horsecreek road and work your way 30 miles in to the Double Cabin camping area. My wife and I were there many moons ago in the fall, 2007??. It was a magical place. We had the whole place to ourselves. Don’t know how it would be these days, the internet has ruined all the “secret” spots.

 

[Foy]

In late September, the Missus and I did a traverse through the eastern Little Belts from near Checkerboard out to Utica. We didn't know it at the time but the valley and canyons of the South Fork of the Judith River above Sapphire Village was the area in which Charlie Russell first lived and worked on a ranch upon first moving to Montana from Missouri in 1880 at the age of 16. The rest, as they say, is Montana history. We have fallen in love with the Little Belts and after the Dillon-Big Hole-Pioneer Mountains, it's now our favorite part of Big Sky Country.
Looking forward to seeing where else you went on the way to the APR.

Foy

 

[Arjan]

Awesome Pictures !

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

PNWY.....yep, I agree. That's exactly what it looked like to me. Thanks for sharing that. Are your bags packed ? Ready to go ?

ghostdancer.....just minutes ago I Googled Double Cabin Campground and Google Maps threw up this weather advisory "Route May Be Affected By Winter Storm Warning".....looks like they're getting hammered right now. Forecast calls for 10 to 15 inches and 18 inches in the higher elevations. Looks like a great spot to check out.....and there's also some nice mountains to be climbed in that area.....thanks.....

Foy.....I think that we may have traveled down some of the same roads. I'll be posting about that soon enough. I actually thought about you last week as I was heading up into the mountains & I found 2 hammers at the trailhead. One was a typical claw hammer and the other was a long pointed hammer.....considering where I found them, I thought "looks like an absent minded geologist had recently been here". Did you lose a few hammers recently ?

Arjan.....the good picture streak is coming to an end. The northern section of the Little Belt Mountains was not a photographers' paradise.....thanks.....



As we headed into the northern most part of the Little Belt Mountains, I started to think that I wanted to climb a mountain. After a bit of reseach, I came up with Woodhurst Mountain (7,382'). And so it was, with the help of Google Maps and my inattentive nature, that we took the wrong road into the Lewis & Clark National Forest.....



Soon after the National Forest sign, we saw the bear warning sign that's posted at most National Forest entrance signs in Montana (could we finally be so lucky ?).....



The gravel road took us into a dense pine forest.....



Really nothing noteworthy about this particular road.....nothing that struck up an interest in me.....but eventually we did come across this grave site at the "Y" in the road.....



This guy Greer.....he must have been one hard core mountain man. It's difficult to think what it must have been like to have been a homesteader here 125 +/- years ago.....this is remote country right here.....



I'd say that it was maybe at about this point that I realized that I was lost (well, maybe not lost but certainly on the wrong track).....



We made a right at the "Y" in the road at the cemetery site which generally had us driving northwest now.....the road.....it became a bit more challenging as we started to climb up into the mountains.....



I had a few moments where I thought that my rig didn't belong here.....the tires spun in the gravel as the road steepened.....and the trees brought new scratches to the truck camper.....but we continued on.....cause there ain't no backing up on these roads.....



Of course I don't have pictures of that as I was white knuckling my way through it all. Eventually we came to yet another "Y" in the road and we took yet another right, driving due north, looking for the asphalt highway.....



It was kind of funny really, we'd spent the entire day in those mountains.....didn't see Woodhurst Mountain (7,382') until the end of that day (didn't see any bears either).....left those mountains thinking that I should be a bit more attentive when I'm traveling these back roads.....then I thought "nope, why change now ?"

That's Woodhurst Mountain (7,382') in the last picture.....seen as we were leaving the Little Belt Mountains.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Now.....we weren't quite done with the Little Belt Mountains.....but to get to our next entry point, we had to pass through those gently rolling hills and grass filled fields that are so common in the prairies of Montana.....





The roads here are nearly void of other traffic.....maybe I'd see another pickup here and there.....but crossing paths with one was quite rare.....



I found myself stopping often along these roads.....time was of no importance to me.....living much like the way a dog lives their lives.....hanging my head out the window too.....totally carefree.....





Most often the unscheduled stops had to do with abandoned buildings.....it's the old, weathered wood that's the pull for me.....





It's ironic how aged wood becomes a valuable resource, sought after, a prized possession.....the opposite for man.....



Eventually, the paved highways, as we drove south, took us to Utica, Montana.....