Back to back
Chicken shack
We stayed a couple days at Cloverleaf Lakes. We woke up, fished some more, and then packed up camp and headed out.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
We climbed down the side of that waterfall.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
With packs.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
We saw countless waterfalls. Well, thirty or so, anyway.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
In case I forgot to mention, the wildflowers were blooming.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Oh, P.? I don't grow facial hair, despite my swarthy mediterranean heritage. Maybe it is the Irish side. About Day 3, Will asked, "Jesus, Dude, don't you grow facial hair?"
I'm like, "No, not really. I can get away with shaving every other day. And, really, I just start to look vaguely Mexican."
So, there you go.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Every time you see a waterfall in these pictures, we climbed down or up it.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
See, when there are no trails, what you have to do is follow the water.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Well, follow the water and keep it real.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
More "trail."
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Eventually, we regained the trail.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
I am not a huge flower guy, but it was hard not to notice how beautiful they were.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Bears were busy sharpening their claws on this tree.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Stream crossings...
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
As we dropped below treeline, the mosquitos became intolerable.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
They would follow in the wake behind your head in clouds of 100, just waiting for you to stop.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Our water pump broke.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
So we hoofed it out approximately 20 miles.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Yeah.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
That was tough.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Especially with a pack.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Even though we were exhausted and dehydrated, the scenery was gorgeous.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
We were fried when we got out.
And get this... we went to the "Camp Host" at the campground where we parked.
We had a one-liter bottle and explained that our water filter broke, and that we had hiked 20 miles and hadn't had water for the last 12 miles.
The "Camp Host" was in an RV.
She said she was "not supposed to give us water."
Fucking bitch.
Seriously.
What a bitch.
32 fucking ounces of water.
I wanted to strangle her.
Instead, we drove down the pass into Red Lodge, Montana.
We drove through Yellowstone the next morning.
We passed into Paradise Valley and decided to fish a tributary of the Yellowstone.
I chose Six Mile Creek, since I had hiked it with Bells and a Forest Service Crew last summer, and I knew it to be remote. Not many people would be there.
We drove up a winding gravel road for miles.
We stopped at a likely spot and scrambled down through dense brush to the stream.
After and hour or so, we each pulled out a couple brook trout, and we decided to leave.
We scrambled up the steep mountainside back to the car.
We drove down the road, and soon, somtething was blocking the road.
At first, I thought, "What the hell is a bison doing here?"
It was no bison.
It was a large, male grizzly bear, sitting in the road, ears cocked, listening.
Unbeknownst to Will Danger and me, an ATV was coming up the gravel road.
The bear had stopped to listen.
We surprised him.
He took off like a bat out of hell down the road.
He was running faster than we could drive the car on this tight gravel road.
I would estimate he was running 30 mph, because we could only go 20-25 and he outdistanced us. Easily.
But of course, we gave chase.
Because they are fascinating beasts.
Again, we caught up with him and surprised him.
This time, instead of running down the road, he took off up the mountain, an approximate 50 degree pitch, laden with deadfall, underbrush, rocks, etc.
He may as well have been Carl Lewis running on an Olympic track. He tore ass up that mountainside at about 25 miles per hour, like no ATV, SUV, or motorcycle ever could.
Honestly, it was one of the most badass displays of raw power I have ever seen.
God, I fucking love living in Montana.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
We climbed down the side of that waterfall.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
With packs.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
We saw countless waterfalls. Well, thirty or so, anyway.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
In case I forgot to mention, the wildflowers were blooming.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Oh, P.? I don't grow facial hair, despite my swarthy mediterranean heritage. Maybe it is the Irish side. About Day 3, Will asked, "Jesus, Dude, don't you grow facial hair?"
I'm like, "No, not really. I can get away with shaving every other day. And, really, I just start to look vaguely Mexican."
So, there you go.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Every time you see a waterfall in these pictures, we climbed down or up it.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
See, when there are no trails, what you have to do is follow the water.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Well, follow the water and keep it real.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
More "trail."
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Eventually, we regained the trail.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
I am not a huge flower guy, but it was hard not to notice how beautiful they were.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Bears were busy sharpening their claws on this tree.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Stream crossings...
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
As we dropped below treeline, the mosquitos became intolerable.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
They would follow in the wake behind your head in clouds of 100, just waiting for you to stop.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Our water pump broke.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
So we hoofed it out approximately 20 miles.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Yeah.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
That was tough.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Especially with a pack.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
Even though we were exhausted and dehydrated, the scenery was gorgeous.
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
beartooth wilderness beartooth beartooth beartooth
We were fried when we got out.
And get this... we went to the "Camp Host" at the campground where we parked.
We had a one-liter bottle and explained that our water filter broke, and that we had hiked 20 miles and hadn't had water for the last 12 miles.
The "Camp Host" was in an RV.
She said she was "not supposed to give us water."
Fucking bitch.
Seriously.
What a bitch.
32 fucking ounces of water.
I wanted to strangle her.
Instead, we drove down the pass into Red Lodge, Montana.
We drove through Yellowstone the next morning.
We passed into Paradise Valley and decided to fish a tributary of the Yellowstone.
I chose Six Mile Creek, since I had hiked it with Bells and a Forest Service Crew last summer, and I knew it to be remote. Not many people would be there.
We drove up a winding gravel road for miles.
We stopped at a likely spot and scrambled down through dense brush to the stream.
After and hour or so, we each pulled out a couple brook trout, and we decided to leave.
We scrambled up the steep mountainside back to the car.
We drove down the road, and soon, somtething was blocking the road.
At first, I thought, "What the hell is a bison doing here?"
It was no bison.
It was a large, male grizzly bear, sitting in the road, ears cocked, listening.
Unbeknownst to Will Danger and me, an ATV was coming up the gravel road.
The bear had stopped to listen.
We surprised him.
He took off like a bat out of hell down the road.
He was running faster than we could drive the car on this tight gravel road.
I would estimate he was running 30 mph, because we could only go 20-25 and he outdistanced us. Easily.
But of course, we gave chase.
Because they are fascinating beasts.
Again, we caught up with him and surprised him.
This time, instead of running down the road, he took off up the mountain, an approximate 50 degree pitch, laden with deadfall, underbrush, rocks, etc.
He may as well have been Carl Lewis running on an Olympic track. He tore ass up that mountainside at about 25 miles per hour, like no ATV, SUV, or motorcycle ever could.
Honestly, it was one of the most badass displays of raw power I have ever seen.
God, I fucking love living in Montana.
posted by Joe at
8:29 PM
7 Comments
