Off the Beaten Path: Hikes, Backpacks, and Travels

Bear Trap Canyon: After the Burn

Posted on October 22, 2012 by westerner54

Bear Trap Canyon is a swell early or late season hike: it warms up early in the spring, and stays warm longer in the fall than hikes up in the mountains. The hike follows the Madison River through the Lee Metcalf Wilderness, and it’s always been one of my favorites.

But a wildfire tore through the canyon this summer, burning at least 5,000 acres, and I was worried that the beautiful fall scenery that I’d remembered would be just that – a memory.

On a recent Sunday we headed south to check it out, and were relieved to find that while the fire did some pretty heavy damage at the mouth of the canyon, the wilderness area of the hike was untouched. It was as lovely as ever. We saw a couple of other hikers, and a few fishermen, but other than that we had the canyon to ourselves.

What if the whole canyon looked like this?

Luckily, it doesn’t.

Posted in Hiking, Montana, Nature, Outdoors | Tagged Bear Trap Canyon, Fall hikes, Madison River, Wildfire | 7 Comments

What’s the Shortest Distance You Can Hike and Still Be Tough?

Posted on October 16, 2012 by westerner54

Here’s a lesson: if you suggest a weekend backpack, and remember a beautiful spot that you visited years ago, and you want to impress your tough hiking friends with this swell hike, it might be a good idea to actually check out a map before you go. And not because of the danger of getting lost, or because the hike might end up being way harder than you remembered; my tough friends would love nothing more than more adventure than we expected. Nope…you need to check the map to make sure that the hike is actually longer than a mile. When you arrive at your destination a half hour after you’ve started – even if it is a gorgeous spot to camp – you are setting yourself up for a weekend of ribbing. I mean, I’m pretty sure it’s not supposed to take you longer to load up your packs than it does to get to camp.

But this really is a stupendous spot. It’s a lovely cirque in the Branham Peaks area of the Tobacco Roots. I’d remembered the stunning scenery, but not the fact that the trailhead is at 8,800 feet, which means you can get to the rocky ridge without too much effort. I clearly remembered thinking that the cirque would be a grand spot to camp; I just forgot exactly where it was.

But all was fine in the end. We set up camp and then headed up the ridge for a glorious fall afternoon of exploring. By evening I was redeemed. After all, it hardly seems like a heinous mistake to suggest camping in a gorgeous spot that’s easy to get to but still far from noise and people, does it?

Next time I think we’ll plan to camp at one of these lakes.

Posted in Backpacking, Hiking, Montana, Nature | Tagged Branham Peaks, how not to be tough, short backpack trips, Tobacco Root Mountains | 15 Comments

Rethinking Nature: the Value of Wild Places

Posted on October 13, 2012 by westerner54

What makes you feel alive and happy? Until two weeks ago, I thought the answer – for me – was pretty simple: being out in nature. Surprisingly, I didn’t necessarily consider “wildness” a huge plus; it seemed to me that open space and beauty were the key ingredients. In fact, I’d assumed that because I’m not brave about hanging out with predators like bears and mountain lions that I probably feel happier in environments that are beautiful and open, but where the risk of running into a scary animal when I’m far from a safe retreat is pretty low. The few times that I ran into a bear while I was far from the trailhead resulted in either the bear running away, or me getting away as fast as I could.

Don’t get me wrong: there’s nothing I like more than watching wildlife, but it’s not something that I’ve done a lot of when I’m actually in the wild. I spend a lot of time hiking and backpacking, but during those trips I’m usually hoping that I won’t see a grizzly bear or a mountain lion. Intellectually I knew that truly wild spaces are important, but I didn’t really – in my gut – understand the value of those places.

So what changed two weeks ago?

We decided to hike to Lewis and Clark Pass, a short, easy day hike on the edge of Scapegoat Wilderness in the Helena National Forest. It’s not country that anyone would consider truly wild, since there are plenty of roads in the area. But it’s a pretty hike, and on the Sunday we hiked it there was only one other pickup at the trailhead. We started off and met the pickup owners hiking down. They mentioned in an offhand way that there was a grizzly sow and cub up near the pass. That got my attention. I grilled them about where exactly they were, and was assured that they were not near the trail, but that you could see them from the pass. That sounded OK, although I wasn’t quite as thrilled about this news as my husband was. I agreed to hike to the pass, but I insisted that if we couldn’t see where the bears were when we got there we were turning around. So far, no epiphany for me – I was pretty much pre-occupied with being nervous.

At a big open saddle below the pass we stopped and glassed the hillside where we thought the bears should be. And there they were: a grizzly sow and her cub of the year, between a quarter and half a mile away from us, digging roots along the Continental Divide trail. I was spellbound. They were far enough away that I was able to focus on how amazing it was to be able to sit and watch them instead of simply being fearful. For the first time I truly understood what a privilege it is to be able to visit a wild place; a place that provides a space for animals as wild as grizzly bears to live. That just knowing that these places are there adds value to our lives, even if we don’t go there often. This was an epiphany; and silly as it sounds, I realized that I hadn’t really understood why wild spaces are so important until that moment.

I suppose I should be embarrassed that it’s taken me so long to see this, but…there it is. I think that Walkin’ Jim Stoltz would be proud of me for finally coming to a true understanding of what he was talking about when he said, “The wild places will fill you up. Let them.”

Posted in Adventure, Hiking, Nature, Wildlife | Tagged grizzly bears, the value of wild places, wild animals, wild spaces | 9 Comments

Geese in the Eagle’s Nest

Posted on October 10, 2012 by westerner54

Last spring I hiked out to an eagle’s nest high on a cottonwood near the shore of a nearby lake. The nest had been home to a pair of bald eagles for the past three years, but this year a pair of Canada geese had taken up residence there. I was pretty surprised, but apparently this is not unusual behavior for Canadian geese: they like these abandoned nests because they’re safe from coyotes and foxes. But I just can’t see how the goslings can jump out of such a high nest and survive. I came back periodically, and the geese were obviously on some eggs, but I missed the hatching and the leaps to the ground. (If you’d like to see more about this behavior, you can watch an episode of Wild Kingdom about geese doing this in the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Preserve.)

Pileated woodpeckers are pretty rare on the east side of the Continental Divide in Montana. I love their pterodactyl-ness. This guy was right down the street on a Saturday morning, busily pecking away. No one else in the neighborhood seemed to notice, which just amazed me.

Snowy owls showed up in Montana (and many other places) this past winter, and obligingly hung around long enough for hundreds of people to see and photograph them. This one – a juvenile, I think – was near Polson, Montana.

Another prehistoric looking bird. Once the sandhill cranes arrive, we know that spring has finally arrived. And their rattling call is one of the few bird sounds that I can recognize for sure. They do a darn cool mating dance, as well.

The mountain bluebird shows up in March, right when we really need a shot of blue to relieve the gray and brown and white or winter. My favorite.

A pair of osprey have nested near our house for the past three years.

Once the white pelicans arrive, we know summer is going to come for sure. Watching them soar silently over the Missouri River is magical.

A Swainson’s hawk in the Centennial Valley, another summer visitor.

This vermilion flycatcher doesn’t get anywhere near Montana, but he is so gorgeous I couldn’t leave him out. This guy was along the San Pedro River in southern Arizona.

Posted in Birding, Montana, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, Wildlife | Tagged Montana birds | 8 Comments

Highland Mary Lakes

Posted on October 2, 2012 by westerner54

The Highland Mary Lakes in the San Juans of southwestern Colorado are a great introduction to the high peaks of the Weminuche Wilderness in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. The wildflowers are bigger there than anywhere else I’ve been, the trails are higher, and the scenery is breathtaking. Hiking above 12,000 feet is pretty darn breathtaking, too. It took me a few days to get used to that part!

The Highland Mary Trail starts east of the old mining town of Silverton (which is worth a visit itself.) You drive about four miles through Cunningham Gulch on an increasingly rough road that includes a creek crossing at the end. The trail starts at 10,480 ft., and climbs 1,600 ft. to the first lake. The first time we did this we planned to backpack about 5 miles, but I needed to rest so often during the first 2 1/2 miles to the first lake that we decided to set up camp at the lakes. It turned out to be an excellent option: the lakes are a perfect spot to set up a basecamp and spend a few days exploring. Hiking without a heavy pack made a huge difference in my ability to enjoy my surroundings. The hiking season is short, though: there’s often snow until mid-July, and snow again by mid-September. But it’s been surprisingly uncrowded the two times we’ve been there, which was a nice surprise.

Posted in Backpacking, Hiking, Nature, Outdoors | Tagged Colorado hiking, Highland Mary Lakes, San Juan Mountains, Weminuche Wilderness | 13 Comments

Watching Wildlife in Yellowstone: the Best Places to Hang Out

Posted on September 25, 2012 by westerner54

Conventional Yellowstone Wisdom has it that the best way to find wildlife is to look for a gaggle of folks along the road with really good spotting scopes and long lenses on their cameras. And it’s true; you will certainly be guaranteed a good sighting that way. (In fact, if you’re in the Lamar Valley and see a schoolbus yellow XTerra with Montana plates and radio antennae on the roof – stop. That’s Rick McIntyre of the Wolf Project, and he’ll know where the wolves are if anyone does. And he’s a really nice guy, too, who will be glad to share his wisdom with you.)

But if you have the patience to sit and watch just to see what happens, and if you’d prefer to do that watching without the crowd, there are a few places that I think are the best spots to spend a morning or evening just hanging out.

1. My favorite, hands down, is on a knoll overlooking Slough Creek. It’s above the second pullout on the Slough Creek Campground Road, and the view over the Slough Creek valley is wide and expansive and perfect for looking for critters.

We’ve watched wolves hunting elk, pronghorn chasing each other madly through the meadows, grizzlies digging roots, coyotes hunting voles, sandhill cranes, and hawks, ducks and geese. This past weekend we spent a whole morning watching a bison herd. Bison are so common in the park that they’re often overlooked, but their interactions can be fascinating, especially during mating season. We watched one particular bull shadow a female all morning. He was practically glued to her side, and didn’t leave her alone for a second: when she turned, he turned, when she went to get water, he was right with her. She had no personal space at all, but she didn’t seem to mind – at least that I could tell. He stayed between her and the other males, and got pretty agitated when another male tried to approach the female. I did a little research, and learned that this behavior is called “tending” – the male chooses a female, and will tend her for anywhere from a few minutes to several days before mating.

See the two bison right next to each other near the top of the picture? That’s the courting pair. We watched this lone pronghorn graze his way right into the middle of the herd. He seemed shocked to be there when he finally looked up, and took off like a shot.

2. Another good spot is on a hillside overlooking Round Prairie. Round Prairie is a large meadow just opposite the Pebble Creek Campground. If you park at the Pebble Creek picnic area and walk down the road toward the Lamar Valley, there’s a little trail up the hillside that leads to a nice flat spot that overlooks the whole meadow. Soda Butte Creek flows through the meadow, and it’s a favorite hangout for moose, elk, and bison. This weekend we spotted a bull moose who was hanging around a cow moose and her calf. I’m assuming that the bull was doing the moose equivalent of “tending” the cow, but I haven’t found information about this behavior. Any biologist out there who can help?

Female moose. The bull is in the grass to the right of her – you can see his antlers above the willows.

3. Swan Flats is another grand spot to hang out and watch. The Flats are a large meadow with a number of shallow lakes, above Mammoth Hot Springs and off the road to Norris Hot Springs. You can either set up close to the road, or hike out the Glen Springs trail for as far as you want. Swan Flats is frequented by trumpeter swans and other migrating water birds in the spring, and we’ve regularly seen wolves, bears, and coyotes there. And it’s just a gorgeous spot in any season.

Sandhill crane near Swan Flats.

4. The Blacktail Road is a 6 mile gravel road that takes off from the road between Mammoth and Tower Junction. It’s very lightly travelled, and you can pull off at a number of spots and just sit and watch. We’ve seen bears there a number of times, and have had wonderful afternoons watching coyotes and hawks and eagles hunt. And it’s especially beautiful in the fall.

5. Of course, anywhere along the Lamar or Hayden Valleys provides prime opportunities for wildlife watching. Sit quietly and patiently, and you’ll be rewarded.

Posted in Adventure, Hiking, Montana, Nature, Wildlife, Yellowstone | Tagged wildlife watching, Yellowstone, Yellowstone wildlife | 9 Comments

Posted on September 24, 2012 by westerner54

Just love this post.

Mind Margins

They say home is where the heart is, and I believe it. I’ve written before about how being in Wyoming feels like home, even though I’ve never lived there. What is it about certain places that instantaneously feels like home?

I admit that home doesn’t have to be a place. People can also feel like home, and make the unknown places you visit better if that person is with you. But for me, home is a place, where things are open and spacious, inspire awe, and make me joyful to be alive.

For me, a place feels like home when I can be myself, when I don’t have to hide who I am or pretend to be someone I’m not. I can live in jeans and t-shirts, forgo almost all makeup, and not worry about having the latest hairstyle or making enough money. I’ve lived most of my life…

View original post 588 more words

Posted in Hiking | 2 Comments

The Sanctuary of Open Spaces

Posted on September 18, 2012 by westerner54

During a bad fire year a few summers ago, the Forest Service closed all of the Forest Service lands in western Montana. Totally. No access, even for hiking. I was dumbfounded. It had never occurred to me that they would do that. The city of Helena even closed Mt. Helena. My refuge, my church, my place of renewal, was suddenly off-limits. It really brought home to me how much I depend on those open spaces.

I just returned from a tough two weeks coping with family issues in Massachusetts, and I sorely missed the solace of the open spaces of the west. New England is lovely – historic and green and charming – but the small patches of conservation land in the suburbs of Boston just don’t renew my spirit the way the open spaces of Montana do.

So, when the stress was getting to be too much, I just shut my eyes and went to the Centennial Valley:

Posted in Life, Nature, Outdoors | Tagged open space, sanctuary | 10 Comments

Johnny Gulch in the Elkhorn Mountains

Posted on September 4, 2012 by westerner54

Even a small mountain range like the Elkhorns in western Montana is chock full of wonderful backroads that are just begging to be explored. Recently we loaded up the camper and headed out to see what we could find. Can’t get much better than that.

We headed into the mountains from the small town of Radersburg (where Myrna Loy was born, by the way) and followed Forest Service roads up and up until we pretty much couldn’t go any further. We ended up on the Johnny Gulch road, which got narrower and narrower and rougher and rougher, but did eventually spit us out into an open meadow with a lovely spot to camp and an even lovelier view. Our pickup and camper seem to be able to go just about anywhere, but I suspect that one of these times we’re going to get ourselves into a spot that will be tough to get out of. Hasn’t happened yet, though.

And we had Johnny Gulch all to ourselves: other than a healthy looking coyote, we didn’t see another soul the whole weekend.