montana

Thanks again to everyone who commented on the other thread to help plan this trip. We flew into Bozeman, and rented a Subaru Outback with AWD & snow tires. It was around $1300 for the week, but well worth it. I saw the plows running through the park from first light til dark (which was around 5...

I was a bit distraught when I headed south after my August week because, being able to ford the Middle Fork of the Flathead River was so close to doable. I immediately started dreaming of making a bonus trip later in the year. Plus after a lifetime of visiting Glacier National Park I had never...

September 13-15, 2024 Continuing with the old trip reports since the covid isn't gone yet, here's one I did in September on Pebble Creek in Yellowstone. I had just finished up at a 3-day work conference at Fairmont Hot Springs, so I went home to grab my mostly pre-packed gear and headed toward...

August 17-18, 2024 Sitting here with covid, I decided to mix up my sitting and laying around by writing up a report or two from the past season. This route mostly followed the CDT as I understand it. It was just right for a weekend trip. We started off the day by setting up our shuttle. My...

Our annual fall trip to Yellowstone. Originally had planned another area at higher elevation. Due to heavy thunderstorms in the forecast, and possible snow at high elevations, we adjusted our trip and decided to head up Slough Creek. We have been going to Yellowstone enough years and through...

Peter, Chris and I spent the second week of September in the Crazy Mountains, an “island” range in central Montana. It was an incredible week of stunning high-peak scenery that is super accessible. But the 30ish mile out-and-back (with approximately 17,000' of elevation) wasn't a cake walk, as...

Sharing a journal of my backpacking trip to =AZWJ_oQwtLb1m0-JESVHxpGlahtB-mgE-P3NpjHSg5TETFu8vlu61xmoyufDzTAqdwK4z6I6-7ykm2VNHCPYF0yAjhhtTdRQC6hwg6JFyLZ4z07AAcPgx49rrKWsfi85fy4QaOdPeHEkvxuW1f_HhfmAYPNhZEgeDpUiiC16kAofPA&__tn__=-]K-R']Glacier National Park starting the end of August through the...

With Jeff and Kurt the whole gang was with me in August. There was a low snowpack this winter so I was hopeful that I could get across the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. Ever the nerd I was keeping track of the daily snow melt and runoff into the river. The river level was a bit higher...

July 26-28, 2024 Now that we're solidly in shoulder season, it's time for me to get going on my trip reports from this past summer. In truth, I should have done them earlier, but here we are! Jessica and I have been married for ten years now. Due to a fairly busy early summer, combined with my...

I have to admit. I am obsessed and focused on hiking as many miles of trails in Glacier National Park as a day hiker can. With advancing age and limited opportunity I am feeling the pressure. Years ago I obtained from (Hike 734, @Jake Bramante) an Excel spreadsheet of all sections of the...

Chandlerwest's post about Glacier got me thinking about our recent trip to the National Park. My daughter and son-in-law had to back out due my daughter's knee surgery, so it was just my son and I as we left Northern California after work on Friday. We drove up through Oregon, Washington, and...

I have tried to think of some witty reason as to why this trip report is a year late. I got nothing. At this second, the best I have is I was a bit down after the August week. We were able to ford the Middle Fork of the Flathead but I didn't force that agenda. I turned 65 so maybe that...

10 days after returning from my Grebe Lake trip, it was time to head back to Yellowstone for my usual September trip, this time to the Specimen Creek drainage in the northwest corner of the park. I've been doing this trip for years with some of my coworkers or former coworkers, with the usual...

Quick overnighter before weather sets in...... Crisp, no people, but no wildlife either

June 23, 2024 I haven't put a day hike on here in a while, and I figured we don't get much from the Bridgers on here, so here we go! Set out to "run" up Middle Cottonwood Canyon outside of Bozeman this morning. I forgot how much elevation was involved, which was probably for the best because I...

UP AGAINST THE WALL I woke to light rain on the morning of day 7. In between showers I managed to cook and eat breakfast and pack up. It rained off and on as I followed the trail up the Burnt Creek valley towards its headwaters at the base of the Chinese Wall. As I neared treeline, the...

In part 2, I bushwhacked and scrambled to the top of The Chinese Wall. I then got myself into a situation that wasn't quite a survival situation, but could have been with 1-2 more bad decisions. Later, I encountered a backpacker that was having a medical emergency. I called for help using my...

This was a 8 day trip that started at the same place as the 1980 trip, the Chief Joseph Trailhead. We stayed on the Beaten Path to Russel Lake, thence to Mariane where we camped two nights with a day trip up past Red Rock Lakes to Summit Mountain. The third night was spent at Big Butte Lake, the...

I have recently taken up the task of scanning my slides from the last century. Most of these were Kodachrome 25 which neither of my two dedicated slide scanners much appreciated but which the flat plate scanner seems to do an acceptable job-just really slow. This was a 1980 trip through the...

I like visiting Yellowstone during the month of September, and was fortunate to make a return trip in 2023 after the epic August Thorofare adventure. @scatman had invited me and good friend Cody for a couple nights he planned near the Gallatin River. Brother Patrick ( @CajunPoncho ) was...