2023 Beartooth Highway

Last year I traveled the Beartooth Highway south from Red Lodge, turning around at the Line between Montana and Wyoming. Recently I went much further, originally in hopes of photographing some Mountain Goats that a friend from WY has seen and photographed several times. I did not see any of those but was really pleased with what I did find. The scenery as you head down into Wyoming is memorable. Lots of lakes, streams, at least one waterfall.

Some colorful wildflowers, too.

Saw quite a few marmots, this one was in the rocks right below where I was standing.

On the return drive to Red Lodge I was happily surprised to see a grizzly bear out in the open searing for tasty roots and other things. Sometimes digging quickly.

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2023 Montana Night

When I’m in this part of the country I frequently check certain websites to find out if the Aurora might be visible. The possibility of photographing the Aurora Borealis on the night of July 13 was an opportunity I did not want to miss. It required a drive 5 miles up a gravel road that went past my campground. 20 minutes and I was on top of a mountain that was relatively flat and cleared with close to a 360º view. Yes! I got there about 11 PM. The Milky Way was visible so I got a very nice image of the southern end of that.

That gave a bit more time for the Aurora to be more visible, too. It put on a good show despite some clouds, for about two hours.

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2022 Red Lodge Escape

If you’ve been following this blog you know I was staying in a campground just south of Red Lodge, MT. I had been expecting to stay another 3 nights then head north to camp along some of the rivers in MT. That was not to be.

Sunday June 12 started out pretty sunny but it started raining by around 9 am. I was the only person left in the campground since others all packed up and left by 11 a.m. (their reservations ended that day). Rock Creek runs alongside the campground and very close to the turn around at the bottom of the campground. There are only about 9 sites and the lower level is close to 4’ lower than where I was. The water had been running strong the whole time I’d been there and was certainly getting stronger. I talked with the camp host early in the afternoon but he didn’t mention any problems with my site. He did say some other campgrounds further south had been closed and that campers were hard pressed to find spots, he also said the bridge at the north end of the dirt road my campground (Sheridan) and his campground (Rattin) are on was closed. Around 3 pm  a supervisor form the NFS came by and stopped to talk after checking out the lower loop. He said that if the water should rise another 6” or so it will cover the turn around. He said he had to report conditions to the sheriff and the sheriff might decide to close the campground. I kept that in mind and walked down every once in a while to check the warmer level.

Sunday, 6-12,Mid afternoon, water starting to get into the turn-around at the lower end of the campground

By around 8 pm or so it was covering the turn around.

just before 8 pm, water overflowing the river banks and filling in the turn-around

Late that afternoon I had decided to get somewhat ready just in case I had to evacuate so I moved the van into position so I could drop the trailer hitch onto the ball quickly.  In the meantime 3 other car campers came in and set up tents. I talked with the campground host late in the afternoon and he said I was welcome to move over to Rattin cg, where his 5th wheel was. I declined and stayed put. 

1005 pm Concho alerted me to someone outside, yep, sheriff deputy knocking on the door. Everyone has to leave NOW the bridge at the north end of the road is gone and the one 2 miles south of the cg will be going any time. YIKES! I asked about the trailer and she said “we want to you leave now. OK…. I dropped the trailer on the ball and locked it down, put the spring bars in the back of the van along with the solar panels and cable. Removed the chocks and loaded the dogs. Rolled up the patio mat and threw it in the van and headed out. It might have taken me 15 minutes tops. I was the last one out of the cg but not by much! Made it across the bridge (at least 1/3 of the entrance to it was blocked by cones because the dirt had washed way).  

Fortunately there is a large pullout where there is a sign for the Beartooth highway across from the road entrance. I pulled in there at 1030 and I decided to stay there for the night. A carycamper pulled over and she said that the rangers said we’re ok to stay there for the night. She and a man in a truck had been camped in Rattin when the officers came through there and told them to get out. I do remember seeing the red & yellow flashing lights, as I drove past that campground. They had no warning, I was very fortunate that I was somewhat prepared. The camp host and his wife had a 5th wheel camper and I suspect that they had to leave it there. When I was settled in the trailer a bit later last night I saw some vehicles pulling out of the road, I do not know if they were rangers or residents, there are quite a few houses on that road, some up high and some who might wind up pretty darn wet. 

Monday morning I walked over to where the bridge had been to take a couple of photos (with my iphone). The power of the water is amazing. I was supposed to be back in that campground in just over 3 weeks but somehow I do not see that happening. 2 bridges will need to be constructed. (My future reservations for Sheridan campground were cancelled within 24 hours by Recreation.gov. )

6-13, 0700, East Side road is closed

One of the residents on that road taking photos of where the bridge was and the surrounding water,

Broader view of where the bridge was and where the water was flowing.

After sorting things out that morning and adding the sway bar and the springs bars to the WDH I headed north, having decided to head for WY. When I got to the south end of town (Red Lodge) where the river happens to run very close to the road the road was blocked off and it was under water. That meant I had to go north quite a ways then head southeast because the road east was closed due to the flooding. I had to take several back streets to get through town to where the main road was passable. The river continued to rise and Red Lodge quickly became another victim of the combination of heavy rainfall and snow melt. It will take a long time for it to recover!

I found a nice camping spot in WY, just south of the Montana border and maybe 50-60 miles NNE of Cody. I’ll stay in this area for quite a while I suspect since so much of Montana (along with the Greater Yellowstone area) has been so severely damaged by the flooding.

2022 Red Lodge, MT

This is a new part of Montana for me and it has been interesting. Red Lodge is a nice small and friendly town. I’ve been camping a NFS campground about 6 miles south of town and about 6 miles north of where the famed Beartooth Highway starts to climb.

I timed a visit to the Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary for 10 am, when they open and managed to get a few nice images of the cougar and one of the wolves (they have 2) through the fencing. they also have two black bears which are huge when seeing them up much closer than what I’ve seen in the wild!

When I arrived the Beartooth was closed and it finally opened several days later. That afternoon I took a drive up to Beartooth Pass, over 10k feet up. Many switchbacks and about 30 miles later I stopped to take a photo of the sign.

In some places there was bare ground in other snowbanks that were higher than the van’s roof. To the south were many dark clouds and I decided it would be wise to get down to a lower level. On the way down there was a large pullout and as I approached I saw some marmots (aka rock chucks, golden marmots) there so I pulled in. The van made a nice blind so I got out the camera and watched them as their curiosity overcame their fear. They are much like the woodchucks friends and I hunted in NJ but they have much longer bushier tails which they twitched a lot as they ran around. It was interesting to just sit and watch them run around and climb the rocks.

On the way back to the campground that day I finally saw some larger wildlife, an elk grazing near the main road and then a moose closer to the campground. The next morning Concho alerted me to a moose right across from my campsite.

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2021 Yellowstone and Montana

My next stop on the return from the Oregon coast was Yellowstone NP. I stayed at Mammoth Hot Springs CG then in Canyon Village CG to explore the areas close to them. Lamar Valley isn’t too far from Mammoth so I went there a few times. Got to see a black wolf a couple of times but it was too far away from photos. I did spend some time watching mountain goats on Baronette Peak, used my spotting scope and got some images with that and my cell phone. Hayden Valley is close to Canyon Village so I spent time there, unfortunately the animals were few and far between. Did manage to get a few images late one evening of a grizzly feeding on a bison carcass.

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From Yellowstone I went up to Montana to explore a totally new area for me. Was a great decision, found a couple of nice campgrounds and explored a valley that was really special. The log cabins ranged from very old to rather new and I couldn’t resist taking a few photos of them. I’d be happy in any one of them for the summer months but not in the winter! And the valley and surrounding mountains are home to several grizzly bears. This time of year they are out in the open more to feed and fatten up for their winter hibernation. Lots of single bears along with sows with cubs. The cubs all looked to be about a year old, no very little ones to be seen but I expect they are there. Spotting scopes and binoculars were a must to watch the bears and I tried taking photos with the cell phone using the scope. That worked semi-decently but I need more practice.

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All the places I camped were experiencing some smoke so sometimes the backgrounds look pretty hazy. No much can be done about that.

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2021 Bitterroot Valley, MT

Just spent a week in the Bitterroot Valley in MT, south of Missoula about 25 miles. The campground was a sverynice NFS one with paved sites, large and well separated from each other. The campground backed up to the Sawtooth Mountains with enough shade form the Lodgepole pines and a breeze to make it comfortable.

A lot of the trees in the campground had a very bright tree lichen on their lower dead branches.

Nearby was the Lee Metcalf NWR and I went over there at least once a day, sometimes both early morning and in the evening. It is mostly for waterfowl but I also saw some white tail deer, muskrats, prairie dogs and raptors.

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I spent quite a bit of time watching the Osprey with three chicks. One evening one of them brought a stick to the nest. The next morning I watched for two hours and the bird brought an even bigger stick to add to the nest then proceeded to move it around until it was satisfied with the location. I had t wonder if the chicks got bopped on their heads during that. I did get to see the second adult bring back a fish, and watched the chicks being fed.

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2021 Idaho, Montana

After leaving Yellowstone I went into ID for a week, staying at a NFS campground in Island Park. The campground was nice, not very big and was an easy walk to a narrow section of a reservoir. My site had a good mix of sun and shade. There were a lot of native wildflowers around. This campground did not have cell signal so I had to drive about 5 miles to get online, do email, etc.

One day I did an interesting drive south to see the two parts of Mesa Waterfall. While doing that I was far enough south to see the back side of the Tetons, but there were no places to stop to get images of the mountains.

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From Idaho I went to Montana where I camped for nearly a week in a small campground south of Bozeman that was next to the Gallatin River. My campsite was right on the river so I spent some time watching the people in rafts float by and the fly fishermen. The spot right behind my site was used frequently as a “teaching spot” for some Fly fishing guides, too. And this campground was cell signal free, had to drive 10 miles south for email, anything online.

Next I moved up to a campground south of Butte, right on the Big Hole River called Divide Bridge campground. My campsite was right on the river which was nice. Here I seemed to be nearly the only person without a drift boat (or raft) and a fly fishing rod. It is a small campground and pretty busy. I did get a site that was more secluded than most and I could walk right down to the water from my trailer. Again, no cell signal but this time I only had to drive 2 miles down the road to the fly fishing outfitters shop.

One day I took a drive about 25 miles past the campground to check out some other NFS campgrounds. The road followed the Big Hole River and I saw many more fishermen as I drove along. There is still some snow on the mountaintops here. One small place I passed through is called Wise River and I managed to grab some photos of the very old buildings. It must have been al to of work to square off the logs in those early structures!

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2018 Heading to AK

My route north from Yellowstone had to go through Bozeman this time meaning I would be taking some new roads. What an amazing state Montana is! I passed through many miles of wheat fields and pastures, not much traffic but what country to see.

After crossing into Canada near Glacer/Waterton NPs I went right through Banff, stopping at the Columbia Icefields Visitor Center for the night.

 

From there I made it to just north of Grand Cache where I found a very nice (and free) user maintained camping area. No designated sites as such, plenty of grass, a great spot to relax for 2 nights.

After that it was on to Dawson Creek and the Alaskan Highway. I stopped one night at a long rest area next to Muncho Lake. It was sunny then rained, then sunny and an rain again. Met some other folks traveling to AK, including one couple from France who had their small RV shipped to the souther tip of South America. They have been traveling from there north with a year and 4 months allotted for the travel. What an adventure! When I left that spot the next morning I saw a caribou, some woods bison, stone sheep, and assorted small bears, no grizzlies. When on the road even though I am always on the lookout it is very hard to stop to photograph the wildlife.

This trip I stayed in free spots(except at the ice fields), mostly larger rest areas with other travelers. The last night before I got to the Fairbanks area I had a rest area to myself, sort of. Around 9 pm I happened to look out the window facing the woods and saw a snowshoe hare….then I saw another one. The windows were really dirty so photographs were pointless. When they seemed to leave I went out and cleaned the windows. Then I checked again, they were back with their buddies. The day had been totally bereft of wildlife until then so I had some fun photographing the hares. They’re now in their summer coats, thought their feet are still white. I don’t know if they stay white or are just the last part to change color. Anyhow it was fun and of course the next morning when I walked the dogs they smelled the critters all over the place.

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2017 Lamar Valley, 1

Recently moved from the Tetons up to Yellowstone NP and was able to get a campsite at the Mammoth Hot Springs cg. This will work nicely as a base and  Gardiner, MT, is close by for supplies. I plan to head over to Lamar Valley at least once a day. It isn’t a whole lot warmer here than it was in the Tetons but at least the only snow (so far) is on the ground, not falling.

Bison & coyotes in Lamar Valley, Yellowstone NP

Went over to Lamar Valley and got a few shots of some of the critters, most are quite a ways away, near or across the river.

One afternoon on my return trip to the valley I came

Black bear boar, resting and stretching

across a typical “bear jam”, but I was able to park at a turnout right near the action. Not much action for a long time since the black bear was lounging behind a tree. He got up and moved about 20′ then laid flat out, with one foot braced against a tree trunk. Once in a while he’d stretch a foreleg up.

Since I had a prime parking spot and nothing planned I

Coyote came along to keep the crowd interested

decided to hang out there and see what the bear would do next. He rested for about an hour but a coyote came along so it wasn’t totally dull.

Hmm, what’s he going to do?

Finally the bear got up and wonder of wonders he moved towards the little pond, nearer the road, not off into the woods. I guess the water was appealing or maybe it looked easier to swim by the rock scree than to climb over it to get to the other side of it. He did swim the pond then got out a did a great job of shaking the water off.  This was a nice way to spend a few hours.

Since then on my trips to Lamar I’ve seen two more black bears, many elk cows, a few bull elk, a moose, some bighorn sheep ewes, antelope and lots more bison. As is often the case, the opportunity to take photographs was severely limited or impossible to do safely but I’ll keep trying.

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© Jean Clark, 2019, email for Terms of Use

2016 Glacier NP, 2016 final

The next to last day at Glacier I was able to get a couple of  photos of a grizzly feeding in the bushes. Unfortunately when I headed out that time I did not put the long lens in the truck, just the camera bag with other lenses, this was a mistake and one I won’t make again.

Last night after hitching up the trailer and dumping the tanks in preparation to leave first thing this morning I wasn’t driving anywhere. It looked like it was clearing and sure enough about 11 pm it was very clear out and the Milky Way was visible in all its glory above the mountain. I got out the camera and tripod, set up in the road next to the trailer and took about 12 images using 2 different lenses. Well worth the effort! To my delight I captured a couple of meteors along with the Milky Way. Always fun to see the night sky!

© Jean Clark, 2019, email for Terms of Use