The Snowy Range

Sugarloaf Mountain & Medicine Bow Peak

On our very first winter trip west way back in 2009 we discovered a sign proclaiming this exit for "The Snowy Range Scenic Byway" while driving on I-80. It was disappointing that we could not take the side trip at the time. It was March and the road was closed for the winter. We have been several times since then and it is an amazing spot. One of our favorites that we share with anyone we happen to meet on our travels. Maybe we should stop mentioning it since it has become a bit more crowded...at least by our standards. It is a place that no matter where you look you cannot take a bad picture... a spectacular place.

As luck would have it last month we discovered a site was open at Sugarloaf Campground. This campground is at 10810 feet and located at the base of Medicine Bow Peak. We quickly booked the reservation and made plans to head out with Bridger for a few days in the Medicine Bow. As it got closer to our reservation the weather was looking at bit iffy in the afternoons, but we figured we could get a hike in before the storms rolled in for the evening. Yet another 'problem' we have with the reservation system.

The long long pull through

The drive is a bit over 9-hours so we decided to break it up and head to Boysen State Park in the Wind River Canyon area for the night. It is only a 5-hour drive from the house... a pretty short driving day for us. Neither of us thought to check the weather in that area...wow, was it hot at 99 degrees. Humidity was only 17% and the wind was blowing pretty good in the canyon along the river, but it still too hot to cook or have a fire. 

At the last minute when packing the trailer we decided to bring the Dewalt fan. It was used in addition to the trailer's 2 fantastic fans. Thankfully it kept us cool enough to get some sleep.

The Canyon's Big Horn River

The campground is along the Big Horn River & has lots of cottonwood trees to provide shade...thankfully. Our site was pretty interesting...a pull-thru that went on & on. 

We didn't even need to unhitch for the night since we had so much room. The next morning off we headed & reached our campsite ahead of the afternoon storms.

View from Sugarloaf campsite 

Our site had a beautiful view of Brown Mountain, Sugarloaf & Medicine Bow. Bridger finally learned after all this time that the squeaks he hears are actually chipmunks, ground squirrels or marmots. 

He enjoyed watching them from his perch in front of the trailer. The chipmunks really tested his patience by running right in front of his nose. 

Unfortunately, he followed his nose rather than his eyes so he missed where they hid.

Bridger looking for chipmunks

 

Moose in the willows

Bridger & I got up at sunrise to try to capture the mountains as the sun hit the peak. We got a bit sidetracked...by a pair of bull moose eating in the willows. After a few shots thought I should wake up sleeping beauty...aka Bill. We rushed back to the trailer...said 'MOOSE' and he quickly hit the floor. 

Irritated moose

I grabbed the big lens camera & rushed back to my hilltop. One of the campers was on the road not too far from the moose. He was certainly not too close, but the larger of the two moose took great offense and came running out of the willows directly at the guy. He quickly turned and took off down the road.

Still agitated

At that point the moose were directly below my hilltop & still looking a bit agitated. After a few shots in less than bright enough light I saw Bill with Bridger heading directly towards where the moose seemed to be going. I decided I really should warn them about the angry moose. Thankfully the guy that had been chased had already met up with them.

Bridger & I headed to the trailer to get his breakfast & take him away from possibly inciting an incident with the moose. We were pretty lucky that the pair of moose headed right up into the campground and passed across from our site. 

Sunrise hits the Snowy Range

The two ended up grazing in the campground area for an hour before wandering off into the trees. Never found them again. After the morning excitement we headed back to the Tin Can for some breakfast.

Pair of bull moose at Sugarloaf Campground 

Bull moose in campground

After eating we started out for our hike towards the Gap Lakes with Bridger. The morning was crisp and clear which after our 100-degree night in Wind River was a welcomed relief. It wasn't too long before we hit the first alpine lake & Bridger took full advantage of the water. 

Bridger's 1st retrieve

He has decided he enjoys retrieving, but doesn't have the stamina that Maggie displayed back in her day. Each & every lake was fair game the entire week we were there...even trying to jump from really big, steep rocks. 

Lucky dog found a snow field too where he got the zoomies and Bill hit the deck trying to catch him. Thankfully, he only bruised his ego and his ribs. 

Bridger retrieving!

Another storm blew through at dinnertime...no cooking out once again. Pizza to the rescue! We woke to overcast skies & decided to hike up Sugarloaf Mountain to the Saddle rather than hike to the peak. Between the iffy looking weather and a toe issue we decided that the shorter hike would be just fine. Bridger got to swim a in Lewis Lake and look for picas in the rocks. I spent time looking for wildflowers & trying to get close to the picas for a good picture. 

Later the storms settled in and man did the thunder sound close. Our plan the next morning was to head back to Wind River for a night before heading back home. After getting on the road we changed our minds, cancelled the campsite and drove the entire way back home. It really wasn't as tiring as we had thought pulling the trailer over a 9-hour day. 

Good to know for the next time we head to the Snowy Mountains.

Bridger looking for his stick

Gap Lake Trail

Marmot

Break time at the Saddle

Bridger with Bill

Curious golden mantle squirrel

Elephant head

Pica

 

A Fun New Side Adventure

Trail Creek Road

Decided to head off for a road ride since the weather was absolutely perfect. We had not biked Trail Creek Road this summer and thought with the cooler morning it would be the ideal day to bike out to Paradise Valley. The road starts paved, but as you get closer to the divide between Gallatin & Park Counties you hit gravel. 

Unfortunately, we were passed by a couple of gravel trucks while on the paved portion which made us think...uh oh. As luck would have it the gravel trucks were dumping on a driveway, but we noticed the huge clouds of dust from the gravel road past the driveway. It looked like the road had recently had some new gravel dumped on it. Since that makes for a nasty & dirty ride we cut it short at a little over 6 miles & turned back towards the truck.

Goose Creek Road

A mile or so into our ride we had noticed the US Forest Service sign for Goose Creek...maybe that would be a good side ride up the mountain. Both of us thought a 12-mile ride just wasn't 'long enough.' Weird right? Who would think that anything under 20 miles isn't long enough! 

The Goose Creek Road did head up the hillside towards Trail Creek & Bear Canyon trails. The road was in pretty good shape & had recently been graded. A few rocks and some soft 'moon dust' aka soft dirt, but it didn't cause us any trouble. 

We reached FR 440 toward Bear Canyon & decided to turn back towards the truck. The overall ride was exactly 20 miles once we reached the truck. 

Bill heading downhill towards the Bridgers

A dead garter snake

The only critters spotted were a few deer and 2 dead garter snakes. Still seeing a fair number of wildflowers blooming...mostly Indian Paintbrush, Lupine & various thistles. On the downhill we had a nice view of the Bridger Range. 

Another ride to add to our list...20.3 miles in 2 hours with elevation gain of 1889 feet.

Mountain view from Goose Creek Road

Scarlet Indian Paintbrush

Osprey Falls Ride

The Gallatin Range still with snowy peaks

Today we headed into Yellowstone National Park to ride Osprey Falls Trail (aka Bunsen Peak Service Road) near Mammoth Hot Springs. At the trailhead we noticed the closure sign for Osprey Spur Trail. Uh oh... good thing we were not heading down to the falls. We guessed that last year's flood took out the trail. The last mile to the falls has 15 switchbacks to reach the Gardner River and Osprey Falls. 

It's unfortunate the trail has been compromised since Osprey Falls is a spectacular waterfall that you can still catch a distant sight of from Bunsen Peak Service Road.

Osprey Falls 

The ride isn't a terribly long one, but it does have some elevation climb of 1561 feet. The total ride was 15.5 miles round trip in 1 hour 40 minutes. It was a very nice day to be out... bright, clear & still cool.

We (or more specifically I) had bit of excitement riding up the last steep climb. I got a bit off on making the switchback turn and lost traction by going too slow. The back tire slipped sideways & I tried ''more power''.  Wrong move... I almost fell over the bike sideways when the back wheel regained traction with a vengeance while the bike was still slightly off kilter. Key word: almost. 

I did manage to get the bike stopped without crashing into Bill of anything else on the trail... upright with my feet under me. I was turned 180 degrees from where I wanted the bike to be and headed back downhill, but only a pedal strike on my leg. 

The 'daggers' on my pedal

Our pedals have sharp pins to keep our feet from coming off... hurt like the devil when you have to suddenly stop and the pedal drives one of those sharp "needles" into your shin. According to my physical therapist "If you're not bleeding you're not doing it right"... it certainly seems to be a true statement in my case on this ride. 

Could have been an ass over tea kettle kind of fall ...yeah me for the save & only a tiny amount of blood!

Mule deer buck

The only critter we noticed was a mule deer buck. He didn't stick around too long. The wildflowers are still blooming... lupine, Indian Paintbrush, goldenrod, oxeye daisy. Butterflies & grasshoppers flying everywhere, even into us as we rode. 

We did notice some bear scat. Still no bear sightings while riding...guess that's a good thing?!

Trumpeter swans with 3 cygnets

After the ride we drove a mile up the road to check on the trumpeter swans at Swan Lake. The last time we checked on them we didn't see the pair or nest, but today 3 cygnets! 

Hopefully they will thrive & fledge successfully.

Black & Yellow Lichen Moth

Edith Checkerspot

High Bridge

Upper Terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs

*click pictures to enlarge

Emigrant, MT to Dan Bailey's Boat Launch

We headed back to the Yellowstone River in Paradise Valley to kayak with Helen, Craig & Ray. The plan was to put in at Emigrant Fishing Access & head downstream to Dan Baily's, aka as Paradise. One more bluebird day with temperatures predicted to hit 90 degrees. It was a very nice day to be on the river with a nice cool breeze. 

A very pretty float with a tricky takeout area & some slippery rocks to navigate. No injuries and no one flipped out of their kayaks...a win!

The flow rate has really dropped over the last two weeks...our last float was 7900 cfs versus today's 3700 cfs. We expected a slow float, but it actually felt pretty fast. Reached the pullout point in 2 hours with only 1 stop along the way. My Versa 4 claimed we travelled 7.12 miles in 1:52 with an average speed of 3.8 mph. 

Absaroka Mountains

Emigrant Bridge

 Helen

Bill with Craig

Mill Creek Bridge

Dan Bailey PO (old name Paradise)

Battle Ridge EMB to Fairy Lake

Bridger Range

Today we headed up to Battle Ridge for a bike ride. Last few years we've ridden up towards Sacagawea Peak for 5 miles and then got turned back when the trail got really rocky. This time we pushed passed that section and the trail got a bit less rocky. 

Goldeneyes blooming along trail

We kept going...until we hit another steeper & rockier section. Since it was fairly short we got off & walked the bikes up to the flatter section. Once back on the bikes we just kept going up the trail. At some point it was obvious that we may as well continue all the way to Fairy Lake.

Once we reached the top & honestly thought the lake would be right there...it was not. We had to descend down a really steep section of switchbacks. At that moment we thought yep we are leaving by way of Fairy Lake Road. Neither of us wanted to climb the steep section back to the Battle Ridge parking lot. About the time we thought we should check out the map there was Fairy Lake. It has been a few years since we've been to the lake. Still a beautiful spot.

My EMB taking a well-deserved break

Bill recharging

Fairy Lake with Sacagawea Peak in the background

Streamside globemallow...stage light

 

Along Fairy Lake Road

Our ride was 16 miles long in a bit over 3 hours with 2341 feet in elevation gain. We both used a bit more power going up the steeper sections...72% eco, 21 % sport & 7% turbo with 44% battery used over the 16 miles. 

Yes, we plan to do it again & hopefully will improve our time & power used for the ride.

*click pictures to enlarge

 

Hidden Lake Hike at Logan's Pass

Clements Mountain

Another early day getting up before the sunrise to get on Going-to-the-Sun-Road before the crowds. We got underway 15 minutes earlier than Monday. Right away we found ourselves 4 cars behind someone going 15-mph in a 35-mph construction zone. What?! Yeah, it was hard packed dirt with zero potholes so not sure why they felt the need to go so slow. All of the cars in front of us passed the slow poke...surprisingly so did we. We wondered how slow he'd be when he hit the uphill section that's really narrow & twisty.

We hit Logan's Pass parking lot at 6:20 AM... still a fair number of cars were parked & people fixing their breakfast. No other cars entered for more than 20 minutes due to the slow poke holding up the line. As always the lot was full by 7:00 AM. Our plan was to hike up to Hidden Lake Overlook. The hike down to Hidden Lake was closed due to bear activity at the lake. We assumed the trout were in spawning mode.

Hidden Lake from Overlook

During our very first visit the mountain goat nannies with their kids came running up the trail due to be chased by a grizzly. The rangers immediately closed the trail. It was our 1st grizzly sighting...none were seen on this trip.

About halfway up the trail a group of 8 big horn sheep rams were chewing their cuds just off the trail. The sun wasn't in the most ideal spot to get great pictures, but we shot a few and continued on up the trail. 

Mountain goat with kid

On Clements Mountain we noticed a mountain goat with her kid wandering along the cliff face. We had hoped to see a few much closer... did not happen on this trail this year. 

Big horn sheep rams

The Overlook to Hidden Lake was very crowded so I bypassed it to shoot a few thousand photos of the flowers & ground squirrels. Bill chatted up a few people at the Overlook while I was busy taking pictures.

 

Columbia ground squirrel

Once he caught up we started back down the trail and ran into the small herd of big horns just off the trail. Much better light so the photographers were very pleased with the number of great shots that we managed to get of these big guys. Once they moved up the trail we headed back towards the truck. 

Big Horn Sheep poses for his fans

We made the comment that neither of us had seen a marmot...they are always out and about on this trail. While taking some shots of the wildflowers right there in the middle of the flowers was a huge hoary marmot. It was extremely photogenic. 

Hoary Marmot

He headed straight towards us and sat under the boardwalk. Then another one popped up & headed in the same direction. 

Maybe we always need to mention what we haven't seen... say mountain lion! or grizzly bear! Then one appears...it would be awesome!

Elephant's head with honey bee

Exployer's gentian ready to bloom

Mix of Indian Paintbrush, bistort, & lousewort

Scarlet Indian Paintbrush

Snow melt waterfall at Clements Mtn

Bearhat Mountain at Hidden Lake

Least Chipmunk

Haystack Butte from Hidden Lake Trail

*click photographs to enlarge