Excitement on the Inside North Fork Road

Woke to another beautiful bluebird day in the park. We thought our legs were good to go for a bike ride on the Inside North Fork Road. The gravel road has a gate closure at the 6-mile point at Camas Creek, but can easily get a bike or hike around the gate. A really nice ride without worrying about vehicles. On this ride we only had 1 car pass us the entire ride & that was only with a mile or so left in the ride. 

Huckleberry bush

No critter sightings...though we did see lots of fresh bear scat. Makes one a bit nervous as you ride along spotting huckleberry bushes with ripening fruit next to a huge pile of scat. We started wondering if you can pull the bear spray while riding. Thankfully we didn't need to test the theory on this ride.

Camas Creek

About 15 miles into our ride we spotted a group of 4 bicyclists ahead of us. As I rode past the group, I thought I heard something that sounded like 'nice bike'. Of course, Bill decided to stop & chat with them. A good thing too. It turns out one of their bikes had a flat tire. According to the group the e-bike rental shop doesn't provide any type of repair kit when you rent the bike. 

We both thought that wasn't a good thing considering the lack of cell service & the remoteness of some of the rides. We actually pack a repair kit that includes a patch kit, extra bike chain, & spare tire. Our bikes are also tubeless...only worry about breaking the frame or pretzeling a wheel when we ride in the mountains.  

Bill helped get the tire patched and pumped back up so that they could ride back out. The family of three was from Wisconsin & visiting family in Kalispell, MT. The odd thing was their family member was with them & her attitude was ''no worries someone on a bike, horse or hiking will be by to help.'' She was a rider & didn't carry any tools while riding in the backcountry! Seemed unwise to us since we were 15 miles on a rode that was technically not open to traffic. Anyway, they were thankful and said that they would drop by camp with something special later in the day. 

Mountain Views

Off we headed up the trail as they made their way back to Fish Creek. We rode another 2 miles before deciding to turn back toward camp. It was going to be a 34-mile ride by the time we hit our site at Fish Creek...the longest ride to date. Ride time was 3 hours & 22 minutes with elevation gain of 2786 feet.

Our batteries had about 30% left when we got back to our campsite. The trailer's solar had charged the lithium batteries back up to 92% which was a great since the two EMB's drained the trailer batteries back down to 60%. 

Ready for another ride.

As a side note the Wisconsin couple with their daughter dropped by with 2 4 packs of Cold Smoke & a bottle of North Fork Whiskey from Glacier Distillery. Really very nice of them. They said that the text message that they had tried to send to the rental company actually got received and the owner had headed out to 'find them'. They met at the closure gate as he was unloading another e-bike.

They had also met another person on the road with an issue with their rental...the bike chain had broken so he still had to rescue someone. Always be prepared to self-rescue! You never know if someone will be passing by any time soon.

Harebell

Tall trees that survived fire

The road ahead gets narrower

Fire killed trees still standing

Highline Trail

Reynolds Mtn & Mount Oberlin

Our annual camping trip to Glacier National Park fell on one of the most beautiful weeks we've had in Glacier. Yes, the daytime temperatures were pretty hot down in the valley, but we never spend much time in camp during the heat of the day so it wasn't an issue. The nights cooled off fairly quickly. 

The only 'negative' was Fish Creek Campground was so well shaded by pines & firs our solar system never quite got fully charged after recharging our EMB's. Even with full sunny days we only managed to get up to 65% charged. We still had plenty of battery power to get through the entire trip...lithium batteries are awesome! The old lead acid batteries would not have held up without using the hated generator.

Haystack Butte

Mount Cannon & Heavens Peak

Glacier National Park's famed Going-to-the-Sun-Road heads up the mountain to Logan's Pass. It is one of the most stunning as well as 'terrifying' drives we've ever driven. On our first full day in the Park, we decided to get up before sunrise and head up towards Logan's Pass to hike the Highline.

In all of our past trips to Glacier if you were not in the parking lot at Logan's Pass by 7:00 AM the lot would be quite full. Things have changed a bit since the new reservation system was implemented a couple of years ago. 

The Park now has a system in place to drive Going-to-the-Sun-Road, but if you enter the Park before 6:00 AM or after 3:00 PM no reservation is needed. A limited number of spots were released for the month of July and those sold out in under 5 minutes this year. We were not able to snag one, but were able to get reservations to camp in the park which also counts as a ticket to drive the road.

To bypass the need for a ticket people now hit the park gates at 5:55 AM & make their way up to Logan. When we arrived at 6:45 AM the lot was pretty darn full. As luck would have it, we found someone already leaving so we parked in the 1st slot which had plenty of extra space next to the tour bus spots. Happy that it worked out so well.

Bill on the Highline

Once the sun rose high enough we got our gear and headed out to hike the Highline. This hike is one of our favorites.  The scenery is spectacular! On a clear day you can see all the way back to Lake MacDonald. 

This year the wildflowers were plentiful...except for the Beargrass. It really wasn't blooming as well as in past years & it was disappointing not to see the mountainside covered in its blooms. Lots of other flowers were in full bloom so still plenty of color to enjoy.

Beargrass

Exployer's gentian

Glacier lilies

Scouler's St. Johnswort 

Wild Chives

The Highline Trail covers 12 miles to the Loop. There is also a spur trail off of the Highline that's a short, but steep climb up to see the Grinnell Glacier. We've hiked the entire 12 miles before, but the last 4 miles is such a steep downhill that we've decided it 'not for us'. The last few years we've hiked the 4 miles out to the saddle of Haystack Butte where we turn around & head back towards Logan's Pass. The eight-mile hike is a perfect range these days.

Bill on the last turn at Haystack Butte 

Usually, we've seen a number of mountain goats on the trail. This year we found a couple of goats high up on the cliff well above the trail, but none down low until we had reached the narrow wall section of the return hike back to Logan's. 

First goat sighting on the cliff above

Getting the 'stink eye'

The first goat was on the trail grazing his way in our direction. The usual 'tourons' started getting impatient waiting for the goat to move along. 

Unfortunately, he got nervous when people started moving behind him. We decided to move off the trail & up on the mountainside out of his way in case he decided to make a run for it. 

Mountain Goat watching tourons

After a few minutes he did just that & ran right towards where we had been standing...he shot a look at us as he passed.

Nanny watching the tourons pass behind

A few minutes later we came upon a mountain goat nanny with twins grazing along the trail. Once again, the 'tourons' could not wait and started moving behind the grazing group. The nanny goat was none too thrilled about the situation and made her move away from the crazy people. Thankfully she chose to move away from us & downhill into the fir trees.

Nanny with her twins...taken with 800 mm lens

Heading downhill into the firs

Over the 8 miles of hiking we saw several ground squirrels, a least chipmunk, 6 mountain goats, a hoary marmot & a mule deer buck.

No other creatures interfered with the last mile. I got distracted by the flowers blooming & Bill headed on towards the truck. 

A pretty great first day in Glacier. Tomorrow we plan to bike on the Inner Camas Road. 

Wonder if our legs will be happy about that?

Columbian ground squirrel

Haystack Butte & saddle area

Hoary marmot

Yellow columbine with hover fly

*click picture to enlarge

Carbello to Emigrant on the Yellowstone

Carbella BLM boat launch

After some debate we made plans with our friends to kayak the Yellowstone River in Paradise Valley. The flow had finally fallen well below 10,000 cubic feet per second so it was safe to get on the river. 

A beautiful morning to do the float with a flow rate of 7300 cubic feet per second. We decided to do a fairly long float since the river was still running pretty fast. A float longer than 5 hours feels really long and forever so we were hopeful of finishing the float in under 4 hours.

 We dropped off a car at the Emigrant boat ramp and drove to the boat launch at Carbella BLM launch site. 

As we got the boats ready to launch, we noticed the water had that odd murky blue color from snow melt high in the mountains. It looks weird, but totally normal for this time of year. As we floated down river the murkiness eventually disappeared. If you stop long enough the murkiness catches up as it moves down river.

Bill & Sandi 

Break time

When we reached the river the sun was already warm, but the air remained cool. The water always seems chilly on the Yellowstone. It was a perfect blue-sky day. In the past we have rarely stopped along the river to stretch our legs, but we've learned our lesson. 

Our last long float without stopping creating a few pains in the back & legs. It made it a bit difficult to get out of the kayak when we reached the pullout. The decision was made that we should stop every hour and stretch out legs. Now every hour or so we pull out on shore for a few minutes of walking around before heading back down river. It helped tremendously. 

It was a very busy day on the river. The takeout was full of trucks & trailers, so we knew it was going to be a busy morning. There were a number of drift boats out & everyone claimed to be catching trout. We even spotted a few getting hauled in & even some near misses.

Yellow warbler

An osprey got into the act too. It dove & came out with a fish. It is an amazing sight to witness...too bad I never get the shot. Lots of osprey nests with occupants & at least 8 bald eagles were spotted as we floated down river. We finished the float of 16 miles in just under 4 hours. 

Definitely in our top 10 days on the river.

Bald Eagle

Definitely in our top 10 days on the river.

Passage Falls

Passage Creek

Today we headed back out to Mill Creek to hike Passage Falls. The last time we hiked out to the falls was back in July of 2015 with Helen & Craig. Our memory of the hike was slightly different. Bill had it in his head that it was a 'stroll of about a mile'. My memory was it was longer than that & had a short climb just before the falls. 

All Trails claimed it was 2 1/2 miles (total of 5 miles) out to the falls with a climb about 1/4 mile from the falls. My Versa 4 (Fitbit) registered the hike at 6 miles round trip so not too far off.

Passage Falls

Taking a break at Passage Falls

Neither of us remember the sketchy decent down to the base of the falls. It was more treacherous than either of us remembered it. Looking back on my photos taken in 2015 I think the trail had a different approach to the falls that was not nearly as steep & rocky.

Burn out

It was a good bit warmer on the return trip back to the truck. Several years ago a fire burned through the area so no shade was available to us. Bridger kept his cool by jumping into Passage Creek whenever the mood struck. He has defiantly become a water dog. 

Bridger found a huge stick and decided he needed to carry it along with him. My legs got a few scratches from his running down the trail with it. One happy dog!

Bridger and Bill

Bridger retrieving & cooling off

Bridger & the Big Stick

Edith's & Sagebrush Checkerspots

Passage Falls from July 2015

*click to enlarge photos

Wildflowers at Fairy Lake

Few-flowered Shooting Stars

Drove out to Fairy Lake to check out the road conditions for a future mountain bike ride. Wow, it was a rough & bouncy ride! 

It has been a pretty wet Spring and early Summer which has led to more exposed rocks. At least the road wasn't muddy. Lots of wildflowers were blooming so I took a few shots.

Little Larkspur

Parry's Townsend Daisy

Prairie Smoke

Rocky Mountain Iris

Scarlet Indian Paintbrush

Showy Goldeneye

Streamside Bluebells

Tall Larkspur

Tall Larkspur

Yellow Columbine

*click pictures to enlarge