Our Longest Ride for a Bear Claw

Inside North Fork Road

Our annual trip to Glacier National Park came during some incredible weather. At least it started out with bright blue skies once we were well past the Canyon Ferry fire. Yes, it is once again fire season in Montana. The summer had been fairly cool with clear skies until the end of last week when a fire started northwest of Bozeman. On our way to Glacier National Park the hazy skies got quite a bit worse until we were well north of the area. Our fingers were crossed that the Park would be mostly clear of the smoky skies. We were lucky...sunny skies for much of our week. Although it did hit the mid-90's during the day our evenings cooled to the mid-50's which was quite pleasant. 

We decided to do our big bike ride on Day 1 along the Inside North Fork Road. It is a beautiful ride on a gravel & dirt road. The last few years it has been closed to cars for bridge work. The Ranger claimed all the bridge work had been completed from Logging Creek to Quartz Creek & the road was completely open to bikes. A decision was made that we'd see if we could ride to the North Fork Entrance Station and make our way to the Polebridge Mercantile for a bear claw...honestly more like multiple bear claws. 

Cindi on the road

In the past we've left our Fish Creek campsite and rode along the Inside North Fork Road until we'd had enough then turn back toward camp. Last year we rode ~15 miles before discovering a group of riders with a flat tire & no gear to fix it...which still seems dumb to us to be so unprepared. After Bill fixed their tire for them we rode for another 2 miles or so before turning back to camp. Wish we'd known just how close we'd come to the North Fork Ranger Station we may have pushed all the way to Polebridge, MT. 

Bill at Anaconda Creek

This year we started the bike ride at the 1st gate closure at Camas Creek. It shaved ~16 miles off what would have been a pretty long 56-mile bike ride. Neither of us thought a 56-miler was something we wanted to try that far out in the wilderness. It turned out to be ~20 miles to Polebridge Mercantile & another 20 miles back to the truck...our longest ride to date at 40 miles. When we reached the Ranger Station we stopped to make sure that if we rode out that we could return to the entrance without the pass required for cars/motorcycles. She assured us that yes we could ride back in & get back on the road to camp...thank goodness since the other road has a good deal more traffic & is exposed to the hot sun.

The Mountains at Polebridge, MT

Wouldn't you know that we ran into road construction over the last mile from the Ranger Station to Polebridge...you could smell the bear claws, but had to wait for the pilot car to get the bear claw. An unexpected surprise waited for us when we finally got to the Merc...the sign behind the counter said 'if you've hiked or biked ask for special'. Bill asked about it, but was told it was for those from Whitefish, MT to Polebridge, MT...47 mile hike one way, wow! 

After eating our fruit fritter & the BEST flathead cherry chocolate bear claw a decision was made to get a huckleberry claw. As luck would have it I mentioned we'd biked 20+ miles and needed another claw to insure we had enough energy for the return 20-mile ride back to camp. She asked if I had received my free fritter for biking to Polebridge! Ahhh, no...so in addition to the huckleberry bear claw we got our free fritter. If only Bill had gotten his we would've been in a huckleberry food coma!

North Fork of the Flathead River

It took quite a while to get through the construction zone on the return trip back to the North Fork Entrance...thirty minutes passed at the end of a long line of cars before we could enter the gate. Funny thing was out of the huge line of cars only 2 had the proper passes to actually enter the gate. Waited all that time in the construction zone and then were turned back...poor Ranger had to keep explaining that passes were required & they must turn around. Evidently no one paid any attention to the requirements for pass entry. Thankfully we were able to enter on bikes to continue our ride back to camp.

Curious white-tail doe

One does get a bit nervous along this road in those sections when you spot fresh bear scat along the road, but we didn't actually 'see' any bears. Managed to spot a white-tailed deer who was pretty curious and spent some time watching us. Otherwise we just heard various birds singing...warblers, thrushes, & western tanagers. A western tanager flew right in front of us & disappeared into the woods. Early in the ride a pileated woodpecker passed overhead. Otherwise nothing but wildflowers along the roadside.

The Inside North Fork Road crosses several creeks... Dutch, Anaconda, Logging & Quartz Creeks. As you head toward each creek the downhill was quickly followed by a rise in elevation. In some cases quite substantially for over a mile give or take five. Proving yet again why I LOVE MY E-BIKE! We both used the full power on the elevation climb from Anaconda Creek heading back to camp...a very long & hot climb especially after you've been riding 30 miles. The last climb out of Dutch Creek wasn't quite as long, but we still had to use "more power"...because we could & by that time we'd hit 37 miles of riding. Our bottoms were kind of 'over it' too!

Thinking tomorrow will be a Going-to-the-Sun-Road driving day...if I can manage to snag a pass so we don't have to get on the road before 6:00 AM.

Stats for this ride: Distance- 40.04 miles, Moving time- 3:47, Total time- 5:48, Calories- 696 calories per Specialized/1718 calories per Fitbit, Elevation Gain- 3593 feet, Elevation Loss- 3471 feet, Battery Used: 84%, Average Speed- 10.6 mph. Max Speed- 21.0 mph, Average Cadence- 68 rpm, Max Cadence- 118 rpm. 

Fireweed

Sasquatch at Polebridge Mercantile

Orange hawkweed

A Day riding Battle Ridge Pass

Distant mountain ranges...Absaroka and/or Gallatin

Saddle Peak, Bridger Bowl & Ross Peak

While Bridger was off to his play date we headed to Battle Ridge Pass for ride in the mountains. It has actually gotten 'hot' this week so we decided we'd head to the nearby Bridger Range for a mountain bike ride. Battle Ridge Trail (official name Fairy Lake FS #500) has some amazing views of the surrounding mountains of the Bridger Range as well as a distant view of either Absaroka and/or Gallatin Ranges. 

At least we think that's what we're seeing from the trail...

The Bridger Ski Resort is also visible from the trail which means we had phone signal. It is good in case of emergency, but bad when the darn thing rings while riding which it did...twice. 

Sacagawea Peak

Wildfire smoke has moved into the area over the last couple of days & with the heat the view was a bit more hazy. Even in the haze the mountains were spectacular. The surrounding mountains have been getting a fair amount of rainfall which has led to lots of wildflowers. One of the reasons we enjoy mountain biking so much are the wildflowers as well as the view. Sometimes it is hard to pay attention to the trail and not the scenery...difficult spotting critters too. We do stop a good bit to take in the view so we don't visit the ER. No one wants that view!

Found a few flowers I could not readily ID, but I do enjoy the research almost as much as the photography. Between a couple of field guides, a flower app on the phone & a wildflower site I can usually figure out what the flower is called. 

A few of the flowers:

Bessey's locoweed

Common self-heal

False Sunflower

Silvery lupine & clover

Streamside globemallow

Tall Larkspur

Thimbleberry

White bog orchid

Narrow-leaved collomia

Cindi 

We biked up the trail until it narrowed and got quite rocky. Last year we pushed past the rocky patches & rode all the way to Fairy Lake. Neither of us felt like biking something that difficult so we only biked 5 miles of trail & then turned back.

Today we biked a total of 10 miles in 1 hour 19 minutes, and an elevation gain of 1296 feet.

North Brackett Creek

A Beautiful Day for a Ride along Mill Creek

Cindi enjoying the view

We woke up to bright blue skies and a cool start to the morning. Since Bridger was heading to his favorite place for the day we headed out for a nice ride in the mountains in Paradise Valley. We even took our bathing suits in the hope of having enough time to soak at Chico Hot Springs after our ride. 

Mill Creek Road has become one of our favorite rides. The mountain views are amazing and it is a fairly 'easy' 10 mile ride into the Beartooth Wilderness on a gravel road. 

The elevation climb of 1644 feet (or 1586 feet depending on whose app was correct) wasn't too much trouble. The loose gravel was a bit more worrisome that the climb. The Forest Service had recently scraped the road so last year's pot holes were mostly covered up by the gravel.

Unfortunately, that meant riding on more loose gravel than the harder road surface...a bit tricky & rear wheel wiggly. Still not a bad way of spending a few hours in the mountains. 

Lambert Creek

To switch things up a bit we decided to head up another section of road that we started to ride last year, but had to abandon after fixing a flat. The road ended at Lambert Creek and the start of two trails that continued on up into the wilderness. Crow Mountain & Lambert Creek, neither trail looked as if they saw much use based on the over growth on the trails. Probably missed the opportunity to scare up a bear or two.

Lambert Creek was quite pretty. The water was still flowing well from the snow melt high in the surrounding mountains. We had a quick snack & enjoyed the scenery. 

We did seem to attract every horse fly & biting black fly in the state of Montana. They were on us every time we stopped to get a drink & really bad loading the truck. Thankfully the buggers were slow so many ended up swatted & dead on the ground. It is the first time we've been attacked by bugs while riding in the mountains. 

I may have chased a few butterflies around the creek for a bit before we turned to head back down the road.

Northern checkerspot

Milbert's tortiseshell

I love this time of year with large meadows filled with wildflowers in full bloom...lupine, Indian paintbrush & Woods' roses were plentiful along the road. Still no sightings of any bears in the area. All we can say is it looks like an area primed for bear activity. One Mule deer running across the road and a dusky grouse with a few chicks running away when we rode up on them in the road. 

Dusky grouse

Heard a western tanager and a ruby-crowned kinglet, but never caught sight of either bird. A shame too, both are so beautiful.

Heading back we stopped at Chico's for a late lunch. Thought about a soak too, but we needed to get back to pick up Bridger. Just not enough time to soak for an hour, eat & make it back to town to get Bridger. Although he probably would have been just fine...as long as he got his dinner on time. 

May just head to Chico's on Bridger's next play date.

Heartleaf arnica

Woods' rose

Scarlet Indian paintbrush

Tweety at Lambert Creek Trailhead

Mystic Falls

Firehole River at Biscuit Basin

Up and out of camp at daybreak today. This time of year sunrise is pretty early...even for me early. It is getting light around 4:30 AM even though official sunrise is quite a bit later around 5:45 AM. We decided to beat the geyser crowd and get on the road early. 

The hope was we'd increase the chance of a good critter encounter. Well it should have, but not on this day. Traffic was fairly light going in the direction we were traveling, but no animal jams...darn it!

Biscuit Basin

The geyser area of Yellowstone is VERY popular. Everyone heads to Old Faithful when they visit the Park. We've learned that it is super important to hit the geysers as early as possible to find a spot to park & enjoy the spectacle of spouting geysers.

The boardwalks are certainly less crowded if you can arrive before 8:00 AM. Otherwise you'll be out of luck & will be circling parking lots rather than watching geysers. There are several other areas that we like far better than the crowds that visit Old Faithful.

Grand Prismatic from the Overlook

Midway Geyser Basin is the location of the Grand Prismatic Spring is one of our favorites and of course it also has the smallest parking lot. A new trail was added a few years ago that lets you get a nice view above the Grand Prismatic...not quite as good as the illegal drone picture we've seen, but it does make quite the impression.

If you're lucky the steam will be blowing away so you can see the pool of turquoise water & bright orange colors.

Mystic Falls

Just down the road from Midway is Biscuit Basin which has several small spouting springs along the boardwalk. It has the added benefit of a couple of trails to a beautiful waterfall, Mystic Falls. The waterfall is about 70 feet tall along the Little Firehole River.

If you hike the longer of the two trails you may even catch Old Faithful Geyser going off without the extra 2000 people. Today we decided to do something different and do the shorter 2.4 mile trail. 

Cindi at Mystic Falls

Yellow-bellied marmot

As we expected no crowds and very few people on the boardwalk. No one on the hike...either going or on the return back to the parking lot. It was wonderful. 

A yellow-bellied marmot made itself known as we got to the Falls. She was very curious & posed on the rocks for quite some time. We assume she was calling to her young, but we never saw any other marmots.

Female yellow-bellied marmot

Golden mantle squirrel

Heading back we ran into...more like he ran up to us... a golden mantle squirrel. One could be confused & think it was a chipmunk on steroids. Cute little bugger though it acted like the 'tourons' have been feeding it. 

We wandered along the boardwalk looking for the dragonflies that are usually hanging out at the Firehole River. A few years back a poor girl starting screaming when she noticed them...afraid that they were going to 'sting' her. Totally harmless and such a pretty bright red color. Sadly none were seen on this trip.

Once back in the truck we headed towards Hayden & Lamar Valleys in the hope of more critter encounters. Those areas usually do not disappoint...although lately Hayden has been mostly misses at finding large animals. The bison herd has been MIA, the grizzlies are MIA, & the bull elk has been MIA too. Still Hayden was a beautiful bright green with large numbers of wildflowers that have not been trampled by the missing bison herd so that was at least something to photograph.

Shooting stars

Hairy clematis, aka sugar bowl

Glacier lily

A few stops were made to photograph a meadow of glacier lily on Mount Washburn & shooting stars. The lily is such a pretty flower that is one of the first to pop up as soon as the snow melts. Bears really like to eat the bulbs too...but none were about while I was photographing flowers. I did have my bear spray & kept a close eye on the woods. One does get a bit nervous about a surprise bear popping out while you're taking photos.

As luck would have we found a black bear out in a sage covered meadow near Slough looking for elk calves based on the 3 elk watching closely from above the bear. 

At least it picked a good spot with plenty of parking so the traffic never backed up.

Black bear

Coyote on the road

On our way back through the bear had disappeared, but a coyote decided to travel the road looking for road kill. It is such a thrill to be the first to spot an animal & have it to yourself for a few minutes. Once he headed off into the sage we drove on ahead to park & wait for it. 

As expected he came out from the brush near us searching for a snack. After a few minutes it headed back towards the road. A bit odd for this time of year to travel the road, but we figured it must be picking up the dead rodents along the way. 

Still no jam once it disappeared off the road.

Coyote

Black bear boar

Heading back towards camp we came across the same black bear boar that had been looking for love yesterday. A park ranger directed traffic & kept the people moving along. Lucky for us found a parking spot so we could take a few photos as the bear wandered by close to the road. 

The poor ranger kept one eye on the bear and the other on the traffic. She really tried to get the bear to move it along a bit faster...he evidently had other plans as he moseyed slowly towards the trees. 

Ranger pleads to move faster

A few miles later we saw a black bear sow with 2 yearlings on a hill above the road. By the time we'd safely parked they had started crossing the road behind us...darn it all. Oh well a distant shot is better than no shot. Quite a long day in the Park...a marmot, golden mantle squirrels, 5 black bears, and a coyote were the highlights of our day.

Black bear sow with 1st cub crosses road

2nd cub finally crosses late