Fall Colors Along Rock Creek

There is a small window of time for these vivid fall colors in the Beartooth Mountains.  Winter comes early and fall is brief.  I feel really lucky to catch the color change just right - and before the snow makes the roads impassable!

Rock Creek Fall Colors

North Picket Pin Lake

 There are two small lakes just off the Picket Pin Road.  North Picket Pin and South Picket Pin.  Both are stocked with Yellowstone Cutthroat trout.  Both are very small and shallow, but contain a good population of tiny native shrimp, so the trout grow very fast.  We went to North Picket Pin Lake and I caught this nice Cut, which we took home for Joe's dinner.  In years of severe winter weather, the fish often die off - the shallow lake freezes solid and sometimes they don't survive (the lake is only 20 feet deep).

 

I enjoyed watching these clouds form over the lake while I fished.

Iron Mountain, 10088 ft elevation

 We drove our faithful 10 year old Honda Pilot to the top of Iron Mountain via Picket Pin Road.  We could see the Crazy Mountains far in the distance.

 Panoramic views in all directions.

The wind was blowing fiercely and it was very cold, but we spend time walking around on the top of this 10088 foot mountain.

Picket Pin Summit

 From the summit of Picket Pin Road we could see far in the distance to the Pryor Mountains, had a good overlook into the Beartooths and could see the Crazys off to the west.

Picket Pin Road in the Beartooth Mountains

 The weather is still mild enough for getting outdoors, so we took the Honda Pilot and headed for this backcountry road called Picket Pin.  It is up the Stillwater drainage.  At Nye, turn toward the Buffalo Jump and follow the dirt road back through a ranch before climbing up into the mountains.  The road is in pretty good shape (compared to some we have driven in the Beartooths).

Gnophaela Vermiculata on Timberline Lake Trail

I had difficulty identifying this butterfly we have seen often in the Beartooth Mountains, so I submitted my picture for professional evaluation to www.butterfliesandmoths.org.  I received an answer that this is, in fact, a moth.  Here is the info below:

http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Gnophaela-vermiculata

Down to the Timberline Trailhead.

 We paused for a quick photo, then on down the trail we went.

 Nobody got wet during any of the crossings.

Rainy Departure from Timberline Lake

 There was a little break in the drizzle and so we broke camp and packed up.  The clouds were hanging over Silver Run Peak as we crossed out of the Timberline Lake basin.

Morning at Timberline Lake

 We had some light rain (and voracious mosquitoes) that forced us to make an early night of it.  It was still showering in the morning (and the bugs were still out in force) when we got up.  Nevertheless, we tried a bit of pre-breakfast fishing (no success).

 Breakfast at camp.

Fishing at Timberline

 Fishing at Timberline was outstanding!  We caught a lot of nice sized fish right away.   This lake contains a self sustaining population of Brook trout (not a native species).  They were especially colorful because they were spawning.

Timberline Lake Backpacking

 We took our 8 year old grandson on his first backpacking trip this summer.  We went to Timberline Lake because the weather there was expected to be milder than some of our other options.  Above is a picture of Timberline Lake as we arrived.  We had sunshine all the way up the trail (hot), but the clouds had arrived at the same time we reached the lake, so it began to feel a bit cooler (almost too cool, really).  The first order of business was to find our campsite, but the second was to filter water.  The two pictures below show Airus and Joe filtering ice cold water from the lake.

First Backpacking Trip for Eight Year Old Grandson

 There was not a very big window of time for backpacking this summer.  We watch the weather and the bugs to determine when we can maximize the potential for success.  We did have one evening that appeared promising and we wanted to take our eight year old grandson, Airus on his first outing.  We wanted to be able to evaluate his stamina and enthusiasm before planning a much longer trip.  Here are pictures from the Timberline trailhead and another along the trail going up.  We had partly cloudy weather and warmish temperatures for the hike into Timberline Lake.  It is 5 miles to the lake.  The trailhead is along the West Fork Road, about 11 miles in.  The elevation of the trailhead is at about 7,500 feet and this area was burned in a wildfire in 2007 (I think).

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The trail passes through the burn area for about 3 miles.  That means 3 miles without shade.... and it means looking at a lot of blackend tree trunks.  Airus could not resist playing with the charcoal found everywhere.  He drew on rocks and logs with pieces of charcoal, blackened his hands with charcoal dust and left charcoal handprints all around. 

East Rosebud Wild Raspberries

 We took our two grandsons - Airus age 8 and Breckin age 5 to East Rosebud Lake to fish and hike.  We were fortunate to find a lot of wild berries in bloom and we enjoyed eating what we could pick.

Huckleberries in the Beartooths

 The huckleberry leaves are starting to turn color, but the berries are ripe.  We paused along the trail during a recent hike to enjoy these flavorful wild berries.

Elephant's Head Blooming in the Beartooth Wilderness

Arctic Gentian in the Beartooth Wilderness

Moose on the Trail

 Photos from a recent hike in the Beartooth Wilderness.  We encountered this beautiful bull moose on the Glacier Lake Trail.

Rained Out!

 We have planned for months to do a 29 mile / 4 day backpacking trip as a family this past weekend (August 21 - 25).  The weather forecast was for snow and highs in the 40's for the Beartooth Mountains, where we planned to hike. 

We  made all the preparations, but we canceled our trip due to the weather.  This gave me some unexpected time at home - where we have received 3 inches of rain over the past couple of days.  Over the next few posts, I'll show you what I have been up to.....stuck in the house, but keeping occupied!