Megan's Nature Nook
Nature Notes, Phenology, Photography, Fun Facts, Trips, Maybe Even a Bad Joke or Two... and More!
August 11 - 13, 2017 This summer, while we were working in Montana, Tony and I took advantage of being so close to the mountains. Tony had been talking about Grayling and really wanted to do some alpine lake fly fishing! He was really hoping to backpack in and camp a few nights at the lake, but we didn’t have all the right equipment with us out in Montana, so we changed up the plans a little. The weather also threw a wrench into our plans because it was supposed to rain all weekend where he wanted to go for Grayling in Wyoming. Since we were running out of time, we decided to do a mountains trip to the Red Lodge area in Montana so we could at least fit in one trip to the mountains before I headed back to Minnesota. In about two days, we quick threw together a plan. I looked for a place to camp (and some geocaches nearby), and Tony figured out where we should fish. It was quick planning, but everything fell into place and the trip was great! Day 1 Tony was eager to get going so we left at 6 a.m. and headed southwest to Red Lodge, MT. I had found a campground in the Beartooth Mountains that had free camping! The catch was that it was on a first come, first serve basis; so, we figured we would take our chances and if we couldn’t get a spot there, there were a few other campgrounds nearby we could try to get a spot at. We arrived at the campground around 10 a.m. and snagged one of the last open spots! We got lucky! It was on the edge of the “campground,” (13 sites, no water, and a vault toilet – but great location!) so we only had a neighbor on one side, and had the creek behind us for Tony to fish in, and lull us to sleep at night. We were at about 7,000 ft. elevation, surrounded by conifers, had a view of some farther off mountain peaks, the creek, and fresh, cool mountain air – a perfect vacation spot! We set up camp to mark our spot, then checked out the creek behind our site. Tony was able to catch a few fish while I enjoyed the scenery. After that we headed to a nearby lake, Greenough, to see what else we could find! There were some nice open spots so I got some good fly fishing practice in and caught my first fish of the trip! We saw two new bird species to add to our Life Lists: Clark's Nutcracker and Mountain Chickadee (in case you were wondering). There were also some very friendly ducks that were entertaining to watch. After we had our fill for the afternoon, we headed back to the campsite, made some supper, and enjoyed the view. It even started snowing a little while we were cooking! First time I had seen snow in August! We went to bed early in preparation for our big hiking day, and fell asleep to the roaring of the creek. It got down to the upper 30’s during the night and even with my multiple layers, wool socks, winter hat, and mummy sleeping bag I was still chilly, but Tony with his broken-zipper sleeping bag was toasty warm… typical! Ha. Day 2 We woke up at 5:30 a.m. to make some oatmeal for breakfast to warm up and get our day packs ready before driving to the trailhead. It was in the low 40’s when we woke up, and around 50° when we started our hike. The sun coming up over the creek through the trees was a beautiful way to start the day! We followed the Lost Lake Trail. It was a nice trail that followed along Rock Creek most of the way, with beautiful sights. We even got to see an American Dipper in the creek; a new bird for my Life List! Coming up on mile 5 we were starting to wonder where the lake was, surely it had to be close! I had my Fitbit on, so we were able to keep track of how far we had gone, and how much more we had to go. We pulled up a map on Tony’s phone and figured out there should be a spur trail soon to cut over to the lake. It took a little searching but we found it and started our final assent to the lake! We were both happy that after 7 miles (which was supposed to only be 5…) we had finally made it! Tony was eager to start fishing and I was ready to have a snack and just take in the beautiful view. We walked along the edge of the lake looking for an open spot to fish and found plenty of moose tracks and scat. We ended up doing some bog walking and boulder climbing to head to the other side where we set up shop for the rest of the day. Tony spotted a Cutthroat that he was trying for with all sorts of different flies while I sat nearby perched on a boulder and just tossed my trusty mosquito fly out, let it sink a little, and then repeated the process. I was looking over at Tony, then glanced back at my line and excitedly exclaimed, “Tony, I see a fish! Tony, I think I have a fish! Tony, I caught a fish!!” Tony just about fell off his boulder because he was so excited and ran over to me to help me with my fish. I caught a beautiful 19.5 inch Cutthroat! Which turned out to be the only fish we caught from the lake. After all that excitement, we cooked some lunch and continued to fish. In the early afternoon, we figured we better start making our way back down the mountain since we were planning on stopping at Broadwater along the creek to try for some Brook trout. It was a success! We fished for a bit, had a snack, then continued on our merry way. I was even able to find a few geocaches on our hike, too! By the end of the day we had hiked over 14 miles; a bit more than we bargained for, but definitely worth it! Early to bed tonight! Day 3 After breakfast, we packed up our campsite and headed to Greenough so Tony could get a few more fish under his belt while I found another geocache. Then we headed up the Beartooth Pass to Rock Creek Vista Point for a beautiful view of the area! There were also some pretty friendly, and fat chipmunks running around! Tony and I like going to zoos and aquariums, so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity of stopping at the Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary in Red Lodge before grabbing some well-deserved, delicious pizza and heading back to Glendive. At first, I wasn’t too sure about this trip since we very quickly threw it together and I am the type of person that likes to plan. We didn’t even have a campsite booked for goodness sakes! But, Tony does a good job of getting me out of my comfort zone once in a while, and I can say that this was one of the best trips we have taken together. The hike was longer than expected, and you could feel the elevation taking its toll, but it made the fish we caught that much more worth it. We had some unforgettable views, caught some beautiful fish, and made some great memories! How many others can say they hiked 14 miles in a day, up a mountain to an alpine lake to fly fish? Towards the end of our long hike, Tony was “joking” that since this trip turned out we may as well do it again the next weekend, just in a different place. We may be crazy, but that is just what we did – back to back mountain trips, and I wouldn’t trade those trips for anything. If you haven't noticed, I'm a bit of a Shutter Bug. Here are a few more pictures from the trip. And thank you, Tony for your pictures, too!
2 Comments
Ben
12/7/2017 01:12:17 pm
Sounds/looks like it was a great trip!
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Megan Betcher
12/11/2017 08:41:57 pm
It sure was! Thanks for reading!
Reply
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