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Montana trip planning


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#21 Tahoems

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Posted 11 July 2018 - 06:35 AM

Hey guys, just thought I'd drop a line here as I am taking meticulous notes on your recommendations here. Taking a 2 week honeymoon road trip from NV to MT with no set plans yet. Hot springs for sure. Maybe a few nights at a swanky hotel with some roughing it in between. Maybe a couple days at Flathead lake? I have some AAA maps on the way to scribble a rough itinerary onto. Butler map on order too. Would like to Glacier and Yellowstone but I'm very wary of crowds. Getting lost in the wilderness is our real cup of tea. Maybe mill about in the Bozeman area too. Been there once long time ago.

Any thanks in advance for the info I'm putting it all on a map to see what sticks.
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#22 kmcintyre

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Posted 11 July 2018 - 11:53 AM

Thanks wcj.  

 

I now recall reading about the too-hot water incident and the death of a dog but I did not recall it was at Panther Creek HS.  Thanks for the tips about its washed out status. 

 

Excepting flying in to and out of Bozeman on certain dates and spending a couple of nights in Philipsburg, our plans are still evolving.  We may or may not head down to Salmon for an overnight or two.  If we do, we'll either venture over to Horse Creek or might take the easy way and stop at Sharkey's on the way in or out of Salmon. 

 

We've never been to JJ or Wier but on this trip we won't likely get that far north/west.  One of these days...............

 

Our trip into the Centennial Valley and Elk Lake in 2015 had us entering from Monida, so as nice as that is, we're looking for a different way in.  Thanks for the suggestion on the Blacktail route.  Maybe we can stop by Antone Cabin to check it out--staying there has been an intriguing thought for a few years.

 

Fuel, fuel, fuel......we'll be in a rental of presently unknown nature/fuel burn rate, and fuel capacity, and we're acutely aware of the planning requirements which the total absence of fuel east of I-15, south of Dillon/Virginia City, and west of US 20 dictates.  I am planning to run over to Island Park, ID on the day before departure from Elk Lake back towards Bozeman to get fuel, and maybe to hike over to Brower's Spring from the Sawtelle Peak Observatory road.  That looks like a pretty straightforward hike, short in distance, and light in elevation gains/losses.  Gotta get comfortable with being in grizzly country and pack a couple cans of spray, and perhaps tell a lie to my wife.

 

I have all of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge NF base maps and will certainly snag a 2018 MVUM over the summer's course.  

 

The hike to the Black Butte summit from the Gravelly Range Road looks fairly straightforward--all above timberline, about 1,000' of elevation gain.  Any thoughts or suggestions about that?

 

As our plans become more defined, I'll let you know when we plan to pass through Dillon.  And even if we don't overnight, we simply must pass through Dillon inasmuch as it's the setting for so many fond memories of the last 4 decades of our lives. And we must have some Taco Bus fare washed down with cane sugar soda!

 

Thanks again for the tips.

 

Foy

 

The Gravelly Range is awesome and the roads were in great shape last year when we drove up there, camped for 5-6 days and mountain biked everywhere.  The road goes right by Black Butte and there are some great campsites nearby (where we camped).  I don't know about access to the trail up BB as we didn't do it.


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#23 knoxswift

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Posted 11 July 2018 - 01:49 PM

Also on my way to MT in September. Flathead Lake. Not to far from Phillipsburg. Bringing motorcycles. Have the Butler maps....but please keep the ideas coming. PM me if anyone wants to camp Flathead lake and do some motorcycle miles?
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#24 Tahoems

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Posted 11 July 2018 - 04:29 PM

Also on my way to MT in September. Flathead Lake. Not to far from Phillipsburg. Bringing motorcycles. Have the Butler maps....but please keep the ideas coming. PM me if anyone wants to camp Flathead lake and do some motorcycle miles?

Do you know what the scene is like at Flathead Lake? Camping nearby or far? Beaches or need a boat? Lodging? I can't envision it.
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#25 knoxswift

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Posted 11 July 2018 - 10:26 PM

Flathead lake is the biggest  in MT about 100miles north of Missoula and 50 miles south of Glacier National Park.

 

All the campsites I've looked into "ON" Flathead Lake in September go into a First come First serve mode. (Called the state park and they confirmed that's the case).

I will be "Winging" it.

There are 3 state parks on the lake shores and one by boat only but that one closes in September.

 

The southern half my understanding is part of Indian Reservations so can't camp there without permit.I don't know how difficult it is to get permits but figured better to just stick with State Parks than try to boondock in reservation areas.

 

I'm also told there may be boondocking allowed in the BlackTail Mountain area, outside the reservations still researching that. 

 

Was following this topic to get some ideas where to look for possible boondocking sites.


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#26 Foy

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Posted 12 July 2018 - 12:28 PM

Also on my way to MT in September. Flathead Lake. Not to far from Phillipsburg. Bringing motorcycles. Have the Butler maps....but please keep the ideas coming. PM me if anyone wants to camp Flathead lake and do some motorcycle miles?

The Butler map is nice and it's useful for big-picture planning.  An even more useful tool is the Montana edition of Benchmark's Road and Recreation Atlas. I wouldn't leave home without mine.  

 

Foy


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#27 hoyden

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Posted 12 July 2018 - 04:51 PM

Awesome, Foy!!!! 


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#28 knoxswift

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Posted 12 July 2018 - 04:52 PM

I do have the Benchmark Atlas might be 2 years old now though. I'll have to check out Recreation Atlas...


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#29 Foy

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Posted 14 August 2018 - 01:07 PM

What is it they say about "best laid plans"?  Now the wildfire season seems to have awakened in southwestern Montana.  

 

We'd just recently been able to snag a place to spend a couple of nights in the Grasshopper Valley and were planning to visit Twin Lakes in the Big Hole when the Goldstone fire blew up in the last few days. Not much containment as of late yesterday. The Continental Divide Trail (CDT) is re-routed 75 to 80 all shade-less road miles from Lemhi Pass to Miner Lakes, through Bannack, as of the present. The motto of CDT through-hikers is "embrace the brutality" and circumstances such as these are among the reasons.

 

I'd just gotten the final time-distance-fuel requirements ciphering done on the > 200 mile Dillon-Blacktail-Centennial Valley-Elk Lake Lodge-Gravelly Range Road/Black Butte summit/Ennis traverse when the Monument and Wigwam fires blew up.  Neither reports significant containment as of yesterday, and the Gravelly Range Road (my preferred exit from the Centennial Valley) is closed between Black Butte and Ennis. Hopefully I'll be able to cut over to the Ruby River drainage south of Black Butte and still get in the southern half of the Gravelly Range Road.

 

I am uncomfortably recalling last year's Sapphire Complex fires in our beloved Rock Creek Canyon and how it went largely uncontrolled from the initial lightning strikes in mid-July until a single rain and snow event in late September/early October doused it in one 24 hour period.

 

Looks like the very end of June and first couple of weeks of July remains the "sweet spot" for high-elevation parts of Montana.  Any time between mid-July and when the snow starts flying is a crapshoot in the planning sense. 

 

Down in Idaho, the Rabbits Foot fire is pretty ominous just west of Gold Bug Hot Spring (N-NW of Challis) but the Reynolds Lake fire near Horse Creek Hot Spring shows fully contained.

 

I most certainly hope for the safety of and the best of outcomes for firefighters and residents.  Disruption of my personal playtime is meaningless in comparison to wildfires' real impact on the folks who live out there.

 

Foy


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#30 Tahoems

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Posted 14 August 2018 - 03:23 PM

What is it they say about "best laid plans"? Now the wildfire season seems to have awakened in southwestern Montana.

We'd just recently been able to snag a place to spend a couple of nights in the Grasshopper Valley and were planning to visit Twin Lakes in the Big Hole when the Goldstone fire blew up in the last few days. Not much containment as of late yesterday. The Continental Divide Trail (CDT) is re-routed 75 to 80 all shade-less road miles from Lemhi Pass to Miner Lakes, through Bannack, as of the present. The motto of CDT through-hikers is "embrace the brutality" and circumstances such as these are among the reasons.

I'd just gotten the final time-distance-fuel requirements ciphering done on the > 200 mile Dillon-Blacktail-Centennial Valley-Elk Lake Lodge-Gravelly Range Road/Black Butte summit/Ennis traverse when the Monument and Wigwam fires blew up. Neither reports significant containment as of yesterday, and the Gravelly Range Road (my preferred exit from the Centennial Valley) is closed between Black Butte and Ennis. Hopefully I'll be able to cut over to the Ruby River drainage south of Black Butte and still get in the southern half of the Gravelly Range Road.

I am uncomfortably recalling last year's Sapphire Complex fires in our beloved Rock Creek Canyon and how it went largely uncontrolled from the initial lightning strikes in mid-July until a single rain and snow event in late September/early October doused it in one 24 hour period.

Looks like the very end of June and first couple of weeks of July remains the "sweet spot" for high-elevation parts of Montana. Any time between mid-July and when the snow starts flying is a crapshoot in the planning sense.

Down in Idaho, the Rabbits Foot fire is pretty ominous just west of Gold Bug Hot Spring (N-NW of Challis) but the Reynolds Lake fire near Horse Creek Hot Spring shows fully contained.

I most certainly hope for the safety of and the best of outcomes for firefighters and residents. Disruption of my personal playtime is meaningless in comparison to wildfires' real impact on the folks who live out there.

Foy

Just spent 2 weeks up there escaping CA and NV smoke. Hit Red Rock Pass- Centennial Valley-Elk Lake Lodge-Gravelly Range Road/Black Butte summit and exit to the east been put on some road miles on to Yosemite and Glacier and then back through Idaho Highway 12. We admired the clear air hearing reports from home. I hope things clear out around there.

The drive out of Centennial Valley up Gravelly Range Road was interesting but perfectly fine at a slow pace. Slow going cow pasture land. Never saw soul. What's up at elevation the road turn to a highly maintained Gravel Road where you can make good time and saw a few others driving around. Amazing views from the top. I was a little worried about where I was going and gas however I still had enough in the tank to drive through all of Yellowstone so we were in good shape.

Anyway I picked up the recommendation from someone here and thought I'd pass along the feedback. Looks like I got to get out explore more of that area someday.
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