Tight-lines and Timelines, a Wyoming and Montana Wandering

Strizzo

Explorer
Re: "sushi in Rock Springs?" if its the place i'm thinking of, and i don't think there are TWO sushi places in RS, the building used to be a wendy's. the sushi is not bad, although i had the same question the first time it was suggested to me too.
 

40tude

Adventurer
Day 12

After waking, I felt a strong need to catch a few more fish, so I hit the stream and caught a few more brookies to start the day on a good note.

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After packing up camp, our first stop for the day was Big Hole National Battlefield, another good history lesson, and definitely a worthwhile stop. After Big Hole, we headed up the Bitterroot River towards Painted Rocks State Park. We had hoped to find a free camp site along the river to spend the night. Earlier, I eluded to the fact that Montana does not offer the same happy-go-lucky camp where you want places like some of the other western states, and this was really beginning to make us a bit cranky (as you can see by the lack of photos on this day). In fact we nearly got mad enough to just head back to Wyoming (kind of sounds like last years' Utah trip) , but in the end, that would have been a mistake... we pushed on.

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The goal for the night was Rock Creek, I had heard the fishing was good, and I was looking forward to it. After what seemed like forever, we found a site.

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And some fish... I caught this guy and a nice cutbow that night... I was in a better mood.

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ADVrider76

New member
Awesome trip report. Looks like I need to plan a trip that way.

How is the terrain up there? I know you are in a LC, how tricky would it be for a fairly stock toyota? Looks pretty easy but nothing like first hand feedback.
 

40tude

Adventurer
Awesome trip report. Looks like I need to plan a trip that way.

How is the terrain up there? I know you are in a LC, how tricky would it be for a fairly stock toyota? Looks pretty easy but nothing like first hand feedback.

Your stock rig should be just fine, of course, that is weather dependent.
 

40tude

Adventurer
Day 13

I spent the first half of the day in the most appropriate fashion. Rock Creek had a lot of fish, and I managed to bring a few more in, including this Rainbow.

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After packing up camp we went into Missoula to restock our wares. I can't say we knew anything about Missoula before going there, but I certainly wasn't expecting such a hipster town, a definite change of pace.

While in town we stopped at the fly shop, I enquired as to what flies they might recommend for fishing up around Glacier. The response I got just about broke my little heart. "There are no fish up in Glacier, the water is too mineral rich, they can't survive." This was not the first time I had heard this sentiment. Had I caught my last fish of the trip without knowing it?

The rest of the day was spent booking it up the highway towards Glacier NP. It is much more difficult to link a full dirt route through Montana than Wyoming.
We did end up behind an interesting crew. They were doing a Model T world tour. I wonder if the Model T or the support truck was more reliable? (kidding...maybe)

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We ended up that night by soup creek, had a nice little campfire, and a meal at a very large table.We were spent.

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Caught being naughty.

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As a side note, these last two days of coverage were a little lacking, but there is more good stuff to come.
 

40tude

Adventurer
Day 14

After packing up, we hit the road again for the push on up into Glacier. On the way there we spotted a nice cruiser, and scared the pants off my dad by sending him this shot.

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We saw billboards along the way for huckleberry pies, and with a storefront decorated like this, we could not refuse.

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Upon exiting I spotted this awesome fj55 (I used to have one...it got stolen). It was at the mechanics shop, and he informed us that some lady has this as her daily driver. Apparently she has a new car, but prefers the Iron Pig. (rad)

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First stop in the park was Bowman Lake. It was a pretty alpine lake, but we didn't stay long, we needed to find a campsite. We ended up at Quartz Creek and had it to ourselves. After setting up, the fly rod came out, and I caught six little cutthroats right by the tent.

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I talked Mrs. 40tude into doing a little mountaineering (not so much) in order to get us down to the much bigger Flathead River.

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The fishing started slow, until I found a nice little run. I couldn't cast without hooking up, and then I offered the rod to Mrs. 40tude (I had been trying unsuccessfully to get her into fly fishing the whole trip). Finally got one!

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For the rest of the evening we were fighting over the fly rod. I had only brought the one down to the river. Trading off turns we were able to total about 75 cutthroats that evening. It was an awesome night, and I am so glad those fly shop guys were dead wrong.

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Quest4ADV

Adventurer
Thanks for sharing the report and pics. Looks like an awesome time was had.

Next time you head out West maybe my GF and I can tag along if you allow Xterra's in the mix :)
 

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