My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

OverlandNA.....what a great post ! I clicked on the link last night and read just a small part of his story. It would be interesting to see his website (he stated that he didn't want to reveal it) and whether or not he completed the list. Anyhow that has now intrigued me and I plan to review the list to see if I unknowingly have completed that list. Thank you.....

Foy.....hopefully you'll enjoy the destination as much as the journey.....we are almost there.....

True Grip.....welcome ! The kayak may hit the Missouri River very soon. I've been fairly lazy this past week and took a short break.....

tgil.....yep, the boxes are common in the National Parks.....oddly enough with all my bear talk, unfortunately we never saw a single bear in the Big Snowy Mountains.....



An early morning departure.....the trail from the Crystal Lake Campground led us along the western shores of the early morning calm lake waters.....



Startled Mallards took refuge in the lake.....



Now we were hiking in a thick mountain forest.....



The trail continued to climb higher and higher.....



The trail was well marked and I thought it nearly impossible to get lost here.....



We made a stop at V J Spring.....this would be the last watering hole on our planned 12.5 mile hike.....



I gave Tanner adequate time to wet his whistle, explore the barely visible little creek that was covered by the thick & lush green grass which was fed by the constant flow of the little spring, and coat his coat with the cool waters.....little did he know what lay ahead.....





I'm not one that spends a great deal of time worrying about bears when I hike, but I will say that this was prime bear territory.....if I was a bear, I would live here.....heck, I'm not a bear and I would live here (if I could find a log cabin).....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

The next point of interest on our trail map was Grandview Point.....



Our stop here was brief.....once again, this was not what we came for.....



Yes.....the views were grand.....



We hiked among rocky cliffs continuing higher and higher.....



We broke out of the thickly grown forest and the hike was now mostly along the wide open mountain ridgelines.....





These purple flowers were simply amazing as they became nearly fluorescent in the morning sun.....



We stopped here for a bit as I tried to get some "cool" photos of the flowers and by doing this I found myself walking into the forest and over the side of the mountain.....



I could hardly believe my eyes when I took a look over the side of the mountain and spotted this cave. Now I will tell you that I came here to explore a cave.....but not this previously undiscovered (?) cave. As a matter of fact, since stumbling onto this cave, I can not find a single map or any information regarding its existence.....



I chose not to explore this cave.....we had a long day planned and honestly as I was hiking alone, I thought it not a bright idea to explore an undiscovered (?) cave under the circumstances. I marked its location by adding a stick to one of the stone cairns.....and we hiked on.....

 

[Foy]

Splendid, Jerry, just splendid.

 

[OverlandNA]

Brett completed his journey thru the Americas last year:

The ‘What’

Of all the questions that apply to this trip, “What is it?” might be the easiest to answer. Accordingly, I think it is a good place to start as I begin to write about this trip and attempt to under…

everywhereman.me

This blog documents the journey to visit each place in the song “I’ve Been Everywhere”

92 Places
49 States
16 Countries
60k Miles

Should be easy

 

[ITTOG]

Those were some beautiful pictures. I hope you enjoy the cave.

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk

 

[Ace Brown]

Jerry that last post with the lake views, long hike and intriguing cave was one of your best. You sure know how to hook an audience.


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[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Foy.....?.....

OverlandNA.....I once set out to climb all of the 4,000' peaks in the Adirondacks.....I never did it. And I once set out out to climb all of Colorados 14,000' peaks.....I never did it. I once set out to dive a multitude of shipwrecks in the Atlantic.....I never did it. I think its awesome & impressive that Brett achieved his goals. I would imagine that if I were able to complete a list, it would definitely be unknowingly. I'm a wanderer & a dreamer and that's about it for me.....

ITTOG.....the cave was more than I expected and there's no way that I could capture with my photography the beauty that I saw, nor am I talented enough of as a writer, to describe my little adventure adequately.....it was wonderful.....and you'll just have to take my word for that. When I first saw these words....."The Ice Caves of the Snowy Mountains" I was immediately intrigued.....it is.....one of my favorite places visited.....in a really long time.....

Ace.....?.....



We crossed the summit of West Peak (8,186').....the views up here were absolutely magnificent.....some say that you can see all of Montana while perched along this ridgeline.....





From the Montana Wilderness Association website.....

"The Big Snowies lie **********-dab in the heart of the Treasure State, just south of its geographic center in Lewistown. And because the Snowies are an island range, they rise like a huge, broad dome above the central plains around them. From the sinuous ridgeline running roughly east to west along the range’s great spine, you can see perhaps more of Montana than from any other point. Far to the north, the isolated cones of the Sweet Grass Hills lie just a few miles from the Canadian line, and in the opposite direction the great Absaroka-Beartooth ranges straddle the Wyoming border to the south. Nearly all the other island ranges of Montana’s plains are visible as well – the Crazies, Castles, Big and Little Belts, Highwoods, Bears Paws, and others all float shimmering on the horizon on a warm summer day.

The view alone should make the Snowies worth your time, but there’s so much more to them. They contain some of the last intact wildlands in central Montana, and as such represent a tremendous opportunity for wilderness lovers now and forever. So it should be no surprise that the Big Snowies are home to a 98,000-acre wilderness study area, which provides prime access for backpacking, horsepacking, and other forms of quiet recreation in pristine spaces."





Eventually the trail passed through a thick, narrow band of pine trees.....and then finally we came to the trail junction with the trail that would take us part way down the south side of the mountain.....and to the entrance of the Ice Caves of the Big Snowy Mountains.....





I was concerned that I might miss the caves opening.....but that was not a valid concern.....



There are two entrances to the cave.....of course we climbed through both.....



And.....finally.....we were here.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

As I approached the first entrance to the cave, I learned something about Tanner that I had not realized in the past.....that dog is a caving fool.....





I was crawling up that rocky entrance and he was literally gone out of sight.....





That dog may love caves more than I do.....and that's a heck of a lot.....



Other than the footsteps in the snow, this cave looks untouched by man. Just the thought that this cave looks the same as it has for centuries.....back to the days of cavemen.....is just AMAZING !!!!!





I couldn't help but think back to exploring Forty Horse Cave in souheast Idaho.....and how man had completely destroyed that cave.....yet this cave has been spared the same fate.....





Neither of us wanted to leave here.....we were both in heaven yet we were both deep into the earth.....

 

[dwh]

'I've Been Everywhere' is a song that has been everywhere. Started in Oz, then went to UK and New Zealand before finally washing up on the shores of North America.

I've Been Everywhere - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

DWH.....thanks.....I like that rendition as well.....it's hard to beat Johnny Cash.....



My guess is that we hung out in that cave for maybe 30 minutes. The entire bottom was like a frozen lake with a slight layer of melted ice on top.....Tanner lapped up the freezing water and I too wanted to have a try but I thought it better not to risk it.....



Finally we had to move on.....we still had quite a bit of hiking to do.....



I had been wandering off trail an inordinate amount on this day and the actual total miles hiked was increasing substantially from what I had originally planned.....



On one of these off trail wanderings I came across yet another cave. My research the next day told me that this cave had a name.....Devils Chute Cave. Now there were 2 caves that I needed to come back to explore someday.....the caves are calling my name.....



The route we chose was a long loop with much of it running along a ridgeline.....



Crystal Lake once again reappeared.....in this photograph you can actually see the rig parked in the campground (on the middle road just at treeline level if you care to see).....



The descending trail was much steeper than the ascending trail.....



.....and sections of the trail passed through long scree slopes.....



And then the trail returned to the dense pine forests.....



As we wrapped up a 17 plus mile day of hiking, I looked back at portions of the ridgeline that we had just crossed.....and I thought.....I'll definently be back one day.....

 

[nathane]

If this world ever settles down (in many ways) my hope is to spend some time travelling through North America (from here in the UK) in retirement in a couple of years. Your log is a real inspiration and guide with insights into places I've never heard of. It will certainly form a major part of my planning research.

It's also such a pleasure to hear the human and canine story, thank you for the work you put into sharing this.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

nathane.....so happy to have you traveling along with us. Tanner & I.....we love to share and we love all the comments & input. And I especially love to hear that people from other countries are learning about America and about our beautiful landscape through our blog. We are always grateful. As you alluded to, lots of craziness in this world right now.....since I am in central Montana at this moment in time, I feel as though I'm totally insulated from all that turmoil, but sadly I see it as I read the world news daily.....



Now it is almost hard to believe but the Snowy Mountains were not quiet done with showing us its little wonders of the world.....



The following morning we awoke to a temperature of 39 degrees (it's mid July !) and a left foot that felt like someone had taken a hammer to it during my nights sleep (17 plus miles took a toll no doubt). We got a late start that morning as we waited for the temperatures to rise just a little bit.....



.....and then we were right back at it.....





The magnificent trail passed through miles of bloomimg summer flowers.....it hugged the edge of a mountain ridge.....it dropped down into mountain ravines.....views were limited here with the dense vegetation but one doesn't hike this trail for the endless Montana views.....





We passed rock cliffs that stretched for long distances.....I have no idea the distances that they claimed.....



Far into the hike we crossed a mountain stream.....



The trail took a bend here and now we hiked along the meandering banks of the creek.....



.....and I've got to tell you right now that I was not prepared for what we would see & experience next.....it was indeed absolutely spectacular.....

 

[Arjan]

Awesome !!

 

[longhorn1]

Snow Caves. Wow! Absolutely amazing stuff. I remember reading about ice Caves along the Michigan shore line (I think). In Montana, that is really neat, mid-July and full of ice and snow.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Arjan.....yes, the caves and the mountains were truly awesome.....

JD.....just this afternoon I was told of more caves in the area by a local and that the entire area is made up of limestone therefore there are lots of caves.....many caves out there still undiscovered. I know of a "secret" cave in the forest.....you have to rappel down a 70 foot shaft to get to an enormous cavern unknown to most men.....unreal stuff.....



I'm guessing that I've said this before.....please bear with me.....sometimes I look up at the skies overhead or the forest that I'm hiking through and I think its all just so magical.....so beautiful that it's hard to believe it's real.....



Sometimes I'm absolutely overwhelmed by the beauty of the things that I see.....





The forest that we walked through that day was truly magical.....the flowers seemed to almost pop up out of the ground right before our eyes as the trail led us higher & higher.....the scent of the flowers was so enjoyable as I made certain to inhale the scents of at least one of each variety.....





The forest floor was vibrant with the multitude of colors and the forest floor was flowing with the morning breezes.....





We spooked a lone deer drinking the creeks cool waters as we continued to climb.....the lone deer disappeared into the forest as quickly as he had appeared into our view.....



The somewhat muted sounds of the creek cascading down the mountainside was the music in our ears....



And then, finally, looking through the forest we got our first glimpse of the Big Snowy Mountains next little wonder of the world.....but I will tell you that what you see here is only the beginning of this little natural beauty.....what lay ahead was even more amazing.....there's more to share.....