Hike up Cottonwood Canyon at the base of the Bighorns

What a lovely hike that I highly recommend.  Cottonwood Creek is one of several canyons on the western side of the Bighorns.  The turnoff is just past the bridge over the reservoir on U.S. Highway 14 Alt.  This is the Little Mountain Travel Management area on BLM lands.  A newish looking campground, equipped with nice [...]

Yellowstone and the Lamar at its finest–wolves, bears, and high drama

Yellowstone is at it’s finest in May, especially in the Lamar Valley.  Just less than an hour away from my home, I’ve been three times this week.  May is my favorite month.  First off, because I’m south of the NE entrance, the road into the Park is not plowed on the Montana side during the [...]

Close to Open–Yellowstone Park

The NE entrance will be open on May 11th, they say.  We’re always the last for the Park to plow and I’m not sure why.  Its only a nine mile stretch and a heck of a lot easier to plow than the east entrance over Sylvan Pass.  Must be politics and economics driving the decisions. [...]

An afternoon hike in April

The snows are melting, early, and we don’t seem to be getting our usual spring wet dump of moisture.  These spring snows are what the eastern side of the Absarokas depend upon for their real moisture.  The winter snows are dry, while these spring snows put a lot of moisture into the ground.  But the [...]

Ways Not to Treat Our Lands

Living next to our first National Forest, one can’t help feel like a caretaker.  So when I see abuses, I  shake my head and wonder “who would do this?”  ”How can they come out here to enjoy this vast awesome wilderness and throw their beer cans as they walk around?”  It makes no sense to [...]

Frank revisited

I’m going to revisit an old post about Frank Hammitt.  In my previous post I told the story of how old Frank really died.  Frank Hammitt worked for the Forest Service even before there were rangers around here.  There’s a nice stone memorial with a plaque by Antelope butte.  Stories abound.  He was in a [...]

Frank Hammitt Memorial 1869-1903

I’m here to set the record straight.  And although a page on the Shoshone Forest Service website has it correct, I’ve heard a lot of tall tales since I’ve been here about what exactly happened to Frank Hammitt, one of the first forest rangers in Sunlight. If you see Antelope butte from Dead Indian pass, its [...]

I Love the Winds!

Here are some photos from my 8 day backpack this summer to the Wind Rivers, my most favorite place in the world.  I’ve been there at least ten times or maybe more.  This time I went back to a place I was 10 years ago because I wanted my friend to see it–Island lake near [...]

Hike into the bowels of the Clark’s Fork Canyon

    We are going to hike into that canyon in the photo below.  From this photo you can see the mighty Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone, the only wild and scenic river in Wyoming, unrunnable.  To the left you can make out Sunlight falls, where Sunlight creek meets the great river.  What you can’t [...]

Windy Mountain

The hike to Windy is not long, but an uphill climb.  You can drive the 4 wheel dirt road to a parking area, which cuts out a few miles.  But for some reason I hadn’t yet hiked to the top…either there was still snow, or it was too hot, or the bears were using it [...]