Weekend Photos: Montana Dayhikes

Back last month, before I started my backpacking trip in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, I did a couple of dayhikes in the area, mostly to try to get used to breathing at 8-10,000'. Every little bit helps, though uphill hikes still kicked my backside. 

 

At some point in every trip, chaos reigns. This is your brain on travel... 

 West Fork Rock Creek

I arrived in the area just after lunchtime, and promptly drove to the end of the road, figuring an amble up the creek with no particular destination in mind would be a good way to get started without going too far. I forgot that if there's no particular destination (and no steep climbs, either), it's pretty easy to go "just a little farther." My little walk ended up being 6 miles.

It was drizzling a little when I started out, and threatening to get a lot wetter, so I didn't take my camera, only my phone.

Exciting glimpses of mountainish things.

The rain didn't materialize in any force, though a couple of decent showers had me on and off with the rain jacket a couple of times.

The trail followed the creek fairly closely. 

Sometimes the creek was in a bit of a gorge. A very nice gorge, if not a gorgeous gorge.

I had fun playing with the "long exposure" setting on the phone, which produces images of water not wholly unlike those made on a real camera with a tripod and long exposure. You do have to be careful to hold it very still, or everything will be blurred, not just the moving water.

 

  

 

 

 

I saw signs that this area might, just *might* have undergone some interesting geological stresses at some point.

After meeting some hikers who'd just see a bear, but also reported good scenery a little further on, I hiked up one last grade (with bear spray in hand, singing loudly and off-key, but with no sign of a bear. If it heard me, I'm sure it found a good reason to go over the mountain). I ate a snack and turned around in a pretty meadow.

Back to the car, passing through one more shower. I later heard from people who'd been on the other side of (or atop) the divide that there'd been some real weather up there. It looked like it.

I found a spot just off the road for legal dispersed camping, with just enough time for a quick clean up and dinner before dark, and was asleep not long after 9 p.m.

Basin Lakes 

In the morning I wasn't in any hurry (I wanted to do a max 3-hour hike), and while I was lounging over my breakfast, I heard a sound as of large trucks coming up the road in compound low. Turns out that was exactly what it was.

I'd noticed a bridge up the road that was being rebuilt. I got to watch the 3 giant support beams being hauled up the road. I hope they did some careful calculations before they started, to be sure they could make it through all the curves!

The Basin Lakes trail was pretty enough, but had little spectacular scenery.

A waterfall near the start was a high point, where I tried out both the phone and the camera for "smooth water" shots.

It was a little too bright (and I didn't have a tripod, so was having to improvise), so I couldn't get the totally smooth water look with the camera.

Bracing the phone worked pretty well.

 Above the falls there was a brief stretch of trail with views (and a cell signal), then a long hike up the creek then up the mountain to the lower lake. It was pretty enough, but no great photos. An old cabin was the main feature.

Based on detritus around, it was a mining claim from early in the 20th Century.

I reached the lower lake about 10 a.m., after 1 3/4 hours of hiking (including the rather long photo stop at the waterfall) and maybe 1500' of climbing. I expect the upper lake is more rewarding, but I didn't want to turn this into a 7 1/2 or 8 mile hike, so turned around there.

There were nice reflections, and dragonflies, which I could not photograph as they never hold still.

Turned around after a snack, hiked back to the car, and drove to town (Red Lodge, MT, population just under 3000) for a fruit smoothie and a shower before meeting my backpacking partners at a nearby campground. We'd begin our 7-day (6 night) backpack trip in the morning.

Rebecca M. Douglass, 2025
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