The North Fork of the Flathead has many great areas to explore on horseback. There is a extensive maze of old logging and forest service roads. Connie and I joined one of our neighbors for a nice day ride up in the Big Creek area. The trails will give you access to the top of the ridges and some great views.

The forecast was for late afternoon thunderstorms, but the weather turned sour early. When you are up this high on the mountain a thunderstorm can get pretty intense. 

So we elected to return down the mountain amidst the rain/hail/snow mix

As we came off the mountain we had moments of sunshine mixed in with the rain.

The North Fork is a very nice place to take a day ride. Easy access and fairly safe easy trails. Great for a leisurely day in the saddle!

Back in the 70’s my father and I used to ride trail cycles over white rock pass and drop into Badger Cabin. I haven’t been all the way back into that area since then. This is a popular stop for CDT hikers that often camp on the cabin porch even though the area is off limits to public use. Tanner, Freckles and I rode in on the South Fork of Two Medicine trail planning to do some volunteer trail clearing and maybe make it back to all the way to Badger. We got a very late start around 2:30 and were fortunate that we met another party that had cleared the trail about 1/2 way. As it was, I exhausted both batteries for my electric chain saw and finished cutting just the impassable deadfall with my silky hand saw. We didn’t arrive at Badger till well after 9 and were treated to a beautiful moonlight evening.

The evening ride coming into the area was gorgeous also.

The early morning sunrise didn’t disappoint either

This was just a quick overnight trip to see the area again and so we headed out in the morning. We weren’t 1/2 mile up the trail when I spotted a huge grizzly on the open side hill. We made our presence known and the bear elected to scamper up the hill rather than challenge us. Huge sigh of relief as we did not wish to reverse our route or have a serious encounter with this big boy.

As there were no Forest Service personal in the area we took liberty and camped inside the fenced area. Payback for trail clearing?

The enormous amount of snow we received last winter really took a toll on the backcountry trails. I’ve received reports of many trails that are impassable do to downfall and excessive snow in the higher elevations.

I took Tanner up the Morrison creek trail to do some volunteer trail clearing. We didn’t make it 1/2 mile up the trail and ran into 2′ of snow. Rather than fight the snow we elected to back out and ride in on the granite creek trail, which is couple miles back down the road. Granite trail runs at a lower elevation so didn’t run into any snow, but wow did we run into downfall to cut.

This area is wilderness so chain saws are prohibited. I probably cut 40+ trees in the next 2 days. Most of them to large to move so they had to be double cut to remove the section on trail.

If you’ve ever been out on the trail, come around a corner to a scene of large downfall that someone has already cut through, then you know the value of volunteers and forest service trail crews. It is important to contribute back when you can.

There is some beautiful country located along the Lewis and Clark National Forest. 

Connie and I took a ride into the south fork of Two Medicine. This is a beautiful area and usually a fairly easy early season ride. You do ride along the creek bottom, so there are multiple crossings. 

This can be a very hot ride, but we were fortunate with a cool day with a nice breeze.

This is an area known for having quite a few grizzly bears. We didn’t see any, nor did we see any fresh tracks or scat. We did get to see a cow moose with her young calf feeding along the river. We made our presence known and let them move out of the area before preceding. We also saw a cow elk and lots of elk sign.

We were just out for a leisure ride and trail recon. At this time no trail work had been done, so we encountered 40+ down trees. We were able to ride around the obstructions, but did finally hit an area with substantial blowdown and had to give up at about 4.5 miles in. This area is not wilderness so chain saws are permitted and it won’t take long to cut these trees out.  There is a lot of snow in the higher elevations of the back country as you can see in these pictures. It’s going to be awhile before you are going to be able to access the passes.

We came back and had lunch by the creek before riding out

The views riding out are even more magnificent than those riding in.

With springs work winding down in ND, Connie and I were able to head back to our place on the mtn. It is absolutely beautiful here at Apgar View Ranch. The horses are knee deep in grass and loving it.

Cool spring mornings up on the mountain are fabulous. Nothing better than coffee on the deck in the morning sunshine

There are a few remnants of snow banks still here. The tremendous amount of snow received last winter did do some damage. Trees broken off that fell over the fence, and just the excessive weight of the snow snapped many of the nails that hold the fence rails on. Quite a few posts will also have to be re-set.  Hopefully we won’t have that kind of a snow winter again for a long time.

Callie – our German Shepard pup had a little accident while moving horses into the pasture one morning. She has a bad habit of grabbing the horses tails. We’ve scolded repeatedly but she still sneaks in once in a while. Tanner decided he’d had enough and gave her a little kick. Nothing vicious but with steel shoes on it was enough to dislocate her nose. Lots of swelling, bleeding and a crooked nose, but  the vet says everything should heal up fine. She was lucky. Hopefully learned her lesson.

Lots of snow yet in the backcountry. Next week we’ll start some lower elevation rides, but it will be quite a while before any passes are open or the rivers drop to levels that can safely crossed.

Wow! What a tremendous amount of snow this winter. We’ve been on Apgar View Ranch for 6 seasons and have not seen anything close to this.

Definately been challenging dealing with this much snow when you are caring for horses. They keep their trail open to the barnand I keep their feeding areas clean.

This amount of snow also makes for some fabulous skiing. The dogs love getting to go on ski outings.

With a welcomed break in the snow and a little nicer weather I made  an attempt to ski into the elk creek/dirtyface area. To access this area you either have to cross the middle fork of the flathead or cross on the railroad trestle at Java creek. 

After you cross the trestle you drop down and cross Java creek.

The Java cut across trail does have some very steep exposed areas that can have some small slide dangers. 

I was able to navigate through these areas right up to where the cut across trail drops down to the dirtyface trail. At this point I encountered a bad area that had slid on about 1/2 the slope and not on the side I entered. 

At this point I elected to turn around. When you are in the back country alone sometimes you have to decide to punt rather than take chances that may result in accidents. Even though this trip got cut short it was still enjoyable and a beautiful day to get out.

Lake McDonald always has picturesque moments on these clear days

Spring is coming!

When it comes to packing a late season camp into the backcountry there are many different opinions on the type of tent to use. Last year I purchased and used a Cabelas alaknak 12×12. Is this the best outfitter type tent on the market? No, I wouldn’t say that. The alaknak is made of a type of heavy nylon fabric treated to be waterproof. A traditional outfitter tent is made of heavy canvas also treated with waterproofing and much more durable. But, when it comes to packing in a cold weather type camp you have to consider what works best for you. First thing to consider, weight! The alaknak has a total weight of 67 lbs., this is tent, frame, and stakes. It is a 12×12 size which is comfortable for up to 3 people with cots, cooking table and equipment, and wood stove for heat. If you are a professional outfitter or a commercial packer, tent weight isn’t as big an issue. These people usually have unlimited stock available and are very skilled at hauling heavy loads. If you are like me with limited stock and packing experience, then weight is a huge issue. During hunting season, I loaded one of my horses with the tent, frame, stakes (I did sub plastic stakes for the metal ones), wood stove, spark box, stove pipe, numerous propane bottles (shoved into the stove pipe) and some other camp incidentals. Total weight was less than 150 lbs. Easy load for one horse.

The tent was also able to be packed in a large size pannier and didn’t have to be mantied making it easier.

2nd thing to consider is the frame. Most traditional outfitter tents have a heavy internal frame. You can use this frame or you can cut poles at your camp location and fabricate the frame. This works if you return to the same location, but if your purpose is for a mobile spike camp then cutting new tent poles at each new location would be a huge PIA.

Another consideration that I had was how much help will you have with taking down camp. Picture a traditional outfitter tent used in late November and you encounter some adverse weather conditions. Maybe rain, followed by heavy snow, followed by a temperature drop into sub-freezing temps. This happens the day/night before you are packing up to head out. A traditional outfitter tent will have to be dried out prior to packing. If not you will have a frozen hunk of canvas almost impossible to work with. Last hunting season my alaknak was left for a couple days uninhabited. There was about 6″ snow during that time. I showed up alone to pack it out, shook the snow off, took it down, rolled it up and packed it with ease. Temps were around 20 F. at the time.

While I was researching outfitter tents prior to purchase, many of the negative comments I read were that the alaknak material was terrible for condensation. I would agree that this could be a huge problem, but we used a wood stove and had the vents open for circulation and had no problems. We had about a ft of snow on the ground so would constantly drag snow in on the tent floor. The snow would melt and subsequently dry in about an hour with the wood stove going. We did not encounter any rain during our stay, but we did have heavy snow melting on the roof without any interior dripping. Temps dropped to around 0 during the night, yet it was quite comfortable in the tent with the wood stove. 

I’m confident the more traditional canvas style outfitter tents will have a longer lifespan, and obviously they will hold heat a little better. Most of these are manufactured in the western US by folks that have a good understanding of the weather conditions you may encounter. They are usually high quality and demand a substantial investment. My biggest reasons for not purchasing one of these tents was the total weight of a comparable size tent and the issue of water retention with the canvas material.

I have been hunting in the backcountry with horses for about 15 years now. I have run into 3 camps in that time. 2 were outfitters camps so they had the canvas wall tents for their clients, and one was a group of 4 guys that packed in for just a few days. By contrast the trailheads that I used or have visited are littered with canvas outfitter style tents. Corrals are either provided at the trailhead or the hunters have erected portable corrals to contain their stock. My point – why camp in a tent at the trailhead? If you have stock why not use that stock to pack your camp into the backcountry and hunt from there rather than ride each day from trailhead? Answer – convenience. It is much more difficult to do a backcountry spike camp, so why not make it as easy as possible with a light duty tent that functions similar to the canvas tent.

The alaknak is a very user friendly type of tent. In my opinion this is one of the biggest factors that prohibit more use of outfitter tents in the backcountry. For the average recreational packer the ease of use is extremely important.  Late season horse packing is quite rewarding. Do some research and find what works for you. If it works for you and is enjoyable that’s all that matters. Don’t worry about the traditionalists or the professional packers that tell you this type of tent is garbage. If it helps get you into that backcountry spot making memories and maybe giving you a chance for that trophy bull, then it’s the perfect tent. 

Horse packing into the backcountry is a experience that every horse owner should enjoy. Many do not though. Some folks are intimidated by the terrain, the wildlife, the ever changing weather or just their own lack of confidence. It’s understandable. Backcountry horse packing can be very challenging, but with a little research and preparation you can make this a very enjoyable experience.    

Most important item to me is having confidence and trust in your horse. Riding down a snowy mountain ridge in the moonlight all alone on a crisp November night was an experience that changed the relationship I have with my horse. You learn to trust your partner just as much as it trusts you. You may learn this through many wet saddle blankets, or maybe you learn to trust your mount from certain experiences that turned out positive. Maybe you spend many hours with round pen training that gives you that confidence. Regardless of how you arrive at this stage with your horse, that sense of trust is essential to having a great back country riding experience.

These type of majestic views are what await those willing to accept the challenge.

In today’s world we have the ability to access many non traditional learning tools. The Internet provides numerous sights where you can learn essential packing techniques. You can learn proper methods of high lining, hobbling, working with ropes, and other backcountry care for your horse. You can read stories of problems that can arise and how to deal with them. Anyone can have success when things go well, but you need to learn what to do when those hiccups happen, because trust me – they will. Joining a chapter of back country horsemen is also a great way of learning and having access to backcountry riding with the help of others more experienced.  Another great tool in our world today is the ability to view the terrain via satellite imagery. Accessing google earth will allow you to view areas to explore in the safety of your living room.

Start with day trips to gain experience before attempting overnight or extended stays in the backcountry.

Travel as light as possible when you do start backcountry camping. You do not need to bring the kitchen sink, just because you have a horse to pack it on. It is much easier to bring bare essentials such as sleeping bag, tent, fire grate, light duty cook set and easy to create meals – like the dehydrated meals back packers carry. Remember you will also need to pack supplemental feed for your stock in most cases. Later after you have a few trips under your belt you can expand your packing to include the conveniences that we associate with horse packing. Coolers with adult beverages and ribeye steaks are examples of the types of indulgences horse packers are able to have along.

When you get somewhat proficient in horse packing you will be able to incorporate fishing and/or hunting into your trips to the wilderness. Fly fishing wilderness lakes and rivers can be fabulous at times. Your horses give you the ability to seek out many remote fishing hot spots.

The next step with horse packing is packing in a hunting camp. Usually this involves numerous loaded horses in order to haul all the equipment needed. By the time you’ve reached this stage in packing with your horses, you should have gained the confidence and ability to lead your string into the backcountry and set up a comfortable camp.

Horse packing is an extremely rewarding experience. Once you become somewhat skilled at managing numerous head of stock on the trail, you will have access to many more backcountry miles and adventures.

The wilderness awaits!

Finally a reprieve from the snow! We’ve been getting dumped on here to wind up 2017.

Last year we received lots of snow on the mtn also, moisture that was well received for recharging after dry conditions. The downside of all that moisture was that it produced tremendous vegetation and then when it shut off in June we ended up with serious fire conditions. Let’s hope we don’t have a repeat of that situation.

We had a great conditions last spring for getting our crop seeded, but then got hammered by hail prompting a lot of replanting.

We celebrated the birth of Gavin , born in July to Steve and Leah. And we celebrated the news of expectations of our ninth grandchild due in January to Cody and Whitney.

Angela brought her girls Mady and Mila out to the mtn in July and Cody and Whitney were also able to make it with Skylee and Decker. Great times with family capped off with a 80th birthday party for great grandma Beryle.

Harvest went smooth and we had a fairly long fall season to complete extra field work.

Hunting season was a blast this year and then came the holiday season when we all traveled out to Wisconsin & Minnesota to celebrate Xmas.

Angela and Cody’s families hosted the festivities for 18 of us. It was so good to get all the kids together again.

The end of the year closed out the same way it came in with a huge amount of snowfall.

From our cabin on the mtn to wherever you are we hope 2018 is filled with love and happiness to you and your family!

The pursuit of one of our most alluring animals, the rocky mountain elk, has always thrilled me. This years hunt was extra special because it was the first year I packed in a spike camp to base my hunt from. Usually we rent a cabin from a ranch at the trailhead, which works great, but involves a early morning ride in the dark and a late night ride out each day. Setting up a camp is a lot of work, but allows you to start hunting right away and avoid the 3:30 alarm. 

Unfortunately the evening after setting up camp, I was riding out with the pack horses and stopped at a nice area to sit and watch for elk moving. A nice 6×6 bull stepped out and my hunt was over – that quick! 

One of my hunting partners wanted to experience camp for his hunt so we did still use it for a couple of days, but he was forced to leave for work. I ended up packing camp out shortly after.

Great horses make this kind of trip go smooth and easy.

Other members of our hunting party had yet to harvest a bull so I enjoyed days of riding the mountains and seeing the country. 

Lots of snow up Buffalo Horn this year, and beautiful views from Blizzard ridge

I always say harvesting an elk is just the bonus to a hunt like this. The  main reason for going is to enjoy the tranquility and beauty of these magnificent mountains. They do not disappoint.