We’ve had a great summer on the mountain, but now it’s time to head back to ND for harvest.
This is one of my favorite harvest photos from back in 2009 when both of my boys were working harvest. Cody is planning to get a few days off to help with harvest so that’ll be fun.

We had many miles of backcountry horse trips this summer. Last winters storms left trails in terrible shape, so many days were spent just helping to cut trails.

Once July rolled around we were able to access quite a few areas. The north fork trails are always great places to explore with beautiful views.

We had a couple of trips into the South Fork of Two Medicine. One was an overnight back to Badger Cabin.Beautiful view!

The trip to Big River via the Morrison trail was a lot of fun and great to reminisce over the old pack trips of the past.

In mid July, both Steve and Cody’s families made the trip out to Apgar View Ranch and we were able to take a quick overnight fishing trip up to Elk Lake

We then took a fun little hike with the kids to Rocky Point on Lake McDonald. Highly recommend that hike if you’ve got young children along.

My 91 year old mother was able to make a train ride out with my sister to visit us on the mountain. Great times capped by a drive up going to the sun highway, down to St. Mary’s  and then around looking glass road and back to Hwy 2, looping back to Apgar View.

Steve messaged me though and said “hey get your butt back here!” Play time’s over, harvest is ready. Sooo we have to bid the mountain farewell for now.

We were fortunate to have Steve and Cody’s family’s join us for a visit this summer. Beautiful weather, fun horses, awesome hikes and some lake time were enjoyed by all.

Steve and Leah were able to get out for a ride and Bella got to take her first ride outside of the arena 

Sophia, Jaylen,Decker and Skylee kept the horses working steady

The kids had one outing to whitefish lake and another to Rocky point on Lake McDonald. Rocky point is a fun hike that little legs can handle no problem

Steve, leah,  Bella,  Sophia, Jaylen, Gavin

Cody,  Whitney, Skylee,  Decker, Emery

Mountain time is good for the soul.

There are many special places in Montana’s backcountry. One that has always been special to us is a little lake in the Flathead National Forest called Elk Lake.
My two boys were back in Montana with their families for a visit and we were able to take a quick overnight horseback trip up to this gem.Usually we take day trips up here, which means we miss the best hrs of fishing during the early morning and late evening.

This year we were able to overnight at the lake and the fishing was excellent. You can fish from shore and do well, but the float tubes they make nowadays are pretty sweet if you have the means of packing them in.

Overnight pack trips come with open fire meal preparation. The aroma of bacon cooking is a great wake up call.

The trail heading into Elk Lake is well traveled with just a few brushy areas to pass through. The climb up and over Devils Hump is a pretty significant elevation change though so having stock and yourself in shape is important.

Very special to get the opportunity to take trips like this with my boys. When your children grow and have families of their own, it becomes difficult to coordinate having the time for these activities. These trips in Montana’s backcountry are the best.

This week we revisited some areas that we always enjoy. The ride to Big River from Granite creek trailhead is a nice easy leisurely ride. It warmed up here in Montana this week, but most of this trail is shaded, so it wasn’t too terribly hot.

We did encounter another Griz. This year sightings seem to be quite common. This one was a little pissed and carried on in the brush blowing snot and snorting, but that was the extent of it. We moved through and he kept his foul mood in check. 

We dropped down to the river via the shortcut trail and had a little picnic. This area is very pretty and the fishing is usually pretty good.

Its about a 12 mile round trip ride, so pretty easy day trip.

Then Banjo and I took a little trip up McGinnis creek in the North Fork. Banjo is a fun little horse, but spoils quick and can be a PIA when he doesn’t have his head in the game. Plan was to have a little one on one time so we could correct any bad behavior.

We spent a few hours riding on these old trails and he was perfect.

This is just beautiful country to ride and explore. These old trails will be somewhat overgrown with alders and brush at times, but you can usually push through and the trail will open up again. Great for schooling a horse to deal with some adverse trail conditions.

It won’t be long and the summer season will come to an end. Get out there and enjoy!

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I took a backcountry ride up Morrison creek a few days ago. This trail is a main access for the Forest Service to Schafer meadows in the Great Beat Wilderness. I planned on turning off of the trail to Schafer and going down Big river to a location known as three forks. This is a well maintained trail to Schafer, but heading downstream the trail had not been cut yet and showed no signs of any traffic. I did end up cutting quite a bit of deadfall in the last 1.5 miles of trail. A lone grizzly was moseying down the trail on the ride in, but he scampered into the woods immediately upon seeing us. Good Bear! I haven’t been into this little campsite since on a pack trip in 2007. It is a real nice secluded area that gets very little traffic. Unfortunately the wilderness traffic in this area doesn’t come down the trail anymore. 

The number of river floaters these days is astonishing. Back in the late 70’s my father and I used to fly into Schafer meadows and float the Big River down to the Bear Creek area. We would rarely see another person, and if we did it was such an oddity that you would stop and have conversation. Today the Middle Fork of the Flathead is insanely busy with floaters and even high up in the wilderness the outfitters, guides and DIY adventurers have become regular scenery on the river.

Breakfast in the morning did get interrupted with an uninvited guest.

This black bear showed up and refused to leave us.

This bear appears to have become habituated to man. Bears with no fear that do not choose to refrain from human encounters are the ones to be afraid of. They have become accustomed and possibly have been rewarded with some food source from the numerous folks coming down the river.

Horsepackers and backpackers shouldn’t avoid these wilderness river areas just because of the traffic. They are still beautiful, challenging, and the fishing can still be outstanding.Morrison Creek – (no fishing here)

The trail crosses a shale field on the way in.

It’s about 12.5 miles from the trailhead to the three forks area, so it’s a pretty good jaunt for just an overnight trip. You can access the trail to Flotilla lake from this point, but crossing the river can be treacherous if the water is high.

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!