Saturday, August 17 Porcupine Falls, Wild Horses, Devil's Canyon WY

 Saturday, August 17

39 degrees this morning at 6:45!   Used the furnace a bit to warm things up, followed by a breakfast of nice hot oatmeal!

We set off to find Porcupine Falls.  Saw 6-8 deer on our way out of the campground!  

We think we are on the right road as we pass this guy moving cattle.   Much of the national forests is also used as grazing land for cattle.  Cattle are allowed to graze from July to mid-September with various permits, fees and regulations.

 Quite a few people boondocking along the road. (Camping where there are no formal campsites.) This is allowed in most National Forests.  Finally, we see a sign and find the parking area.  It is quite a hike - all down hill.  A combination of rough trail and rock stairs.  

It is pretty down there, very rocky.  We see a deer on the way down and a cute pika on the way out.  Unfortunately didn't catch a shot of the pika who was carrying a small branch with leaves as he scurried over rocks.  They look like a large mouse, but very chubby and cute - think Disney.  (I believe they are endangered.)  They like cold, rocky places and we've only ever seen one before in Colorado.

We had the trail to ourselves doing down but ran into a few folks on our way out.  Between the steep climb and the altitude, there were many catch-your-breath stops!  

We continue along Hwy 14 and begin the descent out of the mountains.  Very steep, with several runaway truck ramps! 3600' drop in 10 miles!  Greg gets to use all the gears, I think!

We go into the town of Lovell for gas and then head up road #37 to the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area.  We stop to admire some of the wild horses in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range. There are 120-140 horses in a huge area and we see about ten of them

They believe the herd is descended from Spanish horses brought to the area by different Native American tribes, especially the Crow.

If you wonder about the color shift in some of the pictures, it is because some pictures are from Greg with the Canon camera and others are from Beth's Fuji.  (And now and then there is a phone pic thrown in!)

The next stop is at Devil's Canyon Overlook on the Bighorn River.   What beautiful, rugged country!

We see some mountain goats as we are leaving the area.

The road ends at Barry's Landing, so Bighorn Canyon itself is only reached by boat.  Above the canyon is Bighorn Lake and Yellowtail Dam, but they are accessed by boat or by a different road from the northeast.

We take a quick look at Horseshoe Bend on the way out - which has a sandy beach and quite a few swimmers.

We swing north and enter Montana around 2:15  heading for Red Lodge and the beginning of the Beartooth Highway.

Stop to read about the remnants of a mining site where quite a few miners died from an explosion and  subsequent gases.

The Beartooth is known as one of the most scenic highways in the world and is pretty busy. Completed in 1936,  it goes from lush lodge pole pine forests to alpine tundra and goes through 20 peaks over 12,000'. Quite popular with motorcyclists too.  Red Lodge has a number of hotels, restaurants, etc. and we try to find a Forest Service building, but it looks like it has moved as there is fresh construction going on at that address.

 We start on the highway and begin to look for a campground.  We check about five or so and find that they are very small - and full!   We finally decide to boondock on a road past some campgrounds in a clearing which has obviously been used before. 

 Greg checks out the nearby stream.

Soup and sandwiches for dinner and a little cribbage.  Quiet night.