This trail follows a west-east canyon in the Bitterroots, and from some of the reviews I've read last night it's one of the prettiest in the forest here. A creek follows the trail most of the way, which is why I chose this one for today so that Sadie stays refreshed. It's going to be a hot day, as it's already 58F at 7:38am.
There are waterfalls, steep granite walls and more trails to explore from Blodgett's Creek. One can easily get eight miles on this hike, which is my goal, so that despite the heat we still will have some cool time. Elevation start is 3471'. According to the Forest Service website, snow is still lying on the peaks as low as 7500'.
My odometer is now reading 4000.5 miles. I've driven over 1000 miles since Bozeman.
***
We started the hike at 8:37am. The trail is just outside the free campsite, which posted a "FULL" sign by the entrance. The creek roared nearby, as it would for the next four miles along the trail.
A careless camper started a wildfire here in the summer of 2000, burning most of the old growth pines in this canyon for the first three miles. New growth, especially the pines, where no more than 15' high at best, offering little shade for us despite the morning hours.
The golden currents, blue elderberry and western raspberry shrubs, however, were still berryless. This hike would be awesomely sweet and delicious in late July when everything is ripe!
Parts of this trail were indeed beautiful, as rocky crags on either side of the canyon reminded me of parts of Yosemite. I can only imagine what this place must have looked BEFORE the wildfire took out so many of the old trees. Many still remain as burned sticks, ready to break like pencil sticks after the next windstorm blows through.
A team of three USFS personnel passed me. They had been camping out along Blodgett's Creek, starting at the lake 11 miles uphill a week ago, to remove fallen trees along the way and to repair water culverts. Kudos to them as they did an excellent job, and I made sure I stopped at the USFS office in Hamilton to tell their supervisors. There were no fallen trees along the entire trail.
Old growth began shortly after passing the footbridge. Here is where the hike truly became beautiful again with tall shade trees to keep Sadie and I cooled. Rocks along the waterfall kept me steady as I rested on a ledge to take in the sounds.
I saw more people coming up the trail on our return hike at 11am. After resting 15 minutes at the second waterfall a mile upstream from the footbridge, we returned, making this a very pleasant summer morning hike without too much effort. The water was cold, clear and cascading and Sadie never had to suffer from thirst along this hike, which is why I opted for this rather than a more strenuous mountain hike. This is an ideal dog-friendly hike and there were indeed quite a few dogs along this trail.
It was 80F when we got back to a full parking lot. Only three cars were not from Montana. One sedan was from New York, another truck from Wyoming, and then there was the Doghuis from Arizona.
We are now going to cut across the forest east of here, along MT38, a mountain road taking travelers into the Beaver Lodge National Forest. We will perhaps camp out there for the night before hitting Anaconda, diverting from the original plan of going to Big Hole.
I have taken 9570 photos since arriving in Wyoming, with only around 400 more to go before I must either download all my pics or get yet another 8MG memory card!
There are waterfalls, steep granite walls and more trails to explore from Blodgett's Creek. One can easily get eight miles on this hike, which is my goal, so that despite the heat we still will have some cool time. Elevation start is 3471'. According to the Forest Service website, snow is still lying on the peaks as low as 7500'.
My odometer is now reading 4000.5 miles. I've driven over 1000 miles since Bozeman.
***
We started the hike at 8:37am. The trail is just outside the free campsite, which posted a "FULL" sign by the entrance. The creek roared nearby, as it would for the next four miles along the trail.
A careless camper started a wildfire here in the summer of 2000, burning most of the old growth pines in this canyon for the first three miles. New growth, especially the pines, where no more than 15' high at best, offering little shade for us despite the morning hours.
The golden currents, blue elderberry and western raspberry shrubs, however, were still berryless. This hike would be awesomely sweet and delicious in late July when everything is ripe!
Parts of this trail were indeed beautiful, as rocky crags on either side of the canyon reminded me of parts of Yosemite. I can only imagine what this place must have looked BEFORE the wildfire took out so many of the old trees. Many still remain as burned sticks, ready to break like pencil sticks after the next windstorm blows through.
A team of three USFS personnel passed me. They had been camping out along Blodgett's Creek, starting at the lake 11 miles uphill a week ago, to remove fallen trees along the way and to repair water culverts. Kudos to them as they did an excellent job, and I made sure I stopped at the USFS office in Hamilton to tell their supervisors. There were no fallen trees along the entire trail.
Old growth began shortly after passing the footbridge. Here is where the hike truly became beautiful again with tall shade trees to keep Sadie and I cooled. Rocks along the waterfall kept me steady as I rested on a ledge to take in the sounds.
I saw more people coming up the trail on our return hike at 11am. After resting 15 minutes at the second waterfall a mile upstream from the footbridge, we returned, making this a very pleasant summer morning hike without too much effort. The water was cold, clear and cascading and Sadie never had to suffer from thirst along this hike, which is why I opted for this rather than a more strenuous mountain hike. This is an ideal dog-friendly hike and there were indeed quite a few dogs along this trail.
It was 80F when we got back to a full parking lot. Only three cars were not from Montana. One sedan was from New York, another truck from Wyoming, and then there was the Doghuis from Arizona.
We are now going to cut across the forest east of here, along MT38, a mountain road taking travelers into the Beaver Lodge National Forest. We will perhaps camp out there for the night before hitting Anaconda, diverting from the original plan of going to Big Hole.
I have taken 9570 photos since arriving in Wyoming, with only around 400 more to go before I must either download all my pics or get yet another 8MG memory card!
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