Montana Snowboard Road Trip / Backcountry Hike up Hyalite Canyon / Bridger Bowl Ski Area

On da road, drive till 1:00am, duck into a rest stop along highway. Turn on the furnace in da Four Wheel Camper, nice and cozy inside 65 degrees, outside at 6 degrees. Fold out the couch and there is no need to pop up the top on camper. Plenty of room. 

350 miles first night of driving, 650 miles next day. 1000 miles to Bozeman, Montana. Arrived after 650 mile day in Bozeman at 4:30pm. Plenty of time to wander around Bozeman & pick up supper for back at hotel. 

At Bridger Bowl, 16 miles up the road from Bozeman. There is no lodging at Bridger, so there is a daily pilgrimage up the mountain road each day. That part of the beauty of Bridger, people aren’t just hanging out, they are there to snowboard or ski.

It cool that I can just pop up my FWC in the lot and have a place to get dressed or organize for the day on da mountain.

Sundown after a good day on the snowboard.

I saw many Four Wheel Campers in Montana, I actually bought my FWC in Bozeman in 2020. My FWC and F350 Ford next to a FWC mounted in a Ford Ranger.

Beautiful waterfalls we reached on a hike up into Hyalite Canyon. I was able to witness some ice climbers along hike. This is some true backcountry surrounding the Hyalite Canyon area.

Classic Ford 4x4. 

Livin’

A bit more snowboarding at Bridger Bowl. A great trip with good variety and meeting many likeminded adventurers. I learn things on every adventure.

1008 miles back to Minnesota. Exited Bozeman at 7:00pm, drove till 1:30am. Same plan as on trip out. Stopped for the night at a highway rest stop. Got a solid 5 1/2 hour sleep and finished road trip next day.

Ride on!

 

Montana Backcountry with Four Wheel Camper and Kawasaki KLX 300

Open sky Montana ranch land.

It was a bit of a last minute decision to travel to Bozeman, Montana. Bozeman is where I purchased the FWC back in March of 2020. I contacted the FWC dealer and he told me that if I could get out to Bozeman the next day that he could get the wiring connection done. So I pulled an overnight drive of 1100 miles/14 hours.

I needed to have my Four Wheel Camper wired to my new pickup, my 2021 F-350. I have the 160 watts of solar on the roof to charge my duel batteries in the camper. With the wiring connected to the truck, now I have the running lights on the camper plus the batteries are being charged as I drive, which keeps them fully charged. So that was the start of my 11 day Montana adventure.

Good exploring the Bridger Mountains on the KLX.

Put in a good 101 mile day on the Moto towards the Crazy Mountains, Met Thunder Jack, a mountain man from many decades ago.

Plenty of range cattle wondering the mountains.

Pure black cow moose crossing a field after emerging from a creek bottom.

Eyeing me up as I travel the ranch road on the Moto.

The only vehicle on the remote ranch road...

A fellow in the campground told me about this single track that climbed through the forest and dropped into a high plateau.

Met up with ole Smoky the Bear outside the Bridger Range.

Tools of the backcountry, The Kawasaki is the perfect vehicle for exploring the upper mountain trails. 

This was a good 11 day trip to Montana with good weather, some good trail information from some local folks. The Kawasaki KLX 300 is the goat for the mountain roads & trails.

Ride on!
 

Skier Avalanche Fatality, Henderson Bench, Cooke City - 12 Dec 2016

The Revenant | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX / A Good Mountain Bike Ride Along the River / Grizzly Bear Attack in Montana

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 After watching "The Revenant" the night before it seemed appropriate to head for the River Bottoms after an early winter storm, a rather small weather event actually. Dropped some rain and snow, much more snow 100 miles to the north, still like to get out and be on the trails with the mountain bikes.

 The banks rise sharply over the river in places, I can imagine what it must have been for the explorers 200 years ago when they crest a rise and get a view like this and not knowing what lies across... The river was the highway for early explorers, both for the floating and keeping track of their direction. The challenges were when it came time to cross the river or the backwaters that could be treacherous with bogs and Grizzly Bears roaming the swamps.

No Grizzlies within 700 miles of this adventure... Ha!

Not so with this story from early October... Grizzly Bear attack in Montana check out this link... http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-montana-grizzly-bear-attacks-man-twice-20161004-story.html

 From the recent high waters in the river valley there is evidence of the power that the waters have.

 Good day on the bikes... Ride On!!

Montana & Utah Avalanche Fatalities / January 21 & 24, 2016 / Snowmobile / Skier

http://www.flatheadavalanche.org/sites/default/files/20160124_swedecreekavalaccidentreport_final.pdf


This is a very good report that helps one understand a bit more of what happens in the moments right after things go terribly wrong. This is a second avalanche and report that happened in Utah. Both valuable sources of info. RIP and condolences to all involved. Be careful out there in the mountains...


 https://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanches/26182

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Photo from my trip to Colorado this week, the view from our backcountry cabin. Notice the natural slide on the slope. These are east facing slopes which are the wind loaded aspects. Storm a few days ago with big winds loaded the east facing mountain.

This is a link to the Colorado / USA Avalanche site that is also a link on my blog site. Check it out.

 http://avalanche.state.co.us/accidents/us/

I am using this information for myself as a learning tool. We just returned home after a trip into the backcountry mountains of Colorado. We encountered slope situations and I like the fact that we quickly discuss our next move. One can not be correct 100% of the time...but you better be correct in each decision that you are making at that present time so you can come back alive.  

Yellowstone Park After Dark / Leaving Cooke City, Montana

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A few views as we leave Cooke City, Montana. This is a huge dome mountain that juts up out of the trees. The winds had picked up and were whipping the snow off the top.

 This was an awesome sight to see the moon rising over the mountains as we headed into Yellowstone Park. We would travel about 75 miles through the Park in the dark.

 I was on full alert driving through Yellowstone, as we came upon several herds of Bison that were in the road and just hanging out in the 4 degree temperature.

No Bull, these Elk stood in the middle of the road and seemed to challenge our truck before moving into the brush. As they ambled off the road they faced each other and spared with their antlers, cool sight.

Road Trip On!!

Cooke City, Montana / Backcountry Sledboard 2015 / M8 Cat & RMK Pro 800 / Burton Fish Pow Boards

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Cooke City is a snowmobile town in the winter. Park out front and ride from your hotel to the trail out of town and into the mountains.

 Getting some snowmobile riding in before the boarding. Had a good snowmobile ride yesterday, getting a feel for the sleds and snow conditions. We were up near Daisy Pass, found some good drops for the snowboards, so game on...

 Weez dropping out of the trees and heading for the sled.

 We had to pose for the sledboard pictures after a very good day in the backcountry on the sleds and boards. The other sled was up top waiting for us.

Each run consisted of both of us riding our sleds down to the bottom, leaving one there. Then Weez would climb on the sled, sit down and hold onto the mountain strap on the handle bars, I would stand behind her. It was a wild ride, climbing back up the mountain on the sled. She really must trust me because I'm on the gas all the way. then we would board down and repeat the ride back up.

 The final drop down to the the sled was steep and powder.

 It was a blast to get back on the sleds and ride the mountains. The final day we rented an Arctic Cat M800 / 153 inch track and a Polaris PRO RMK 800 / 155 inch track. The sleds are about 160 horsepower...they rip!

 We finished the trip off with a ride up the trail, not ready to give up the riding and being in the mountains. Mountain cabin with Elk antlers and thick blanket of snow.

Main street Cooke City, Montana

Sledboard on!!