The Wilderness Voice

Explore and Investigate our Wildest Places by Sally Cathey, MWA

Southwest Montana Field Director

Vol 5, No. 1, - Summer 2016

Newsletter of the Madison Gallatin Chapter

Area, June 29

Tongue River Breaks Hiking and Rid-

ing Area, June 30

Pryor Mountains

Tony Island July 22

Bear Canyon July 23-24

Crazy Mountains

Sunlight & Campfire Lakes, July 27-29

Sunlight Lake, August 1-2

Twin Lakes and Glacier Lake, August

5-6

Thunder Lake, August 9-10

Cowboy Heaven, August 13-14

Sage Creek, August 19-21

For more information on how to get

involved in Forest Plan Revision,

please contact Sally Cathey at

scathey@wildmontana.org.

This summer MWA is taking a closer

look at some of our wildest lands.

Our Wildlands Field Coordinator,

Emily Cleveland, will be trekking deep

into the woods to investigate these

wild places—and she’s hoping you’ll

join! The adventure is focused

around capturing observations of wil-

derness quality that will build a

stronger voice for our wild lands.

This is MWA’s second season invento-

rying our forest service lands, and we

could not be more excited about the

opportunities it presents.

This project is inspired by the need

for on-the-ground work that docu-

ments what our lands are like. So,

why do we need this data? Well, as

you’ve likely heard, the Custer-

Gallatin National Forest (CGNF)

kicked off its Forest Plan Revision in

January. This plan is the CGNF’s op-

portunity to recommend areas as wil-

derness or other management

statuses, so we want to make the

most of this opportunity. The data

collected this summer will help inform

these decisions as the forest prepares

for the revision process.

A day on the trail involves document-

ing observations of numerous meas-

urements including wildlife encoun-

ters, campsites, noxious weeds, and

trail conditions. While these hikes

move at a slower pace than a typical

hike, they require participants to

pause and look at the surrounding

landscape through a different lens.

Emily is looking for folks to join on

these excursions, and would love to

have you along.

This is an opportunity to experience

some of the lesser-known, less-traveled

landscapes on the CGNF. We invite

you to spend star-studded nights in the

Pryor Mountains, take your first hike

along the rugged Tongue River Breaks,

explore off trail in lake basins of the

Crazy Mountains, or explore Cowboy

Heaven in the Madison Range. Even

better, your participation on these un-

forgettable hikes will contribute to the

fight to keep these places wild.

In addition to volunteering on these

outings, there are many opportunities

for you to help advocate for our wild

places through the once-in-a-lifetime

opportunity the forest plan revision pre-

sents. The Forest Service is looking to

hear from each of us along the way,

and their next community meeting

in this area is scheduled for June

29th, 4:30-7:30 at Chief Joseph

Middle School in Bozeman. Here

is a complete list of this series of

community meetings.

The complete list of volunteer trips

include:

Cook Mountain Hiking and Riding

Area, June 28

King Mountain Hiking and Riding Twin Lakes, Crazy Mountains, photo by Roger

Jenkins

Page 2 The Wi lderness Voice Volume 5, Issue 1

Escape the Crowds by Barbara Geller

Red Mountain Saddle, photo by Roger Jenkins

With the celebration of the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary, Yellowstone is bound to be crowded this

summer. Escape the crowds and beat the heat on these wilderness trails, courtesy of MWA’s new online hik-

ing guide, www.hikewildmontana.org.

Be prepared for in-your-face views of Cone Peak, Redstreak

Peak and White Peak as you crest Red Mountain Saddle. The

Bacon Rind Creek Trail starts with 2 miles of flat, easy hiking

through grizzly and moose habitat in the far northwest corner of

Yellowstone. When the trail leaves the Park and enters the Lee

Metcalf Wilderness, the serious climbing begins but there are lots

of opportunities to stop, catch your breath, and turn around to

drink in the views of the Gallatin Range or the carpets of spring

wildflowers.

Round-trip distance: 11 miles

Total elevation gain: 2400 feet

Land Management: Yellowstone National Park; Lee Metcalf Wilderness, Custer-Gallatin National Forest

Enjoy a variety of terrain in the Lionhead Recommended Wilderness, just

northwest of West Yellowstone. The Sheep Lake Trail follows Sheep Creek through

shady forest, detours to a waterfall, then pops into lush open meadows before reach-

ing Sheep Lake, nestled in a cirque framed by numerous peaks. To learn more about

the geology of the Lionhead area, tour the nearby Quake Lake Visitor Center to learn

about the earthquake that created Quake Lake.

Round-trip distance: 13 miles

Total elevation gain: 2630 feet

Land Management: Lionhead Recommended Wilderness, Custer-Gallatin National

Forest

Watch for marmots, mountain goats, and petrified wood

on the long, gentle climb up Buffalo Horn Trail to Ramshorn

Lake. The trail meanders along creeks, through thick forest, into

high alpine meadows. Fortress Mountain and Ramshorn Peak

loom above the lake and provide habitat for mountain goats.

Round-trip distance: 12.5 miles

Total elevation gain: 1900 feet

Land Management: Hyalite-Porcupine-Buffalo Horn Wilderness

Study Area, Custer-Gallatin National Forest Ramshorn Lake, photo by Steve Anderson

Waterfall, photo by Sylvia Davis

Page 3 The Wi lderness Voice Volume 5, Issue 1

Pine Creek Lake, photo by Barbara Geller

Soak tired feet in alpine Pine Creek Lake. Although many

families explore the easy 2.5 mile (round trip) hike to Pine Creek

Falls, far fewer hikers continue on for the much steeper trek up

to Pine Creek Lake . Those who make the effort are awed by the

picturesque views of this alpine lake surrounded by 10,000’

Mount McKnight and Black Mountain. Soak up the sunshine on

the granite slabs around the lake.

Round-trip distance: 10.5 miles

Total elevation gain: 3826 feet

Land Management: Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area, Custer

-Gallatin National Forest

With the help of more than 70 MWA volunteers who hiked, photographed, and mapped 200+ trails,

www.hikewildmontana.org offers a single website where you can discover new trails, view inspiring photos,

get up-to-date trail conditions, and add your own trail descriptions or trip reports. Explore it to find your own

special places to get away and cool off this summer. While you’re there, give thanks for the quiet and soli-

tude of our wilderness areas.

There’s Still Time to Take a Summer Walk

The list below covers the remaining walks as of the first of July. Some may already be filled, but you can

probably still find some great ones. You can find out more details in the Wilderness Walks book, which

you should have received in April. And, don’t forget to go to wildmontana.org to register.

Saturday, July 2 Windy Pass

Friday, July 15 Sunlight Meadow

Saturday, July 23 Paradise Valley Geology

Sunday, July 24 Lemondrop Mountain

Saturday, August 6 The Mummy

Sat., August 6 - Sun., August 7 Crazy Mountains Backpack

Saturday, August 13 Crater Lake

Saturday, August 20 Fan Mountain

Saturday, August 27 Hyalite Peak

Page 4 The Wi lderness Voice Volume 5, I ssue 1

Adopt-a-Highway Summer Event by Roxanna McLaughlin

Calling all able bodied earth lovers! Our Madison/Gallatin MWA chapter is set to clean up our adopted sec-tion of Highway 191 on Saturday July 9. This is our summer clean-up day, and the more help we have, the faster we will get done.

We meet at 8 am, leaving our cars at the Bozeman Hotsprings parking lot, and we will carpool to clean up the right-of-way between mile markers 77 and 79. After we are finished we can meet up for a picnic (bring your own or purchase something onsite) at the Coffee Pot Bakery.

This is a busy section of highway, so we can only accept helpers over 18. I will have those stylish yellow safety vests for you to wear, and please remember to bring water and snacks and work gloves, too. I will be emailing you around July 1 with a more detailed reminder.

if you can help us with this project, please contact Roxanna Mclaughlin (gaia_maid@yahoo.com 406-539-7379) before July 5. Also, we need four people to be team leaders, so if you want to be one of those four, please let me know when you contact me.

By the way, the spring cleanup on May 7 was a roaring success. There were around 17 participants and we finished up in under 3 hours. Thirty-eight bags of litter were collected in addition to several unbaggable items. A big thanks to everyone who helped out that day.

Spring cleanup, photo by Roger Jenkins

Help Needed for our Summer Farmer’s Market Table

Our interim Chapter Chair, David Steinmuller, has been leading the charge to man our Chapter’s Table at the Saturday morning Farmer’s Market at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds in Bozeman. But he can’t do it all him-self. So he could use YOUR help in setting up before the 9 am start, and then co-manning the table. It’s fun and a great way to meet interesting people, potentially recruit volunteers and promote the Montana Wilder-ness Association, especially our new on-line hiking guide, hike.wildmontana.org. While July and early August are in good shape assis-tance-wise, David still needs help on August 13, 20, 27, and September 3. If you are interested, please contact him at dsteinmul@msn.com. And of course, when you are visiting the Saturday Farmer’s Market this summer, please stop by and say “hi.” It is always great to see our local members.

Page 5 The Wi lderness Voice Volume 5, I ssue 1

Join us in celebration of Montana’s wild places with a weekend full of live music, hikes, presentations, family activities, food and fun. Wild Fest 2016 is only 5 months away and the committee is planning events and activities that people from all over the state will be talk-ing about for a long time.

This year we are partnering with Giant Springs State Park to host the event. It’s the most visited state park in Montana, and an inspiring place to celebrate Mon-tana’s wild places. You’ll love the two bands – Rabbit Wilde (classic Americana folk) is playing Friday night, and Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs (old time tunes, rock and roll spirit) will entertain us Saturday night. The Celtic Cowboy downtown will host an after party each night with live music and discounted drinks for Wild Fest attendees.

We have many hikes planned for Friday (Old North Trail, Flat Top, Mt. Wright, Headquarters Pass, Devil’s Glen, and Our Lake – all on the majestic Rocky Moun-tain Front) and more on Saturday (Giant Springs Bird-ing, Sluice Boxes, Crown Butte, Sulphur Springs, First People’s Buffalo Jump and Highwood Mountains – all just a short distance from Great Falls). On Saturday af-ternoon people can enjoy speakers, kids activities and display tables from partner organizations, businesses and agencies.

There will be 40 tent and truck camping sites available at Giant Springs for this event. RV’s and campers can go to the nearby KOA.

What would Wild Fest be without the auction of a huck-leberry pie? We’ll have that plus other live auction items; the silent auction will be on display all weekend.

The Hi-Ho bar will be selling beer and wine, and multi-ple food vendors will be on hand throughout the week-end.

Tell your family and friends and save the dates of Sep-tember 9 and 10, 2016! For more information visit our website throughout the summer at www.wildmontana.org/wildfest or call (406) 443-7350 ext. 110.