Neighborhood Photo Shoot

Crusing around yesterday a little south of Big Sky at Hebgen Lake was a good excuse to shoot some photos i figured. Weather did all sorts of things though- Sunny, then cloudy, then snow; i definetly didnt dress appropriately but whatever.

Hebgen is a cool spot. Anyone familiar with lakes and communities living around lakes anywhere would remark at how little development Hebgen has around it, and for good reason- most of the year this lake is cold as hell. Another more prominent excuse is that most of the lake is surrounded by National Forest Land. "National Forest Land" you say? Well National Forests are, by definition, the sh*t! Not to be confused with National Parks, which are generally cool also, but posses a lot of restrictions with what you can do, and almost always charge a fee of at least 25$ a day.

This massive fellow above is some of the company I met with yesterday. Dealing with Buffalo, especially driving around them, is an acquired skill, mostly relating to timing. Yellowstone National Park is notorious for traffic backups caused by gaper-motorists who don't keep it movin past these humongous animals. They are also the most prone to having the side of their vehicles goured by these buffalo. Yesterday around Hebgen I must've seen over a hundred different buffalo all doing their thing (i dont really know THAT much about buffalo to be honest aside from A: Their size, B: Speed they can run (like 35 or some sh*t!) and C: That they can jump at least 5 feet high (dont ask me how i just read that once....in a book!)

Quake Lake was formed....damn, like 20 years ago I think. I have other shots of this lake on this blog somewhere, but it's still cool to see trees growing (or dead standing up straight) in this lake. On a semi-related note: Montana is notorious for naming every body of water a lake, even if it posses no water anymore.

That's Hebgen again, i got the photos in the wrong order.

I don't know the name of this mountain, all I saw is a forest service access sign, which led me here. But that brings me back to my original point, PRO NATIONAL FORESTS! It's great, all you go off is a brown sign with a name, and that means that this sketchy dirt road will lead to national forest access. So I took this one, off a road id never been on, and it read Mile Creek Rd. Undoubtebly, the creek is probably called "Mile Creek" but i cant verify that. There wasn't a lot of info at the trailhead, but it did say there was an old Mine at the end of this trail. I was intrigued....

This is the point on the hike when i decided to turn back. There was a fresh path of snow, and about a half mile in (i was alone also) i began to notice i was following a set of prints that rivaled my own in regards to size. Check out the sharp nails on that thing! I considered my options, and my interests in the Mine, then some heavy snow moved in and I decided going to a mine alone following Wolf tracks is a great beginning to my Montana demise. Maybe next time, Wolf!

This was Sheep Creek Rd, the next national forest sign I went to. This one proved less interesting, aside from the presence of birch trees, something you dont get everywhere in Montana. I deducted that this was mainly a horseback riding trail from the tracks, and pressed on. I went to another spot but didnt take photos. But the goods are out there. Did I mention that for the most part one can camp anywhere on National Forest land for up to 14 days straight without permit or paying anything? National Parks you need backcountry permits and theres a lot more restrictions, like no dogs! Anyways, that's it for todays post of National Forests, and my neighborhood in general....