Cottonwood Creek Trail, BLM Lands (Wyoming), August 2024 After my afternoon in Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, I went in search of a camping spot and settled on the modest (but free!) BLM campground at Cottonwood Creek, on the east side of Bighorn Lake. After sleeping amid the sagebrush, I ventured out in the morning …
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Barry's Island Trail, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, August 2024 Barry’s Island Trail, situated at the end of the paved road in Bighorn Canyon, was my third hike of the day and second in the park. I added a foray into the Medicine Creek/Davis Creek drainage, which was terrific but not recommended for those without …
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Rangers Delight Trail, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, August 2024 After the disappointing failed trek up to Pine Creek Lake, yours truly was in a bit of a rotten mood, but spirits were lifted after reaching Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, a charming and uncrowded park on the Montana-Wyoming border. Here I did a couple …
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Pine Creek Falls, Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, August 2024 The real reason for my foray into Yellowstone National Park the previous day was to eventually end up at Pine Creek Campground in the Absaroka Mountains. Here I planned to spend the hike and take on the challenging 9.5-mile hike to Pine Creek Lake the following morning. But …
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Wraith Falls, Yellowstone National Park, August 2024 After spending much of the afternoon on the nearby Bunsen Peak Loop, I had a little time left in the day for a short walk. After recharging at Mammoth Hot Springs, I ventured partway east on Grand Loop Road and settled on this brief jaunt. In a park …
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Bunsen Peak Trail, Yellowstone National Park, August 2024 Heading south and east from the Bitterroot Range, I spent the night at Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park and then--in a rather spontaneous move--set out for a day in Yellowstone, America’s first national park. The park, of course, is massive, so I bit off only a …
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Baker Lake, Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, Bitterroot National Forest, August 2024 After dropping Lisa at the airport in Missoula, I was riding solo for the rest of the cross-country trip, and after the 2.5 days in Glacier National Park, I set off southwards to explore a few other mountain ranges in Montana. After spending a stormy night …
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Upper Two Medicine Lake, Glacier National Park, August 2024 After a change of plans that required us to leave Glacier National Park a day early, we were left with only ½ day in the Two Medicine area, a lesser-visited alternative to very popular Many Glacier. Unlike in Many Glacier, we opted for the boat tour …
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Grinnell Glacier Trail, Glacier National Park, August 2024 Now on Day 9 of the cross-country excursion, we finally caught a break with the weather—a clear morning in the paradise of the Many Glacier section of Glacier National Park. It came with a catch, however—or two. For one, my hiking partner wasn’t feeling well enough to …
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Hidden Lake Overlook, Glacier National Park, August 2025 Fast-forwarding a couple of days in early August, we zipped across southeast Washington and northern Idaho to reach Montana’s Glacier National Park. For such a hard-to-reach destination, this place is teeming with visitors in summer, with trail crowds the likes of which I had never seen. Good …
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Live and Let Hike 