Black Butte, King Butte, and Beyond

Just another perfect day here in Yellowstone country!!  Just 18 miles south of Big Sky on Hwy 191, we enter the northernmost boundry of Yellowstone National Park.  Most of the park is in Wyoming, but a small percentage - about 3% or 100 square miles - is in Montana just south of us.  That means the trails are maintained and the wildlife and environment are protected.

We decided to hike a new trail today, the Black Butte trail named for Black Butte Creek which flows down from Black Butte mountain through the drainage into the Gallatin River.  The 600-acre privately owned Black Butte Ranch, which has been owned by the same family (Patten family) for 4 generations, is just to the west of the trailhead and adjacent to the park boundary.

The trail parallels Black Butte Creek through stands of mostly lodgepole pine, but there are also a few groves of aspen and Douglas fir.  Black Butte is just south of the trail and is the first landmark we passed.  The trail climbs about 600 feet for 2 miles and then forks with two options - neither of which we took.  The more challenging option - for another day - is to continue on for 7 miles and a 3100 ft climb to the summit of Big Horn Peak, and if your're really energetic, on to Shelf Lake 3 miles further.  The other option is to connect to the Daly Creek trail, a more moderate challenge that continues on for another 10 or so miles.

Neither of these options was our goal, so we just found a log at the base of the massive King Butte and sat and ate our lunch surrounded by the silence.  Oh, we heard a few birds here an there - a junco and a magpie - and the breeze was strong enough to make a low whistle.  But, there was not another person on the trail.  Nor was there any wildlife other than a few flying grasshoppers and an occasional squirrel busily collecting his stores for the winter.  We saw some evidence that elk or grizzlies had been around:  grasses matted and bark stripped from tree trunks - but no live sightings.

But, we don't have to go far from our front door to find wildlife.  Thursday night we were having dinner with friends in their home which overlooks Lake Levinsky within walking distance.  As we sipped our wine on the balcony, we spotted 3 moose - one cow and two bulls sparring for her affection.  It's just a constant reminder here that we are sharing space with these magnificent creatures.

The views on the way out were just as beautiful and, since the trail was downhill, we made the return trip in about half the time.  When we returned to our parking spot beside the Gallatin River, we spoke to a fisherman just jumping into his waders and getting ready to flyfish for trout.  As we say... just another Chamber of Commerce day.