Trout Creek Canyon and Holter Lake in Big Belts; Rogers Pass at 74; Wayne's Walks resume

My 74th Birthday photo above Holter Lake on a high point

Wayne Phillips joined us for part of our Holter Lake hike, a resumption of the Wayne's Wednesday Walks, after a two year Covid hiatus

Nora Gray takes a scenic break

The Kelseya flowers are starting to bloom in Trout Creek Canyon

Katie above Rogers Pass on the Continental Divide Trail

 Lots of repeats here as I continue to condition for hiking season.

The headline hike was to the Holter Lake country where, after a two-year Covid break, we resumed our Wayne's Walks, and Wayne, despite a hampered knee, joined us for a part of it.

I've pretty much let backcountry skiing go, although it snowed today and it would have been possible.

We went for a hunt for Kelseya flowers up Trout Creek Canyon in the Big Belts, retraced our steps from a couple of weeks ago above Holter Lake from Juniper to Log Gulch and hiked a short distance up the west side of Rogers Pass on my 74th birthday.

Since my last post I've returned to River's Edge Trail numerous times, hiking the North and South shores and taking in sites like Sacajawea Springs.

I can report that I'm in pretty good shape for my age, although I'm having issues with a hammer toe on my left foot and the tired, heavy legs I've struggled with for more than a year.  I'm trying to make an appointment with a vascular surgeon.

The walk from Vigilante Campground up Trout Creek in the Big Belts is a breathtaking spectacle of towering cliffs.  I marvel that we used to drive this route before the big flood in 1981 closed the road permanently.  We walked very near to the 3-mile mark where a Forest Service Road comes in.  We didn't get all the way because we got blocked by snow and ice.  We found the first flowers of the rare Kelseya that hang in spots from these steep walls.  I think we were at least a week early to enjoy the full bloom.

The wildflowers have really progressed since our last visit two weeks ago to the Holter Lake area.  There are Pasque flowers in abundance and we saw plenty of yellow bells, kitten tails, phlox, Douglasia and even some early shooting stars on our 4.5 miles loop from Juniper Gulch to Log Gulch and back with a short climb to a high point.  I'm always impressed with the views of the Missouri River impoundment, Sleeping Giant Mountain, the Beartooth Game Range and snow covered Willow Peak in the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness Area.

Finally, on my birthday we did a short loop along River's Edge Trail to Giant Springs Park and back and the drove to Rogers Pass where we walked across snow patches to the first major outcropping before being turned around by snow drifts.  Looking across the highway to the east and Rodgers Peak, we could see that climbing the peak would have been possible via the ridgeline rather than the trail.

It was a very nice birthday hike.