Hellroaring Plateau
It’s the flat top of that mountain in the distance.
Dithered about whether to walk up the road or try to drive up the road: 6 miles to the trailhead and then 2 miles to the survey ~ 3,000 feet up. The biologist from 2017 recommended against driving.
The campground host said he won’t drive his truck up there: boulders, scree over the road, no shoulder, 1,000 foot drop-offs, rutted, full of holes, washed out. But, he said, it was clear.
“Of snow?”
“Yes. And the two bridges are intact.”
He had an ATV with a trailer hauling outhouse cleaning stuff. I thought about going to Red Lodge and renting an ATV.
Back at the truck, a group of people on ATVs were just coming off the mountain. The older man looked at my car and said he thought I could make it. The younger man stood in back, looked at my car, and shook his head.
Decided to leave the car below and walk up.
My legs are shot but not completely shot.
I packed light.
A jeep with two men came down the hill.
“Do you think I could make it in that?” I pointed to the 4Runner.
Driver, “I think so.”
The guy in the passenger seat looked at the 4Runner and made a scared face.
Driver, “The only thing I might worry about is your tires, they look like highway tires.” His jeep had new-looking, deeply treaded tires. He said, “If you had been here an hour and a half ago, I would have given you a ride up.”
Thought about waiting until tomorrow and hitch-hiking up with ATVers; but there was another severe weather advisory for tomorrow.
As I walked up the road, it didn’t seem too bad.
Another group of ATVers came down. They said the road was fine all the way to the top, and that a jeep was coming down behind them. One of the guys looked at me and said, “You know it’s six miles up, right?”
Next, the jeep came around the corner - a small, low clearance, mini-van-like jeep with highway tires. The guy said, “Oh yeah, a 4Runner could make it no problem. There’s even a Ford F150 up there.”
My backpacking trip: walked up the road, changed my mind, and walked back. The car is at the green arrow.
If a big fat cow like a Ford F150 could make it, then my agile little 4Runner could make it too. I turned around and walked back to the car.
Jagged rocks in the center of the road seemed to bounce the 4Runner toward the edge.
No guardrails.
A website called Dangerous Roads features Hellroaring Road.
After two hours, crying, I made it to the top.
I will do anything to avoid sleeping outside.
Next morning, I left at 0400.
It was a flat walk across the plateau and I got to the survey at 0540.
I remembered my gaiters.
This is the land of Lincoln’s Sparrows.
To me, their song sounds like “Abe Lincoln was a VERY smart man, ooo eee.”
Lincoln’s Sparrow
by ADJ82
I saw two Golden Eagles soaring on the updrafts.
Golden Eagle
Black Rosy-Finch live here and almost nowhere else.
Black Rosy-Finch
by Shawn Billerman
I’ve only found them one other time, in Wyoming years ago, so when I heard them, I didn’t know what they were. When I saw them, I was so happy - the effort to get here was worth it.
Found a six-pack on my way out and partied.
Put the empties in my pack, which now smells like beer.
The car is the red balloon with the white square. The survey is #s 3, 4, 5.
Made it back to the car around noon.
And back to Red Lodge around 3.
I sat in front of the fire at the Pollard Hotel and stared for hours.
