Louise Lake, Tobacco Roots
duffer
Active Jeeper
- Posts
- 466
- Thanks
- 29
- Location
- Bozeman, MT
- Vehicle(s)
- 1955 CJ3B: Dart/AFR aluminum 441 sbc, AGE M22W trans, "super" D18 w/ TeraLows & OD, FF44 PowrLoc Rear, D44 front-ARB/Reid/Dutchman, 4 wheel discs, York OBA, PP welder, 8274, glass/aluminum body, 33-12.5's;
1968 CJ5: all stock (V6/T86/D18) except 4bbl & headers and rear aux tank, HD rear 44 housing, Warn OD, Belleview winch;
2012 JKU Rubicon: Warn 9.5xp-s in Warn Elite, RSE rear bumper/tire carrier, Mopar lift, 35-12.5's, ARB OBA;
1947 2A and 49 3A that may or may not get built, and several FC/wagon derelicts
My wife and I cheated the weather and got in another backpacking trip over the weekend. The only thing Jeep involved was driving it to the trail head and parking it. The trip is about 3.5 miles (one way) and a lot of switchbacks.
The weather was cold and windy Saturday on our way in and the wind Saturday night tested the tent purchase on its substrate. Sunday morning was just cold and clear but it warmed up quickly for a pleasant day. The objective was Louise Lake in the South Boulder River drainage in the Tobacco Root Mountains.
Bismark Reservoir at the trail head. This was an intake impoundment for an 18" wire wrapped wood pipe that dropped about 140' elevation and powered the equipment at the Bismark Mine. Some of the wood structure remains.
Mount Jackson (left) and Lakeshore Mountain
I'm not sure what the motivation was for the trail "reconstruction" since the last time we were here 15 years ago, but it's close to wheelchair accessible now and perhaps that will be good for me in a few more years but it was a gross waste of money.
The token pika shot. This guy (or gal?) was still stashing elk thistle leaves.
Middle Mountain (elev 10,353') Sunday am.
Sunday Breakfast-the dishes are Sojo freeze dried dog food-the Mountain House "Breakfast Griddle" was ours.
While my wife was throwing line at the cuts, I headed up the bowl on the upper end of Louise Lake.
Line throwing-it was a success. There are some really nice Yellowstone cutthroats in Louise
After taking the interstate trail in, we found the old trail out. It follows the creek for a distance before cutting eastward. Interestingly, there were a lot of 2" Yellowstone cuts here but we saw none in the lake. I suspect that since the only potential spawning area in the lake is the outlet and as cuts are spring spawners, all the fry get washed down the creek and there are too many falls for any return. The few that survive in the lake likely end up as chow for the bigger ones.
The old trail comes out about a third of a mile downstream from the new one and rather than hike back out to the road and then back to the trail head, we bushwacked up the south side of the South Boulder River (here decidedly more a creek). It was steep and dense but we found a lot of remnants of the Bismark pipeline.
The weather was cold and windy Saturday on our way in and the wind Saturday night tested the tent purchase on its substrate. Sunday morning was just cold and clear but it warmed up quickly for a pleasant day. The objective was Louise Lake in the South Boulder River drainage in the Tobacco Root Mountains.
Bismark Reservoir at the trail head. This was an intake impoundment for an 18" wire wrapped wood pipe that dropped about 140' elevation and powered the equipment at the Bismark Mine. Some of the wood structure remains.
Mount Jackson (left) and Lakeshore Mountain
I'm not sure what the motivation was for the trail "reconstruction" since the last time we were here 15 years ago, but it's close to wheelchair accessible now and perhaps that will be good for me in a few more years but it was a gross waste of money.
The token pika shot. This guy (or gal?) was still stashing elk thistle leaves.
Middle Mountain (elev 10,353') Sunday am.
Sunday Breakfast-the dishes are Sojo freeze dried dog food-the Mountain House "Breakfast Griddle" was ours.
While my wife was throwing line at the cuts, I headed up the bowl on the upper end of Louise Lake.
Line throwing-it was a success. There are some really nice Yellowstone cutthroats in Louise
After taking the interstate trail in, we found the old trail out. It follows the creek for a distance before cutting eastward. Interestingly, there were a lot of 2" Yellowstone cuts here but we saw none in the lake. I suspect that since the only potential spawning area in the lake is the outlet and as cuts are spring spawners, all the fry get washed down the creek and there are too many falls for any return. The few that survive in the lake likely end up as chow for the bigger ones.
The old trail comes out about a third of a mile downstream from the new one and rather than hike back out to the road and then back to the trail head, we bushwacked up the south side of the South Boulder River (here decidedly more a creek). It was steep and dense but we found a lot of remnants of the Bismark pipeline.
