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May All Your Blues Be Birds

Hellroaring Plateau

July 08, 2019  /  Ms. J.

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It’s the flat top of that mountain in the distance.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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As I walked up the road, it didn’t seem too bad.

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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.”

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My backpacking trip: walked up the road, changed my mind, and walked back. The car is at the green arrow.

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.

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Jagged rocks in the center of the road seemed to bounce the 4Runner toward the edge.

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No guardrails.

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A website called Dangerous Roads features Hellroaring Road.

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After two hours, crying, I made it to the top.

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I will do anything to avoid sleeping outside.

Next morning, I left at 0400.

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It was a flat walk across the plateau and I got to the survey at 0540.

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I remembered my gaiters.

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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 Sparrowby ADJ82

Lincoln’s Sparrow

by ADJ82

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I saw two Golden Eagles soaring on the updrafts.

Golden Eagleby Martin Mecnarowski

Golden Eagle

by Martin Mecnarowski

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Black Rosy-Finch live here and almost nowhere else.

Black Rosy-Finchby Shawn Billerman

Black Rosy-Finch

by Shawn Billerman

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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.

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Found a six-pack on my way out and partied.

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Put the empties in my pack, which now smells like beer.

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The car is the red balloon with the white square. The survey is #s 3, 4, 5.

The car is the red balloon with the white square. The survey is #s 3, 4, 5.

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Made it back to the car around noon.

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And back to Red Lodge around 3.

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I sat in front of the fire at the Pollard Hotel and stared for hours.

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