Overland Camping Roadtrip Blog
Travel Day 4:
Total km drive to date: 1657km
Total km walked to date: 28.4km
Blackfoot River – Big Creek
470km drive
8km on foot
Today I decided to let Garminder choose the most fuel efficient route instead of the fastest and I was rewarded with a great drive. I could have turned around and went back to I-90 for some 75mph racing but since I’m not in a huge hurry I ended up on Montana Highway 200…speed limit is only 70mph haha! It wound out of the canyon and into nice rolling farmland with ranches on either side of the road. Numerous pulloff’s for “Angler Locations” along the Blackfoot River and some stunning scenery.
With Led Zepplin cranked on the ipod (as somehow seemed fitting blasting thru the back roads of Montana) I found myself steadily climbing until I reached McDonald Pass at 6300ft. Beautiful views surrounded us on all sides looking down into Helena. Axel and I took a hike around the summit and snapped a few photos and then it was off downhill into Helena and some thicker air.
We fueled up in Helena (cheapest yet at 2.63/G) and then set out for Bozeman with a plan to stay in that area for the night. Bozeman is a nice town surrounded by hills with snow capped mountains in the distance. After a bit of time online I decided to head thru Livingston and down Hwy 89 to find a spot to camp since its on the way to Yellowstone which is my next destination. Seeing a sign for Big Creek National Forest I headed off the highway and onto a gravel road. About 5km up the road I there was a little campsite on the rushing river surrounded by cliffs on both sides and it seemed like the perfect spot for camp. After dinner Axel and I decided to take a hike up to the top of one of the surrounding cliffs to see what we could see. As we crested the steep loose hillside I heard whinnying and we found ourselves in middle of a large herd of about 100 horses grazing on the mountain top. Neither the horses or I were so sure of each other so we kept our distance and took a few photos before heading back down to the camper for the night. Of course no adventure would be complete without Axel and for a dog that never rolls in things I have to say I learned that he enjoys rolling in some extremely fresh horse shit. Thanks buddy. A quick wash for both of us in the extremely cold creek and we settled in the for night.
