Back Country Horsemen Montana State Convention -March 2 2019
Stillwater Chamber Business and Recreational Expo – March 27, 2019
Thank You Dave Heinle for chairing the commitee for the booth at Stillwater County Chamber of Commerce 2019 Buisiness and Recreational Sports Expo.
BCH National Meeting in North Carloina, April 11, 2019
Three Amigos showing off their Bolas
Main Stillwater Trail Clearing – April 25, 2019
Trail Clearing in the Custer-Gallatin National Forest is underway. On April 25th, five of us were able to clear over 6 miles up the Main Stillwater in just over 7 hours. We ran into quite a bit of downfall – some quite significant. On April 27th, four of us returned and were able to clear 10.3 miles in 8 1/2 hours. We cut and removed a large tree that was blocking a livestock water crossing; cleared and cut additional downfall and at 7 miles, tackled 1/10th of a mile of carnage left by a microburst that occurred Thursday evening or sometime Friday. It was a mess! The winds were so strong that a boulder landed in the middle of the trail. While more can be done to “sweep” that portion of the trail, it is passable for hikers and livestock. Hopefully, the trails cleared were spared by the high winds on the 28th. We did see a black bear 8 miles in – and the ticks are out. We will plan additional trips to the Main Stillwater within the next couple of weeks.
Island Lake Recon – May 19, 2019
Beau and Robin reconned Island Lake trail today – all of it. We are scheduled to clear tomorrow, and it shouldn’t be a problem at all. Very Little downfall, so we should be able to wrap it up in a single day. It was cold in the morning – it had just snowed, but warmed up throughout the day. The drive in was a bit slick and really muddy. I have to admit, it was kind of nice having the place all to myself.
Island Lake Clearing – May 10, 2019
Friday, May 10, 2019: Island Lake Trail Clearing. Much warmer today – which was good as we had a crew of five, two chainsaws and lots of handsaws and loppers. But mostly, just a pannier overflowing with a good work attitude. As Dan says, lets “get ur done”…and we did. Headed to the Main Stillwater tomorrow to see what more we can do there. Thank you Dan K, John and Louise J, John S – what a great crew!
More work on the Main Stillwater – May 12, 2019
Work on the Main Stillwater out of Nye continues. Five of us headed in on Saturday, we thought it had been cleared, but more work was needed. We cleared trees crossing the trail in the microburst area and on to Big Park (12 miles in). Fortunately, we always pack our trail tools. We are headed back this Tuesday to focus only on the microburst. Memorial Day is coming and we want the trail to be family friendly. We ran into our favorite Trail Runner and his dog, again…and he thanked us for the efforts we have made on the microburst area. He said, “it is so nice not to have to crawl over it.” That made all of us smile.
More Stillwater Clearing – May 15, 2019
Spent another day clearing the Stillwater Trail out of Nye. Today’s task was to widen the path along the trail affected by the microburst. We were surprised to see that more had come down onto the trail as the snow underneath melted. Knowing there was more snow to melt, we moved a lot of debris to the downhill side, cut out trees across the trail and rolled a lot of big rocks off the trail. Two boulders remain, that we simply lacked the muscle to remove. So proud of the work our three-person team accomplished. Thank you, Robert and Lynn – job well done!
Deer Creek Cabin Trail Recon – May 30, 2019
Local trail recon and clearing efforts continue. Yesterday two of us rode into Deer Creek Cabin to recon, a day behind Jeff and Rosi. As they were leading a pack string of 3 mules, they only cut out what they could not get around or go over. That said, we quit counting after 50 cuts – a lot of them were huge! While we still have more work on that end, a small crew should be able to clear the rest in a day and have it open for livestock and/or hikers to easily make it to the cabin from Jim’s Gulch, up West Bridger Creek. Warning – the water is extremely high and the 2nd to the last crossing before the cabin requires your horse/stock to swim.
Meyers Creek Trail Clearing – June 1, 2019
NATIONAL TRAILS DAY – June 1, 2019. In honor of this day, several members of the Beartooth Back Country Horsemen spent two days camped at Myers Creek Trail Head out of Nye, MT. Our goal was to clear the deadfall from the 2006 Derby Fire along the trail that follows Lower Deer Creek to Deer Creek Cabin, which is just under 11 1/2 miles. We cleared some amazingly twisted dead downfall and loped a lot of smaller lodgepole pine. We were actually impressed that our smaller chainsaws were able to tackle some of the bigger trees. We were stopped just 4 miles short of our goal, as the creek crossing at 7 1/2 miles was truly unsafe. Deep waters and log jams make for a deadly combination. We will schedule the remaining 4 miles after the waters have receded. As we were wrapping up lunch on day two, we were rewarded with rain, followed by hail. While we got wet, everyone was still smiling as we headed back to the trailhead basking in the joy of having accomplished something worthwhile. It is such a great feeling to know our bodies were used for the greater good.
Meyers Creek to Pass Creek Trail Clearing – June 12, 2019
June 12, 2019. Two of us headed back to Myer’s Creek to clear the Pass Creek Trail. While the majority of the trail work was located within a few miles, we cleared the full 7 miles to the Forest Service Boundary where Picket Pin Creek runs into Castle Creek. We had the cutest pack animal ever – Clyde. It was his first pack trip and he behaved beautifully.
Ernie Strum Trail Ride – June 22, 2019
Nice ride on the Ernie Strum trail today. Just a little bit of clean up. John Jenkins and Josie Thomsen each caught a fish.
Lake Fork trail to September Morn Packing Gear – July 13, 2019
The Beartooth Back Country Horsemen had a beautiful ride up the Lake Fork trail to September Morn – packing gear for the ABW trail maintenance crew. BBCH Members included: John Jenkins, John Simmons, Mary Sybrant, Wendy Galvin, and 5 pack animals. It ended up being a long day, with a few snafus on the way up. Folks arrived at the trailhead around 9 – 9:30 am, loaded gear, and hit the trail around 11. We were back to the trailhead around 5:30 pm. A crew will return on Tuesday to bring the gear back out.
Red Lodge Plateau Packing Trip – July 27, 2019
Red Lodge Plateau packing in the ABW crew to help rebuild the trails. Louise Case Jenkins, Mary Schmidt Sybrant.
Christmas Party – December 20, 2019
Amazing turn out for the Christmas Party. Thanks to everyone who came, I was so busy catching up with everybody, that I didn’t get many pictures. Please share your pictures in the comments. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
