Climbing Blacktail II
October 8, 2023 - After climbing the mountain last week, we discussed walking along the cliffs on the southern side of the mountain. We decided there was no reason not to try. We had already done the research and had a good idea where to go.
We decided, rather than hiking out and back, we would leave a vehicle at both ends of our route. The problem was, do we hike east to west or west to east. This is one of those problems that has no wrong answer, just better answers. The argument for the west-to-east route was hiking a very steep slope with no trail is easier up than down due to the potential of slipping on loose gravel. I also thought it would be easier to see and avoid the cliffs and talus from below. (Talus is the loose rock at the bottom of a cliff.) The argument for the east-to-west route was similar. It would be easier to hike up the less steep slope to the east but down on the western end would be more treacherous. I also though it would be easier to find the trail on the western end than determining where to turn off the trail to go to the cliffs.
The most important difference being, do you want to be breathing harder going up or fall on your backside going down. We chose breathing harder going up. I would rather fall on my face if I had to choose. It’s easier to grab on to bushes that way.
We started hiking from what I have previously called the west route. There is a small parking lot along Route 18 that was our starting point. There was only the beginning of a trail near a sign. The trail quickly disappeared in the sagebrush and rabbitbush.
This was not a problem as the brush was less than 2-feet tall. There were few trees (Gamble oaks and occasionally serviceberry , both around 7-foot tall). The density of the taller vegetation increased as we climbed.
Half way up, notice the cars Still a long way to climb
The densest vegetation was directly below the cliffs. Picking our way through the vegetation near the cliffs required frequent stopping to determine the best route but no backtracking.
We easily climbed to the top of the cliff wall through a gap with a low slope, no rope or even rock scrambling required. Once at the top I noticed a den. The opening was about 10 inches in diameter, probably a fox. I looked for prints around the opening but only found human prints.
On top of the bench, the route was easier as, the ground was mostly flat and rocky with occasional bushes that were smaller than those we encountered on the climb up.
I’m always amazed at how flat an area can be on top of a mountain. There was much to see from up here. There were the cliff faces, the water in the reservoir or rather cyanobacteria in the water that formed interesting patterns, the fall foliage and more.
Cliffs along Blacktail’s Southern Side
Cyanobacteria in the Reservoir
Fall Color along our Bushwhacking Route
The biggest surprise was how wide the bench above the cliffs was. It was easily 100 yards and often much wider. No photos of that. It’s hard to take a photo of a flat spot.
I thought the most interesting feature of the mountain was this cliff / ridge formation.
The cliff in the foreground has an interesting curved section of basalt columns attached to a more typical vertical section. Most of the other cliffs in the area are vertical only. In the background, you can see a ridge line with a narrow band of aspens and a few Ponderosa. I’m not sure how a narrow band of trees grew like that except perhaps that area is the only one that can retain enough moisture to sustain the trees. The trees are on the north side so would receive less sun and therefore retain moisture longer. I would be interesting to know more about that if anyone knows. Here is a close up of the ridge.
I was so fascinated by the ridge that I took photos from all directions. Here it is from the tree side.
And the ridge from the cliff side.
As we were hiking on the aspen side, we noticed this tree. It has extensive bear claw scars up to the first limb. I wondered if it was a bear “marking tree”, but the height of the scratches makes me think it is more of an emergency shelter. It’s near a trail that both people and cows use. Also, I didn’t see evidence of biting or rubbing that would make it a marking tree. But I might be missing obvious signs as I had to research bear marking trees. There might be more interesting things on the back side of the tree. I will know more of what to look for next time.
Earlier in this post, when we were deciding which direction to hike, I briefly mentioned, “it would be easier to find the trail on the western end than determining where to turn off the trail to go to the cliffs”. We ended up bushwhacking through aspens (See the “Fall Color” photo above) for a fairly long distance down steep slopes looking for our trail. After seeing the bear claws up the aspen, we were careful to call out to the bears in the area.
The trail we were looking for was was supposed to be the only one on our hike. When we finally found it, we opted for a cow trail through their pasture that lead to more bushwhacking. We considered that we might have to backtrack, but we were having fun. We ended up hiking down a road to get to the car as we had passed it by about half a mile. We expected that, as we purposely didn’t take the correct trail.
After bushwhacking in steep terrain, I’m not going to complain about a short hike on a flat gravel road back to the car.
***