Yesterday was hike day. The destination: Cottonwood Lake in the Crazy Mountains. The "Crazies" are an isolated "island" mountain range in south central Montana. A few widely dispersed dusty dirt roads provide access to the a limited number of trailheads.
The trail starts as an old roadbed. After a couple of miles, it morphs into a standard hiking trail as it climbs its way into the high country. Since its a scenic drainage, and not too far from Bozeman, its predictably popular with hikers.
After a couple of hours of hiking and admiring the views, I made it to the lake . I noted no fish activity, even though it was reportedly stocked a couple of years ago (I have caught fish here in the past). I walked around the lake but didn't see any cruising fish. No matter.
Still feeling good after a short break, I pondered my next move. Rig the rod or hike further? I decided that it was time to exorcise an old demon by attempting another scramble up to Grass…
The trail starts as an old roadbed. After a couple of miles, it morphs into a standard hiking trail as it climbs its way into the high country. Since its a scenic drainage, and not too far from Bozeman, its predictably popular with hikers.
After a couple of hours of hiking and admiring the views, I made it to the lake . I noted no fish activity, even though it was reportedly stocked a couple of years ago (I have caught fish here in the past). I walked around the lake but didn't see any cruising fish. No matter.
Still feeling good after a short break, I pondered my next move. Rig the rod or hike further? I decided that it was time to exorcise an old demon by attempting another scramble up to Grass…