Sunday, June 5, 2011

Trail Creek Forest Service cabin

Mary reserved the Trail Creek National Forest Service cabin in the Gallatin National Forest for Saturday night. It's located between Emigrant and Bozeman off Trail Creek Rd.

The directions called for us to turn onto an old logging road. There warned us of a "small 6 inch" dip in the road. I guess all the rain we've been having has caused the ground to shift even more because it was at least a 1.5'. We had to leave the car parked off the side of the road and walk an extra half mile in because there was no way the car could cross.



The start of the trail. Notice the mudslide on the trail at the right: We had to scramble over this...not easy.

An old, abandoned homestead in the valley had us all imaging who lived here, when, why they left.



The only wildlife seen for the entire weekend was a large herd of elk. They were a little spooked by our presence and fled to the woods.

The cabin was supposed to be 1.9 miles. It seemed much longer.


We crossed over private property and through the woods...


Finally, we arrived! The cabin was cute and nestled at the edge of the forest. So fun!


The view from the front of the cabin:


A handy table/shelving unit folded out between the bunks:




A woodstove and split firewood waiting for us!

The cabin had 4 bunks.

After checking out the cabin, we headed outside to eat our dinner and create the best Smores over the fire using Chips Ahoy cookies instead of chocolate bar and graham crackers. Yum!


The trail was a little muddy! Kim dried her shoes out on the fire grate:


A few wildflowers were in bloom:

Exploring the surroundings:








Just past the cabin along the logging road...


After dark, we brought out the lantern and played Boggle and Kismet while snacking!

Early the next morning, we had a much easier hike out. We stopped at the Old Saloon for breakfast. Another great weekend...