Montana Tacomas

Where were you?

 

Along Flathead River on the Rez near Dixon. Aside from a fountain, know what it is?

 

Looks like an old fire hydrant. Is it a little hot springs too?

Or a bison watering trough?

 

Holy Heck that had to be crazy! Thank goodness you were paying attention. I am glad you didn't get hurt. Beautiful and dangerous area for sure. Is that not like so many wild places though?

 

Huh way cool no matter what but I would guess a waterer of some kind.

 

I was wondering if it was warm/hot too, that color of buildup on the rock looks like what you normally see at hotspring.

 

You can tell it's an old hydrant of sorts, but no idea where the water is coming from or why exactly is coming up in the middle of nowhere. It was cold, clear and on the opposite side of the river from the range.

We asked a couple locals but so far haven't found anyone with a clue what it was or recalling that it was out there.

 

I'm hoping there's an interesting story attached to why it's out there but for now I guess it can remain a mystery. At least made for a great photo op, though next time we'll have to move the truck slightly because I had to sacrifice the view of the mountains in that shot which I didn't really think of till after the fact.

 

Anyone in here an elk hunter or familiar with the state system?

 

So so. What you got.

 

Looks like I'll be in Gardiner for the summer and fall. Haven't made it out to Montana since a brief 2010 visit so I'm looking forward to exploring more of the state with my Taco.

Anyone run the Goose Lake 4x4 trail out of Cooke City or Morrison Jeep trail? Got both of those on my list and have just started researching.

 

Yes multiple times. What's up?

 

Rod

 

How would a 2014 access cab with 4x4, rear locker, skids, sliders and a 2" lift do on both of those? Most stuff I've seen on Goose Lake shows jeeps up there so didn't know if it was more crawling or still doable in a Taco. Morrison sounds like Black Bear Pass style switchbacks, but saw some Tacomas about doing that.

Haven't seen many other trails online near the Gardiner/Cooke City area yet, but sure there's more out there.

 

You'll be totally fine. Won't even need the locker. Maybe in one spot on Goose if you take the harder line going to the lake but that's it.

Wouldn't recommend having it locked at all on the switchbacks, it'll hurt your turning.

Morrison is WAY more serious than Black bear if you've done that. Black bear has like 2-3 multi point turns. Morrison has 27 or 29. And all of them are very steep.

I've done a few write ups on Morrison and Goose you could check out.


Both have some rocky sections where you'll be going slow through the rocks, but nothing super intense. The views on both are amazing and you'll be hard pressed to find a trail that gets your adrenaline going like Morrison.


Some advice:

-For morrison the way you drive the switch backs is key. You want to turn in way way later than you think you should and 100% turn in, don't pussy foot around, go all in as close as you can to the cliff, use your bumper if you have one and literally bump the wall. Then most importantly, DO NOT cut all the way the other way when you back up. Instead, just straighten out, and back straight up. Go as far back as your comfortable, better with a spotter for this part, once you go as far as you can. Then turn 100% into the corner.

This is important. If you don't do this but instead act like its a standard turn around and cut into the apex as you back up you will very quickly suck the truck into the apex. Which can be 4' differnce in height and then you'll get stuck. If you just back straight up. Then turn in you'll avoid this problem.

-Be careful. It is an AWESOME trail. But pay the hell attention when you're on the switchback. You can go from the time of your life to dead in a heart beat. Seriously. It happens almost every year nearly some dies out there being dumb or honestly just not paying attention.


Over all, both trails are not hard. You'll be totally fine and love it.


Another thing to note is conditions, sometimes Morrison doesn't even open due to snow. To be determined at this point..but either way all of these trails don't even open until July 15th. So keep that in mind while you're planning.


And of course, please stay on the trail, especially at Goose. It's alpine tundra up there and the UTVs/ATVs have fucked shit up back there and IMO the FS will close it in the next 8 years. So enjoy it! But please respect it.




Here are some write ups for you to enjoy:

Goose: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...kensteins-helper.390488/page-42#post-18470197
Intense morrison day: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-sos-report-the-full-story.348932/page-4#post-9337900

Edit: Chapter 4 after the morrison day is also Goose.

Several others floating around on here but those ones will be good to start with.

 

Last time I was on goose we had to
Move a large Boulder off the trail so in
My
Opinion a winch or come along and rope should be in your truck. We were in an FJ so easier than a Taco.

 

where at? Only bad spot that a land slide can happen really is at the very very end.


Morrison was recently closed for a while due to a large boulder on the trail too.

 

I think between the lakes when you go on the backside of that hill away from the lakes.

 

the spot where it Y's and to the right is a bit steep with some rutted out holes that can be tricky to get up. And Left is a "bypass" basically for it?

Cause yea those rocks can be a bit big and in the way. Never had to move one though, just drove over or around them.