the next Montana TW meet - August 2010 anyone?

well if we head to the bridgers camping is limited to a couple of small campgrounds or we're out in the middle of nowhere (read no water, no tables, no toilets). hyalite we are left to battle with the hundreds of other people trying to camp up there (reservations are a must and its too late to do that) and it looks like a lot of roads are getting blocked off so i don't know that we even have the option to set up camp just anywhere.

my vote is still for the gravelly range - there is one camp up there, doesn't see a lot of use so i don't think it would be a problem getting in and theres lots of roads to play on. no water up there though, we'd have to pack that in.

firewood is easy enough to get just about everywhere - except the gravelly range - most of the road is up above the tree line but we can stop along the way and pick some up.

i agree that you and mike are going to be traveling a long way - it would be nice to let you know whats up so you can plan and pack accordingly...

 

PM'd all of the committed people and for you lurkers...

If you are all still interested in joining us at the meet this weekend please stop by the let us know. We need to get some plans nailed down - a few of the members are going to be traveling quite a ways to make this happen and it would be nice to let them know what's going on. We still need to decide where we are going to meet up and when we are meeting up. I believe Tony and Mike are coming down Thursday night (correct?) and everyone else will be showing up on Friday morning.
We have a few options of where we are going and each requires different camping supplies, etc. and we need to get directions to the out of town guys so they know where to go.

I know we all had a blast at the last meet - let's make this one just as good...minus the casualties of course!

 

i think mike and tony are coming down thursday late - I figure everyone else would show up at noon friday at the latest. fwiw - my trip from whitefish to here was about 6 hours

 

truck is washed and ready to go...camping crap is gathered in tidy little piles throughout the house and garage...so, where are we going? dammit!

 

Since no one else has chimed in I'm calling that we are heading into the Gravelly Range...
the two easiest meeting spots would be either Four Corners here - intersection of Jackrabbit and Huffine. Anyone traveling from Bozeman or east can meet up at the Town Pump gas station on the northwest corner. The other meeting spot for anyone coming from the west would probably be the Cenex station just north of Ennis. Both are easy to spot and have lots of parking so we can hang out and wait for everyone to gather.

Mike & Rhys - what time are you planning on leaving? Would meeting in Ennis around noon work for you guys? That would mean that everyone meeting up in Bozeman would want to be ready to go around 11am and we can be in Ennis around noon.

More detailed directions to follow shortly...

 

For you guys coming from the west...the shortest route to Ennis is to take exit 256 off I-90 at Cardwell. Follow the signs directing you to Lewis & Clark Caverns that road eventually dumps into Hwy 287. Head south on 287 and you'll drop into Ennis.

Eastern people - take exit 298 at Belgrade off I-90. Head south to four corners, go right on Norris Road or meet up at the Town Pump on the NW corner. If you Bozeman people need directions then we've got issues...

Once we're in Ennis there are a few routes to get on the Gravelly Road. The easiest to find if you haven't been there before is this route . Hang a right at the fisherman (can't miss him) once you hit Ennis...

The camp we'll most likely end up at is Clover Meadows about 90 minutes down the dirt road....

 

Welcome!

Leave it to the woman to get things together.... What would ya'll do without me!

 

few pics in my gallery from my trip down there too. I think it will be a good choice - not a lot of traffic and lots of room to roam around.

 

tony, i see that you are still lurking here...i am leaving you in charge for the afternoon. i must go harass contractors. please try to keep things under control here.

 

there is a second route in - little shorter if you want to try it.

When you get to Ennis take a left at the fisherman and go through town, heading south on Hwy 287. Go +/- 17 miles until you see a gravel road on the right and sign for Rio Tinto Mining. Take that road, over the bridge, up the hill, keep left of the mine and it changes to FS road #324. It forks once, keep left and it will wind up meeting the Gravelly road just north of camp. Shouldn't take any more than 45 minutes to find camp once you're off the Hwy.

 

not to sound bitchy but is anyone else planning on backing out of the meet? haven't heard from half of you and if we are meeting up today at noon everyone should have been on the road long ago. speak up now if you're not going to make it - I could be at work instead of sitting at home wasting a vacation day today.