The changing seasons of southwestern Montana all have a very different and specific personality. Many enjoy the summers in this country, and as many revel in the “cold smoke” that charges our winters, but many find it is the Montana fall that captures their hearts. When the mornings begin to cool and the aspens transition from their summer greens into their autumn blondes and gold’s, there is a special awakening of the soul in those who are fortunate enough to spend time out of doors. The bugle of bull elk rings across the mountain glades, bears are beginning to prepare for their impending slumber, chipmunks and squirrels are topping off their winter stockpiles and preparing for season spent under snow. Fall even has its own smell. It hangs in the woods, indescribable and unique, crisp and invigorating, heavy with earth and unlike any other time of year. Spring has its own scent also, but I have always preferred the perfume of fall.
Knowing the beauties of fall in the mountains, it is difficult to let pastoral autumn days pass without a foray into nature. I had my son, Connor, draw a card from our deck of hikes this past weekend and he drew the eight of spades, Rat Lake. Nestled into the expanses of the Gallatin National Forest, about 20 miles south and west of Bozeman, Rat Lake is a very accessible hike that is generally level, gaining only 160 ft during the 1.5 mile journey. The drive to the trailhead is an experience in itself, accessing off of Hwy 191 at Storm Castle you follow the Gallatin River and its natural courses upstream where the road branches and follows Storm Castle Creek, ultimately crossing it and continuing a few miles further on well maintained Forest Service Roads to the beginning of the trail for Rat Lake and the Garnet Mountain Fire Lookout.
The afternoon was mostly sunny and 61*, a proper fall temperature for a walk in the woods. With a full afternoon of enthusiasm ahead of us we set out from the roadside parking area along a well marked and traveled trail. The road was formerly used to harvest timber, and although mountain bike, ATV and dirt bike traffic is permitted we saw only foot-traffic one our outing. The hike follows a logging cut for the first third of the journey and the sounds of cascading water can be detected from several locations along the trail. As we passed the junction for the Garnet Mountain Lookout, we greeted a young couple from Vermont on their way back to the parking area. They had been to the lookout, had a picnic lunch and were headed back down for an evening in Big Sky.
Connor and I reached the shores of the lake a short time later and the area really deserves a more attractive name than the beady-eyed rodent moniker conveys. The lake is nestled in a natural opening in the forest canopy with grassy expanses on the eastern and southern shores. We had the area to ourselves save a couple fishing the shores with their grandson. The grandmother, a woman named Barbara, quickly engaged Connor in a running dialogue about his hiking prowess and rewarded his exaggerations with a small candy bar. We visit with Barbara and her grandson Chase for a good spell before setting off to circle the lake. On our attempt to circumnavigate the area, we found frogs in a shallow pond which were cause to pause and question daddy about all things amphibian before continuing on.
As the afternoon shadows began to lengthen, we started back down the trail with muddy shoes, our new walking stick and a pocket full of Old Man’s Beard from the surrounding pines. The Storm Castle trailhead also serves as the starting point for a series of other popular hikes in this area of the Gallatin Valley and due to the short length of the hike to Rat Lake; it is an area where it is possible to complete 2-3 shorter excursions in one day while in the area.
For information on properties within close proximity to this or other hiking trails in the Gallatin Valley, contact Jason Frey.
All best,______________________
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