I also tried a little creek I'd researched about 10 miles into backcountry on a FSR. Pristine meadows, road was in excellent condition. Nobody around. The Creek turned out to be exactly what I'd hoped for; twisty, full of emerald green pools. Alas, no fish.
I headed back to Brooks Lake for one last night, congratulating myself on how I'd managed to dodge various thunderstorms that had come through the area. In fact, one was rolling up on the lake as I drove up the access road. Came around a corner to find the road had been washed out in one of the storms and they closed it. Now I had to find a dispersed campsite, it was getting dark and the new storm was about to break.
I tried one that had a short downhill entrance that looked muddy and ominously devoid of tire tracks. Mud us like Kryptonite for any 4WD and as I started down the Taco just slid like it was on ice. At the bottom I quickly turned around knowing that the coming rain would only make things worse.
Fortunately, the Taco has several features to deal with such conditions and I was able to get out mostly by keeping at least one wheel on grass. Phew!
I found a reasonably level grassy spot just down the road and set up the ten moments before the rain started. It was an epic cloud burst, pummeling my tent with scary force. No violent winds and lightning like my previous 2 nights at the Lake. Overall, Brooks Lake was harsh. Bear sightings in the campground each night, heavy thunderstorms.
My tent is still wet but I'm done with Brooks Lake. I had a mind to check out Wiggins Fork north of Dubois but I ran into some guys that said the gradient is steep making the water very fast. Not good.
I'm headed for the Beartooth Mountains now in hopes of trying Crandall Creek and the Clark Fork River. I'm in Yellowstone Park now and will go north to the Shoshone NF. Will give an update as cell service permits.
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