Monday, September 2, 2024

Sun River Next

August 16, 2024.

Spent the night in a dispersed camping area recommended by local ranger station near Sluice Gates, Montana.  All of the sites were kind of trashy and nasty looking.  I spotted an announcement on the sign at the start of the dispersed area and my eyes nearly popped out of my head 

Turns out, further up the road there are several abandoned mines that polluted the heck out of the area and some parts are EPA Superfund eligible.  Don't drink the water, don't breathe the dust etc.  Thanks for the tip rangers.

I noticed little orange flags in many spots by the roadside so I looked at a couple expecting it to be some sort of EPA  thing.  Nope.  USAF fiber optic cable buried here notice.  What business would the Air Force have up in the mountains of Montana? Then I saw that underground power lines had also been installed - super expensive vs. doing it on poles.  Who could afford that?  And ya know, this was one the widest, best maintained Forest service roads.  Heck, you could drive an 18 wheeler up it...  Welcome to the land of many missile silos.  I also saw some places way out on range land that suddenly had power, antennas, pristine barbed wire fence, etc.  more silos I bet 

I did some fishing in Sluice Boxes canyon this AM and saw only one rise.  Still, I managed to nab 14 inch fat rainbow and then this:

 
Huge 18 inch brown took my hopper in a deep pool at the base of some limestone cliffs 
Awesome fight and I saw him take the hopper.

Headed now to Gibson Dam that feeds the Sun River on the Eastern Edge of Bob Marshall Wilderness.  Not sure what I'll find there for camping or cell service.  That's as far west as I want to go on this trip so I will start looping back south East after a couple of days.

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