Blacktail Butte

Thrice before, I have worked my way up Blacktail Butte.  The first time, I bushwhacked up near the climbing area.  I reached the ridge, several hundred feet above the plain.  The second time, I followed an easier trail on a ridgeline rising from the plain behind the Gros Ventre campground.  That was easier, and I made it about 600' up before retreating.  The third time I was with a friend from the campground.  That time, I made it 800' above the plain (see my posts - "Where Have All The Flowers Gone..." and "Spring Has Sprung In The Tetons").

I figured I was done, but success on other hikes persuaded me to try again.

The summer skies have been pretty spectacularly blue, and the weather has been hot - too hot to hike the shadeless and waterless Blacktail Butte.

On July 2, I decided to go for it, hiking mid-morning before the heat settles in rather than my usual afternoon hiking time.  The start was just as impressive as before.  That trail is where I was headed.

The sky was... incredibly blue.  And dry - the trail underfoot was powdery.

I got to the 800' point and took a rest at a spot of shade while I re-assessed.

My rest spot was fringed by an area with trees.  The border between those trees and the prairie grasses that cover most of the Butte abounded with flowers, even more than the last time I was up here.

I moved on.  I added another 200' of elevation, coming to an area where the flowers were fewer, different varieties, and of more intense coloration.

I reached a high valley area.  The trail continued up a grassy slope.  My GPS told me that the high point was at least another 500' of elevation, so I turned around.  Working my way up that valley, I was too hot and too focused on self assessment to really notice my surroundings.  Coming down, I realized that the trail in the bottom of that high valley was fringed with a delightful assortment of color, a mix of wildflowers of all kinds. (Can you see the trail winding between those blooms?)

The descent was unremarkable, except that the dry conditions made the trail crumbly and the footing less certain than on my prior climbs.  My hiking poles made it work.  I returned to camp, having done a hike over 2 miles long and 1000' high.  I'm satisfied with that.