MORE OF THE SAME.
Day 350 – Today was a lot like yesterday except instead of driving south, we drove north. And the scene at the Elk Viewing site was calmer and quieter. The high today was in the upper 70’s and it was sunny.
We drove to the north entrance to the Wildlife Refuge, turned off Highway 191 and followed the gravel road to the Grouse Dancing Grounds (or lek). There is a sign (Sign #10) which describes the behavior of the Grouse during spring and fall, particularly from late March to mid-May. “The male sharp-tailed Grouse gather here at daybreak. With short rapid stomping steps, they attempt to attract females. Sometimes two males pair off in battle. With wings and tails spread, they rush each other and stop short beak-to-beak. This display is repeated again and again.” from the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge Self-Guided Auto Tour brochure. We saw no Grouse.
In this more remote area of the Refuge, several trailers were pulled off the road to camp. There is a section of land between the end of the Refuge and Highway 191 that is BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land. Remote camping is allowed here. We took a couple of short dirt roads to look at possible camping sites. NOTE: If we come back here again, and if there is no camping available elsewhere, this is something to keep in mind. There are several possible campsites 2 to 5 miles in from the north entrance of the Auto Tour road.
Next we drove north to Zortman which is a small town nestled at the bottom of the Little Rocky Mountains. This picturesque area is hilly with trees and is a former gold rush mining town. The hills above were smoky from a fire, a small one from what we could tell, but it brought back memories of Jasper. There was a campground in Zortman, Camp Creek Recreation Area Campground. We drove through it – 15 campsites spread out and private in the trees, very beautiful area – no one was camping there at this time except the camp host. NOTE: The drive from Zortman to the Elk Viewing Area would be a bit long considering how often we’d make that drive, about 45 minutes each way, but if all campgrounds are full, this would be one to consider.
We drove back to the RV, had lunch and napped in the screened tent. Then we drove to the Elk Viewing Area for another early evening session of elk watching. It wasn’t as crowded, probably because the weekend was over, but by the time we left, there was still a solid line-up of vehicles. Some of the regular attendees of the soiree appeared to be getting used to us; several stopped by to say hello. And when, after much trying and failing, a male elk achieved success with a female, the whole crowd erupted in cheers. Evidently we all need to get a life. LOL.
When we drove back to the RV, two Deer were crossing the campground road into the brush beside our campsite. The stars were out again in the evening. Rob got a picture of the sky over the Missouri River.
