We worked our way south along the Lewis and Clark Trail, into the heart of the Bitterroot Range. Just south of Stevensville, MT sits Lake Como, a dammed lake fed by Boulder Creek that rests at the base of the three neighborhood giants – the 9000′ Como Peaks. 3 Frogs Campground, along its north shore, served as the gateway for our fishing, biking and hiking opportunities.
With the lake drawn down for irrigation, the mud bank left a strange border for the Doug Fir forest.
I waded out to a rock and sat casting for a couple hours to bring to dinner a couple of tasty cutthroats. A bald eagle perched on top of the dead fir with the red needles, watching and wanting me to throw him a bone.
The next day dawned drearily, but we set out on a misbegotten journey up the Little Boulder Creek to Boulder Lake. We lost the trail somewhere on the south side of the lake, and bushwacked upslope 500′ before we ran across an old irrigation ditch that cut a lateral scar across the mountain face (which you can see in the previous picture), and provided easy walking to the creek itself.
We followed the lake loop trail on bikes before we struck camp the following day. It proved to be a technical route with lots of ups and downs for about 9 miles, but the views of the lake and the Boulder Creek Cut were spectacular.
