Beehive Basin
It was definitely cold last night. There was frost on the windshield this morning. Fall has arrived here in the mountains of Montana.
We drove to Big Sky after breakfast and stopped at the tourist information office where we got some information and maps about the hikes in the area. We decided to do the Beehive Basin hike, since it was about the right distance. To reach the trailhead you drive for 9 miles west of Big Sky towards the ski resort area. The valley is dotted with expensive looking chalets and houses (many of which are for sale if you have a few extra million dollars). There are many, many ski runs visible on the mountain. But it is definitely off season, as nothing appeared to be very busy.
Butterflies on asters
The trail turned out to be almost exactly 5 km long to the top and an elevation gain of 450 m. The elevation gain is spread over much of the distance, so it was never extremely steep. The steepest part is the last 1.5 km, about the part that is inside the Lee Metcalf wilderness area. The first part of the hike is abutted by private land, and there were some nice “cabins” visible on the hills beside the trail. The last 500 m is definitely the steepest, and then the trail opens out into a wide basin with a very small and pretty lake, framed by the backdrop of rugged mountains. The trail is in very good condition, and surrounded by very lovely views. Though there were not many flowers still blooming, we did find on the way back, a few late asters that were covered with butterflies. All around the meadows were covered with seed pods, so it must have been very spectacular in the early summer.
The fisheries department are trying to kill off the non-native trout in the lake. They have set several gill nets in the lake. We spoke to one of the men working on this project. He said they estimated there were about 200 fish in the lake, and they have so far netted 42. They want to get the population down to a level where it can no longer reproduce, and then they may re-introduce the native cut-throat trout to the lake.
There were quite a few people that made the hike today. The weather was beautiful, sunny, and a very nice temperature to walk. We ate our lunch at the top in the basin, surrounded on three sides by high mountain cliffs. It was a lovely spot.