74 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



WATER FEATURES OF THE BEARTOOTH MAKE MANY OF THE MOST STRIKING OF ALL THE 

 MANY LANDSCAPE DETAILS FOUND THERE 



drops several 

 hundred feet 

 within view of 

 the traveler on 

 the trail. 

 Through the 

 Devil's Half- 

 acre the trail is 

 blown out of 

 solid rock. Be- 

 yond this is the 

 Was h b o a r d, 

 where huge 

 rock slides 

 from both sides 

 of the stream 

 have almost 

 closed the val- 

 ley and have 

 formed a series 

 of rock ter- 

 races over which the water foams and splashes. A 

 little beyond this point the river widens into Sioux Lake, 

 in which is a large island where there is a good camp spot 

 with wood, water and horse feed handy. 



The Meadows on the Stillwater, above Sioux Lake 

 offer a wide panorama of the mountains that parallel the 

 stream and here is the best fishing grounds of the river. 

 Big Park Ranger Station is the first point where virgin 

 green timber stands and from here on the Stillwater trail 

 passes through country that is wild and rugged. Horse- 

 shoe creek is crossed. From its source to its mouth it is 

 almost a continuous cataract. This creek drains the 

 Lake-of-the-Woods and makes one of the features ac- 

 companying a side trip which can be taken to the lake. 

 Up and on the trail leads until Daisy Pass is reached, 

 and here one stops to drink in the magnificent outlook on 

 mountain fastnesses. South are Pilot and Index Moun- 

 tains, Wyom- 

 ing's two high- 

 est peaks. To 

 the southwest 

 one looks down 

 upon Soda 

 Butte Creek 

 and Cooke City 

 and the north- 

 eastern portion 

 of the Yellow- 

 stone Park. 

 Standing in 

 Daisy Pass the 

 traveler is at 

 the threshold 

 of some of the 

 most interest- 

 ing wonder- 

 lands Ot e RJCH GREEN TIMBER CLOTHES THE SHORES OF ROCK ISLAND LAKE AND LILIES REST O* 



Beartooth. Per- the surface, beartooth national forest. 



haps the most 

 curious glacier 

 in the world is 

 found here. In- 

 deed it can 

 claim distinc- 

 tion on its 

 unique feature 

 which would 

 make it an un- 

 usual scenic 

 value among 

 many glaciers. 

 It is the Grass- 

 hopper Glacier 

 and in its ice it 

 carries thou- 

 sands of grass- 

 hoppers pre- 

 served in freez- 

 ing condition for many many years and of a species that 

 is now extinct. The grasshoppers that have been pre- 

 served in this curious manner are of a species that were 

 migratory in habit. It is believed that centuries 

 ago, before white men came to this continent a 

 vast horde of these insects were flying over the 

 mountains at a high altitude when they encountered 

 a severely cold air current. The low temperature killed 

 the grasshoppers or drove them to an alighting place and 

 they were caught in the ice and snow of the glacier. The 

 glacier with three smaller ones lies in a huge semi-circle 

 extending from the north and east edge of Sawtooth Peak 

 to Granite Peak, making a continuous stretch of ice over 

 three miles in length. The best time to visit the glacier 

 is late in August, just before the new snow begins to 

 fall, for at that time the snow of the preceding winter has 

 melted away, exposing the caverns and crevices where 



many ice for- 

 mations can be 

 seen. Granite 

 Peak, within 

 the Beartooth 

 is the highest 

 mountain in all 

 Montana, and 

 is 12,950 feet 

 above the sea. 

 Other high 

 peaks of the 

 area are Mt. 

 Wood, 12,900 

 feet elevation ; 

 Mystic Moun- 

 tain, 12,646 

 feet; M t . 

 Hogue, 12,600, 

 and Mt. Villa, 

 12,700. Mount 



