Road Trip to Henry's Lake

While we enjoy hiking the trails around Big Sky, we also like to take advantage of the opportunity to visit neighboring areas.  Last week, we headed to Henry's Lake, which we see off Intestate 20 while driving into West Yellowstone before making a left turn toward Big Sky.

Along the way, we stopped to hike at Targhee Creek Trail, where the terrain is similar to trails we hike in Big Sky, but at a slightly lower elevation that made it feel more lush on this particular week.  We hiked about a mile in and then back.  

We paid $5/car entry fee to Henry's Lake, which would have allowed us to visit a few other Idaho State Parks in the area, but we didn't have time.  We ate a picnic lunch we'd packed by the lake.

Trumpeter Swans are nesting there for the first time in twenty years, a sign of environmental efforts paying off.

Henry's Lake has considerably different terrain than Big Sky, as obvious from the photos.  It's easy to imagine dinosaurs roaming here.  As directed by the Park Ranger at the gate, we followed the trail map past the estuary where the Trumpeter Swans floated gracefully.  Following instructions, we never left the trail or bothered the birds, who hopefully will share through whatever secret code that species might have that it is again safe to nest at Henry's Lake.

The scenic drive home past huge Hebgen Lake was another highlight, but we took no photos this time.

Thursday evenings in summer brings another great concert to Big Sky Town Center.  With no snow in the forecast, a big crowd showed up, including many with license plates from Wyoming, Idaho and evening Colorado, so perhaps the Denver-area band Halden Wofford and the Hi Beams brought along some fans for their Texas Swing fusion with Cajun sets.



It seemed like almost everyone stayed until the end, including Julie, which is not the norm, so I assume we all felt like the show hit the spot.

Below are photos I took last week on my Moto phone.

Yellow Mules Trail in Big Sky

Targhee Creek Trail

Henry's Lake, Idaho