!29RedRocks2

We first hiked into Hidden Lake in Montana’s Red Rock National Wild Life Refuge in 1951. The Park is home to a wide variety of wildlife, but it is particularly special in that it is the last stronghold of the beautiful Arctic Grayling (Thymallus arcticus montana) in the lower forty-eight. The Red Rock Refuge is living proof that responsible ranching and recreation can coexist successfully with wildlife management. To try to describe the wonder of the experience or the beauty of Centennial Valley would be an understatement.

The first image shows the Continental Divide at Red Rock Pass (we have had snow ball fights at this very spot in July...the waters flowing towards Idaho go to the Pacific Ocean and those flowing towards Montana eventually wind up in the Atlantic). I have the pleasure of sharing the view with my son Steven in the second photo by our friend Paul Schwack, 1987. The third picture peeks at a pristine Hidden Lake through the trees. The fourth picture shows a small group of Pronghorned Antelope against the backdrop of a sage covered hill. The fifth photo shows Elk Lake Camp and the sixth is the scenic Upper Red Rock Lake. The sixth picture is a hay tedding rack. The next two images show hay in the field and rolled bales waiting for the hay wagon. The tenth is a Douglas Fir, known as the 'Hanging Tree', on the road through Red Rock Pass. The eleventh image is Red Rock Creek on its way to Upper Red Rock Lake. The twelfth image is a small pack of Gray Wolves. Gray Wolves were reintroduced to the wild in the Centennial Valley/Yellowstone area in 1995. The thirteenth shows a flock of Sand Hill Cranes getting ready to migrate for the Winter. The fourteenth image is a family of Trumpeter Swans (The Refuge is now home to over 500 Trumpeters joined in the Winter by another 2000 from Canada...back from 69 birds in 1932.) The fifteenth picture is a Cooper's Hawk. The next seven images show the Arctic Grayling, the first on the bottom of Red Rock Creek; the second in almost spawning colors, soon to be released from a Royal Wulff; the next four just swimming away and the last with a Turkey Winged Caddis in it's nose, ready to be released. The next photo shows an awesome native Red Rock Creek Cutthroat Trout, Onchorhynchus clarki. Beavers also inhabit the area, and here is one near its lodge on the Creek. The twenty-sixth image is a view of Elk Lake narrows with the Centennials in the distance. The twenty-seventh photo shows the Red Rock Creek just above Red Rock Lake. The twenty-eighth is the first Red Rock Lake with the spectacular Centennial Mountains as a backdrop. The twenty-ninth photo is an aerial view of the marshes and lakes of the valley looking southeast towards the Centennial Mountains. The thirtieth image is Steven and his old man at Hidden Lake for a day of fly-fishing. The next image shows two 'not quite back from the brink of extinction' Whooping Cranes, an occasional visitor with the Sand Hills, wading in Widgeon Pond. The last image is of a spectacular Centennial Valley sunset!

                    Red Rocks
                    High Country’s Pass divides the Way;
                    By Lakesides, Hidden; reddened Clay;
                    Elk Creek glides clear; so Grayling play,
                    Near tedded Racks of sweet, mown Hay;
                    Yet Antelope in tall Grass, lay,
                    All bedded down, no easy Prey;
                    Not dreaded, Gray Wolf Packs at Bay,
                    Let Hikers stay another Day.
                    The Cooper’s Hawk’s a Summer’s Guest,
                    While White Swans trumpet on their Nest,
                    And Sand Hill Cranes, with Whoopers, rest;
                    Still Beavers are the busiest!
                    An Answer to our harried Quest,
                    This peaceful Park of Wildlife, West;
                    A scenic Wonder at its Best,
                    Centennial Valley, Refuge, blessed!

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