Anybody know of any shuttle service to be had from one rosebud to the other ?

Sorry, don't know of any shuttles. But the Phantom Creek Trail goes between the East Rosebud and the West Rosebud (if that's what you mean).

nickhowes wrote:Sorry, don't know of any shuttles. But the Phantom Creek Trail goes between the East Rosebud and the West Rosebud (if that's what you mean).

thanks nick. just trying to cram as much in as possible after finally (maybe...) settling on a destination for my time off this july, and a shuttle would give me an extra day.

There used to be a 4x4, ATV place in Dean that I would call for conditions in that part of the Beartooths because they got out more than the people at the ranger station. A place like that might be able to work something out for you. Check Red Lodge, Absorkee, even Roscoe, you never know.

b. wrote:There used to be a 4x4, ATV place in Dean that I would call for conditions in that part of the Beartooths because they got out more than the people at the ranger station. A place like that might be able to work something out for you. Check Red Lodge, Absorkee, even Roscoe, you never know.

thanks b.,

i did think of that. pulled up the red lodge yellow pages on line but didn't get too far before having to shut down. i'll put some more time into that for sure.

Redlodge has a taxi service. Last August I arranged to have a taxi driver meet us at the West Fork Rock Creek Trailhead and drive us around to the Lake Fork Trailhead. The cost was $80. I don't know how much it would be between the two Rosebuds, bit probably pretty expensive.

The ATV place in Dean is Benbow ATV Rentals <http://www.benbowatvrentals.com/>. I don't know much about these folks (I think they are associated with the Christian Camp in some way), except that there is a hell of a lot of damage to the Benbow area caused by ATVers

Hikerjer in Billings, who is a bit of legend on the Backpacker forums <http://www.backpacker.com/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.cgi>, always says that he's willing to help out with shuttles if he can, for the price of gas and maybe a beer or two - he likes to meet fellow backpackers and talk about the Beartooth. I would give Jerry a try.

And, just to amplify my original post:

The Phantom Creek Trail is about 10 miles (although it gains and loses quite a bit of altitude, so it's a bit of work). And it puts you next to Mystic Lake, about 3 miles in from the West Rosebud trailhead. And it's beautiful.

By road, you're looking at about 30 miles of rough dirt road.

So, I would figure 4-5 hours via Phantom Creek Trail versus 1-2 hours in the shuttle (assuming no scheduling problems) plus another hour to hike up to Mystic Lake.

FWIW, if it were me, I'd hike it!

HTH, Nick

Scott wrote:Redlodge has a taxi service. Last August I arranged to have a taxi driver meet us at the West Fork Rock Creek Trailhead and drive us around to the Lake Fork Trailhead. The cost was $80. I don't know how much it would be between the two Rosebuds, bit probably pretty expensive.

yeah, the distances look far, bet the price is steep indeed !

nickhowes wrote:And, just to amplify my original post:

The Phantom Creek Trail is about 10 miles (although it gains and loses quite a bit of altitude, so it's a bit of work). And it puts you next to Mystic Lake, about 3 miles in from the West Rosebud trailhead. And it's beautiful.

By road, you're looking at about 30 miles of rough dirt road.

So, I would figure 4-5 hours via Phantom Creek Trail versus 1-2 hours in the shuttle (assuming no scheduling problems) plus another hour to hike up to Mystic Lake.

FWIW, if it were me, I'd hike it!

HTH, Nick

thanks again nick. i will probably just do teh hike and plan days accordingly. always like to be as self sufficient as possible. mostly because i am very selfish.

plan would be to start at west rosebud, wander towards goose lake, wander towards east rosebud. 14 full days of playing outside if i boogie from and back to vegas.

and trips were MUCH simpler to plan when i didn't have this damn internet. look at a map, read guide book, go to less visited area. simple ! now i got pictures to ooh and ahh over and can never make up my damn mind ! i need more pto...

goofball wrote:plan would be to start at west rosebud, wander towards goose lake, wander towards east rosebud. 14 full days of playing outside if i boogie from and back to vegas.

Sounds like fun.

On the West Rosebud, there's no trail beyond Silver Lake - you can bushwhack it, but the growth is pretty dense and it's slow going. I was last up there in 2004; here's bit of a TR <http://ghostwood.org/nick/trips/Beartooths2004/5.html>. We were pressed for time then; with a few days to burn, I'm sure it could be done.

Off trail travel in the beartooths is no joke. Be ready to suffer with a two week pack in upper west rosebud. In fact, be ready to suffer if you take some of the well traveled paths (i.e. huckleberry creek to avalanche lake). But you probably won't see a soul if you do go up there!

b. wrote:Off trail travel in the beartooths is no joke.

Generally I'd agree with this assessment, however, I have found many trails/routes at or above treeline that are surprising easy bushwacks. Sorry to give away this secret, but I doubt many will listen (and you have to get to treeline somehow). For instance, I climbed Mt Wood last summer via the Stillwater Plateau (in) and West Fishtail Crk (out). Aside from a little talus at the end, the inbound route was easy and amazing (incredible views). Outbound was relatively moderate bushwacking until our traverse to Chrome Lake at 8400ft (which was horrid). Didn't see a soul though.

So above 9000 ft, you'll find surprising easy travel (by bushwacking standards) in most locations in the Beartooths, especially on the plateaus (barring cliffs, insane talus, etc.). In your case, the 2-3 miles after Silver Lake will most likely be bad (as nickhowes notes), but comparatively pleasant travel after that (esp. south of Star Lake). Looks like that will be a fun trip. And I'd plan for snow at the head of West Rosebud (Grasshopper Lakes), unless you wait to the end of July.

b. wrote: But you probably won't see a soul if you do go up there!

It will just depend on when you go in July; later in the month and you might have a little company along portions of your route. You might run into some folks at any lakes you stay at (Silver, Goose, Lower Aero, Fossil, etc.). But I'll agree with b. and guess that the off trail sections will be nearly vacant. I have run into folks off trail in the Beartooths, however.