Day 4:

• We knew a Cattle Drive was coming. We got up early, packed camp, cycled a mile, and then we saw the Cattle Drive coming. We pulled of the road, both sides of the road were fenced, we parked the tandem against a fence post, stood in front of the bike and watched mesmerized and perplexed cattle decide whether to walk by us. Most did, some went back, only to meet other cattle and cowboys pushing the herd. Eventually all of the cattle went by us, it probably took 45 to 60 minutes and we enjoyed every minute of the adventure.

Day 4
A Cattle Drive, Lakeview, Red Rock Lakes National Refuge, Beaverhead Deerlodge NF Wild Camp

Above: Dawn comes to the Lima Reservoir Wildlife Refuge and Wetland Wild Camp.

Above: Terry and the Bee, Lima Reservoir Wildlife Refuge, WY; GDMBR; June, 2016.

We got up early, cooked, and packed quickly and efficiently as experienced bike tourers.
We hit the road early to see if we could beat the Cattle Herd coming our way. We didn't!

Above: Old Homestead Dwellings.

Above Left: This is the first echelon of cattle, mostly cows, some bulls, and no cowboy lead; the herd was being pushed by the Ranch Owner in the middle and pushed by three Hands and/or Friends from the rear. The rear guard also ran down 'bunch quitters'. Some of the cattle would not walk by us, in fact some cattle turned around to go back.

Above Right: We parked our bike along the fence. We knew, already from biking the previous days, that many of the cattle would be afraid of the bike! We stood in front of the bike and that seemed to reduce a fixation on the bike to just strange people, that seemed to help a lot but never the less some animals were afraid and would not walk by us.

Above Left: This is the second echelon of cattle.

Above Right: This is the third echelon of cattle. That is the same Rancher (owner) who talked to us yesterday evening, to give us a heads-up about the Cattle Drive. This is a major operation. The Rancher stated that things were going better than expected. He is driving the herd from the middle.

Above Left: This is the cow leader of the forth echelon of cattle. She went out of her way to be as far from us as possible.

Above Right: The last of the cattle went by us except for one rogue cow. The Cowboy turned to go after the cow. All movement, including our own, is slow and steady, even when I raise my camera I take about 5 seconds to do so.

Above: The entire cattle herd is in front of the final three cowboy pushers. We quite enjoyed this unique opportunity to watch a real cattle drive and most of the Cow Hands stopped long enough to greet us and share a few words. Thanks Cowboys!

Meanwhile, Back to Cycling on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route

Above: As Jeff Foxworthy says 'Here's your sign!', we turned left. We're heading through Lakeview, MT.

Above: Old Ranch Dwellings.

Above Left - Two Items: 1) Antelope just left of the tree. 2) The tree thinks that the wind is blowing.

Above Right: My Global Positioning Device in action!

Above Left: A nice view, time to stop for sunscreen and a snack.

Above Right: Terry is swapping our first empty bottle with a fresh full bottle.

Above Left: Look carefully and you may see two Sandhill Crains.

Above Right: Bugs stick to my arm from the impact of my lightning speed OR they stick from a fresh application of sunscreen.

Above Left: Baldy Mountain.

Above Right: Where we sat and had a snack.

Above Left: The Bee takes a break.

Above Right: Antelope.

Lakeview, Montana

Above Left: Old Home, still in service.

Above Right: Old place of business.

Above Left: Main Street and old Mercantile now an Inn and Restaurant.

Above Right: Exiting town through an Aspen Grove.

Above Left: The deteriorating body of an old and very large wagon or covered wagon.

Above Right: Aspen Grove.

Above Left: Terry and the Bee beside a field of Dandelions.

Above Right: A beautiful field of Dandelions.

Above Left: Mountain View.

Above Right: Lake View.

Above Left: Looking across Upper Red Rock Lake in the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, MT.

Above Right: Cycling through a woodland grove.

Above Left: The Upper Red Rock Lake Camp Ground has fresh water Spring in the form of piped out cistern over a natural spring.

Above Right: We filled our empty water bottles directly from the Spring.

Above Left: The uphill view from the Upper Red Rock Lake Camp Ground.

Above Right: Bear Vaults in the Upper Red Rock Lake Camp Ground.

Above: Three different kinds of White Flowers.

Above Left: The view from where we ate lunch overlooking the Upper Red Rock Lake.

Above Right: Prairie Smoke Flower.

Above Left: Shooting Star Flower.

Above Right: An old dwelling near the turn off for Elk Lake Road.

Above Left: Another old dwelling near the turn off for Elk Lake Road.

Above Right: The turn off for Elk Lake Road BUT we're heading toward West Yellowstone.

Above Left: Finally, we see an actual Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge sign. We had been in and out of the Refuge for half of the day.

Above Right: Most of the treed portion of this view is in the Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest. As soon as we are in the NF, we are pitching a tent.

Above Left: About 2 miles to go for the day.

Above Right: The mountains form the Hell Roaring Creek (it is loud).

Above Left: Where that road starts to go uphill is where we will setup camp.

Above Right: Hell Roaring Creek Mountains.

Above Left: Roaring Creek Ranch (is most of the upper end of this valley).

Above Right: Mountain Bluebird - I have seen them for years but they move about quickly. This our first good picture,

Above Left: Blue Bells.

Above Right: Yellow Columbine (not a good picture) - Neither of us had ever seen a wild Yellow Columbine before.

Above Left: Tiny Blue Flowers.

Above Right: The view from our wild campsite.

Above Left: The Bee with gear removed and panniers unlocked and/or open.

Above Right: Lodging Area and Cooking Area. We slept under the stars, it was heavenly.