Hebgen Lake - The Lake that Tilted

Kinsey spent quite a bit of time at the Gallatin Ranger Station in West Yellowstone getting the scoop on good places to go hiking. So much time in fact, much of the day had been frittered away.  That Kinsey, she's quite a talker. And, you know, I'm stuck out in the car the whole blinking time watching cars go by.


Between our quick visit to Yellowstone (see "Yellowstone: Sort Of") and the visit to the Range Station Kinsey opted for a hike at nearby Lake Hebgen, sometimes called the lake that tilted. It's called that because in 1959 there was a big earthquake, 7.5 on the Richter Scale, that caused the lake to literally tilt up about eight feet.

Egads! My writing was just interrupted by Kinsey having a panic attack! We've been burning slash in the forest the past few days. Kinsey looked out the window and saw smoke hanging in the trees over in the direction of our last fire. She immediately thought that fire had somehow lit up. She raced around getting her cell phone, gloves and boots on. She raced out the door and was heading to the forest like her pants were on fire. Once outside she could see the smoke was coming from our very own chimney! That woman is a hoot!

Disaster averted. Back to my story. There wasn't much day left we headed to Hebgen Lake's Madison Arm. That's where the Madison River flows into the lake. It was more of a walk than a hike and a real good place to run your dogs along sandy beaches.

Looking Out Over Hebgen Lake

You can climb up to a lookout tower on Horse Butte but my gray mare wasn't up for it. Instead we kept walking along the lakes edge. This also looks like a great place to put kayaks in the water if you have them.

We just kept on walking down the road until we got to the Narrows at Grayling Arm. It's a road made best for walking when you get out toward the Narrows. Along the way we saw several golden eagles. We don't see those much up where we live. This guy was kind of elegant.

Golden Eagle

Golden Eagle Taking Flight - Boy, those are big birds!

 Again this isn't an arduous hike it's more of a scenic walk. But if you're looking for something like that this is a perfect place. And as I mentioned, especially if you've got a canine pal along. You can't take your dog on the trails in Yellowstone so this would be a treat. Here's one last scenic photo for you.

Hebgen Lake

That evening Kinsey set about planning our hike for the next day. Whilst the Ranger Station Kinsey picked up a Forest Service map of the Gallatin Forest. These maps are essential for hiking the national forests. Kinsey loves maps but she has a love hate relationship with the Forest Service maps. They are great in that they are topographical and show the forest and trails in great detail. So great is the detail that the maps are humongous and that's the part that drives her nuts. It was an acrobatic feat to open it up inside Clementine.

Just for fun I had her open the map up and as you can see, it more than covered the diningroom table here at home.

Forest Service Map of the Gallatin Forest

Ciao for now!
Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard