It has been a long wait. The snow has finally melted off most of the forest roads. Most importantly, Lick Creek Road is free of snow. Usually, the snow is gone before May. I took the plug yesterday, May 16, taking advantage of a nearly 80-degree day with possible late-afternoon thunderstorms. I gathered up my backpack containing my camera and other photography gear. Leaving the house naked, wearing only a well-worn hat and hiking boots, I was on the road by 12. My travel was slowed by construction near the little town of Belt, and I had to stop at a light and wait for the pilot car to guide those waiting through the construction. At the roundabout, I left the line of following cars. I pasted the flagman holding back cars coming from the south on Route 89. I continue south to the closed rest stop. I set up my camera and tripod on the passenger's side so I could take some photos of me driving. The setup required me to move from the driver's side to the other side to check focus and other things. I clicked off a few photos with my camera remote before turning onto dirt roads. The road progressively became deeply rutted closer to The Little Belt Mountains. On Lick Creek Road, I was driving on the topmost ridges of deep tire tracks.
The road was smooth at the top of the mountain pass after passing the last ranch. There was still snow in the shadowed parts of the forest. By 1:30, I had pulled off into the entrance of an unimproved camping site. I spray Off Insect Repellent to keep ticks from hitching a ride while looking for a meal. With my camera gear in my backpack, I took off up a drainage and a mountain slope. Clouds were slowly moving from the south. Now and then, I would take photos of emerging flowers. Make notes on the lichen and other plants I saw. Halfway up the mountain, I was examining a lichen when I saw a nymph grasshopper. I collected it to take home for some high-definition photography. By 3:30 the clouds were growing tight and gray. I went back down to my car. I was on the road by 4. Rather than going the way I came, I decided to take the backroads back to town. Along the way, I would get out of my car to take pictures of the clouds brewing over the plains. I was home by 5:30 PM in a downpour.
