At least I hope they do.
Yup, I’m leaving this morning for yet another trip to my nirvana – Montana’s Centennial Valley and surrounding area. But this time of year migrating raptors can be elusive and so can access to high wilderness areas because of temperamental weather (they’ve already had snow this season) so there are no guarantees. But as I always say – you never know unless you go.
Each of the following images was taken in the area a few months ago.
I photographed this Ferruginous Hawk in July soon after it took off from a power pole in the valley. Some of these hawks have already begun to migrate south so it’ll be a crap shoot as to what I find up there. This trip is a little late in the season and it could go either way.
One of my newer favorite destinations in the region is the Gravelly Range north of the Centennial Valley. It’s a huge wild area with extremely limited and rough road access. Much of the Gravelly Range is composed of gentle broad ridges and wooded canyons as you gain elevation. In July I traveled the 72 mile dirt Gravelly Range road and in this photo at the beginning of the climb we’re looking back south at a small portion of the Centennial Valley in the middle distance with the Centennial Mountains in the background.
Black Butte is an old volcanic cone in the Gravelly Range and at an elevation of 10, 542′ it’s the highest point in the area. It juts out abruptly, even rudely, from the landscape to assert itself as the monarch of the range. I think Black Butte is a ridiculously good-looking peak.
There are many legends involving Black Butte including stories of lost gold, hidden streams and horse thieves who were disposed of by vigilantes in the mountain’s shadow.
My morning’s in the valley often look like this as I leave my campsite at dawn to look for birds. Here the sun rises over a bird-filled pond in the foreground with lake fog drifting up from Lower Red Rock Lake in the middle background.
Circumstances have kept me from visiting the valley this summer as often as I usually do and even though it’s late in the year I just had to return one more time before the snow flies.
It’s going to be a long winter…
Ron
Note: I should have reasonably good internet access for much of this trip but continuing technical difficulties with Comcast may make posting difficult or impossible so don’t be surprised if my posts are sporadic or even nonexistent until I return.
Have a great time Ron. My kind of country out there. Love all of your shots. Especially the last one. Beautiful!
We spent two days in Centennial Valley in mid-August. We were driving back from our son’s home in Missoula. If it weren’t for you and Mia, we would have never known about this awesome place.Thanks, John
What an absolutely glorious area. I can see and understand exactly why it has claimed a piece of your heart and why its siren call is impossible to resist.
Have a wonderful, wonderful trip.
Have a great trip Ron! Fall is here and I sure you will be out there enjoying it. Looking forward to seeing your images when you return.
Enjoy!!! There is no more beautiful place than the Centennial. However, I have never been on the road you describe to Black Butte. That is on my bucket list!
Have a wonderful trip, we’ll all be waiting to see what your travels have imparted in your camera.
Beautiful landscape shots.
Did Bison ever feed on the Gravelly Range?
Hi Dick, I will answer your question for Ron–until he gets back. Yes, I think buffalo covered most of the open areas of Montana and Idaho. I just found an old buffalo skull in the bank of a dry wash, out near Challis Idaho (two months ago). A good book about the early trappers in Idaho and Montana and some of their buffalo hunts, is the book “Journal of a Trapper” by Osborne Russell.
I wish you the best for this trip – tons of cooperative birds, no mechanical difficulties of any sort. The photos you posted show me exactly why you love that area so much – it’s gorgeous. I love wide open country like that.
Hello Ron, Sawtelle Peak in the Centennial Range is an 11 mile trip to the top, that last Saturday revealed 61+ migrating raptors! The view from the top is a spectacular 360 degree vista with a different view of raptors; most of them are seen from above as they are riding the thermals from below. They are seen pushing over the Continental divide between Jefferson Peak and Sawtelle, coming mostly from Centennial Valley and some from the Madison Valley. The majority of raptors were RTHA and COHA, with a few GOEA, SWHA, AMKE, and SSHA. No need to get there early as 10-3 is peak thermal time; pick a good weather day to go to the top and do not bring a trailer (Steep, with lots of curves). Have fun in the Centennial! Ps The Gravelly Range is also a great migration route.
Good luck and good shooti! Such beautiful landscape shots! Even if you don’t get any birds,the landscape should nourish your soul.
Charlotte
Sigh, just sigh! The beauty of that area is just stunning! Have a great time, travel carefully and we’ll look forward to hearing of your adventures. And Ron, you really write well! Seriously well! I haven’t mentioned that often enough. It’s such a delight to look forward to your blog posts every morning. Thank you!
Just gorgeous…………Happy Trails to you………….
A landscape image, like any one of these, to me is as goidcas chocolate… Both are food for the soul!!!
That, of course, was supposed to read “as good as chocolate”…the evil iPad strikes again!
Patty – you can’t even believe how much chocolate I’m taking along on this trip, in several different forms. If I had to choose between taking my camera and taking chocolate my camera would probably win out but it would be close…
PS, There is a Brown Trout run on the Ruby that typically starts late Sept into October. We were going to come back up this early fall to try out luck, but my wife, who has had 4 hip surgeries has to have some additional work done in Jan so we are babying her hip. Maybe next year.
I wish your wife the best, Frank. Sorry you won’t be there as it would have been fun to meet you.
Hopefully another time. We had also thought about the southern part of the Salt Lake for eagles but your comment re that possibility made us think differently. We still have it on our bucket list to do Bosque after the festival, early December, hopefully avoiding some of the crowds. Sunrise on the Crane ponds plus Crane and Snow Goose landings in the corn fields make for some great opportunities.
Have a great trip and hopefully the weather will cooperate.
My wife and I did the roads in the Gravelly Range this last summer coming out of Enis and then dropping down the other side into the Ruby Valley, not from the Centennial Valley side. The hawks were few and far between, but a wonderful drive. Where we did find a lot of Raptor activity was on the Upper Ruby Canyon road, between Upper Canyon Outfitters and the cutoff to Dillon before you get to the Ruby Reserviour. There are a bunch of dead trees they like to perch and there is a hillside that gives them a pretty good thermal. Also, there is a pair of Bald Eagles that have a nest along the Ruby road just as the pavement starts at the south end of the reservoir while headed toward Alder. Don’t know if they will be there now. There are also a few Bald Eagles that hang out along the Ruby above Upper Canyon Outfitters. We were fishing on the Ruby in this area and a Bald Eagle perched about 25 yards from us and just watched for quite a while. I did not have my camera. As my wife fished, a feather from the eagle came floating and landed right next to her.
Wonderful country, we stayed in Alder in our RV for over a month, fishing and chasing birds.
Have a great time
Frank
Thanks very much for the tips, Frank. I never did Ruby Canyon Road or the reservoir so perhaps they’re in the cards this time.
Enjoy! Hopefully the weather remains lovely and there are many birds for you! 🙂
Fingers crossed, Judy!
Safe travels and we all look forward to your reports. Enjoy 🙂
Thank you, Zaphir. It should be an adventure. Hopefully I won’t have any vehicle breakdowns like I did last trip…