Tie Hack

After studiously studying the Bighorn National Forest map we chose an unimproved road to take to a hiking trailhead so we could get both an off-road ride and hike done today. As far as we know these roads and trails only have numbers and no names. But if I could name them I would call the hiking trail Rocky Springs and the road Tie Hacker.

The hike was lovely but a bit of a challenge as it climbed into the foothills of Loaf Mountain. We crossed several rock falls and one of them had water running through it with no apparent source. We assumed a spring thus the name I chose.

A Point of Interest along the road told about the railroad company cutting trees and hackers shaping the logs into railroad ties (tie hackers). They would pile them in the creek bed so that the spring run off would carry them down the mountain to the reservoir then down the river to Buffalo. Today the creek if full of willow trees.

The Cloud Peak Wilderness Area has three peaks - Loaf, Big Horn and Danton, all about 12,000 feet tall. Actually there are more but these are the tallest.