The Beartooth Wilderness is on the Wyoming/Montana Border (not far from the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park), spans 3 national forests and is right next to the Absakora Wilderness. I spent several weeks hiking this area and seldom knew officially exactly where I was.
This is a great area though, filled with 100 or more glacial lakes and ponds. The down side here was the mosquitoes. I took to wearing a bug hat while hiking so I didn't inhale them. I had to buy a dome tent so I had a place to cook and hang out around camp without being carried off by them.
I've made screens for the back of the truck that work fine, most of the time, and never had more than the occasional mosquito back there. I was camped along a small stream and found myself huddled in the back of the truck with a can of bug spray in one hand and a rolled up newspaper in the other. Somehow mosquitoes were getting in. They seemed to have scouting parties of 5-6 that would come in at the same time. I'd zap those and 5-6 more would appear a minute or two later. After 30-40 minutes of that I gave up and moved on. Never had that kind of problem again.
Stopped off at Little Big Horn National Monument, site of Custer's Last Stand. Really not much of anything to see, just open prairie and hills. When the Calvary came for the bodies of the soldiers, they apparently left a marker where each one was recovered. Displays about what occurred, as described by Indians present at the massacre, are also there. So you'd read the display and then look out on the prairie at clusters of markers grouped together here and there and the occasional lone maker off by itself. As I thought about what had happened there it gave me a really strange feeling.
I wanted to visit Glacier National Park on the Canadian border after Labor Day to beat the crowds but went a little early instead. They had 4 feet of snow in June and I didn't want to miss this park because of a possible early snow. It's prime attraction to most people is the 50 mile scenic drive through rugged, alpine type country. I got to see my first mountain goats plus 4 mountain big horn rams. Got pictures of the goats but not the rams.
The big attraction for me was the lakes though. I paddled several lakes 6-7 miles long with steep, absolutely gorgeous mountain peaks rising up all around them. Great pictures too. Several larger lakes but the wind picked up too much for paddling. Not much camping in the area though without reservations so I didn't get to do the hiking I would have liked.
Just south of Glacier National Park is the Hungry Horse Reservoir, 50 miles or so long and 1-2 miles wide. The only body of inland body of water I've seen to top it is Lake Powell in Utah. Forested hills and slopes and mountain peaks everywhere. Lots of good hiking and great paddling. Lake Koocanusa, 60-70 miles away is another great place to paddle... and no development on either lake and not much boat traffic either, even on weekends.
Seems like every trip summary I have some little misadventure to report. This one occurred on Hungry Horse Reservoir. The wind was blowing 15mph or so but I decided to go out paddling anyway. The lake was about 2 miles across at this point and I had paddled about half way across.
I was splashing, crashing, thrashing through 1.5-2.0 foot wind waves having a grand old time. It was kinda cold that morning so I had fleece socks and sandals on. I felt something cold on one foot and knew I hadn't got my feet wet getting into the kayak when I launched. A minute later my other foot felt cold. I checked the spray skirt and it was nice and tight and not leaking. I looked around and could find nothing wrong... no water coming in from the top but water sloshing around my feet. If the water wasn't coming in from the top, it must be coming in from the bottom. OMAGOD, I'm sinking.
I got myself back to shore without too much difficulty and pulled the kayak up on the bank... and watched water pour out from the back of the kayak. For me to get the kayak up on the truck I set it at an angle to the back of the truck, lift the bow and walk the kayak upright and lean it against the back. Then I pick up the stern and slide it forward onto the truck. Over the past couple of years I must have done that 100 times or more, much of the time on concrete boat ramps and such. All that walking and sliding around wore a hole the size of my little finger into the stern. That particular day the last tiny thread must have let go and the water came pouring in. I got some marine sealant and plugged it up with no problem.
Also at Hungry Horse I was showing a guy with a white water kayak how to do a self rescue, the first time I tried it with my Perception Acadia. It has a rear, leaky, Styrofoam bulkhead but none in the front. The rear hatch cover popped off during the rescue allowing the boat to become completely full of water. I got into it in perfectly calm water (hey, where else are you going to be able to do a self rescue?) but I was the only thing above waterline. I insisted on pulling the boat out by myself and had a really hard time of it. Lessons learned!
He, of course had no bulkheads in his white water kayak but he did have a rear floatation bag. His result were a little different. When he got back into his kayak, the front was filled with water and sank while he and the stern were vertical. Sitting there with just his chest and head and the rear of his yellow kayak above water he looked like one of those coneheads from the 60's or 70's. I laughed at him till I cried but more lessons learned.
Well, I'll be in southern Utah (as usual) until the weather turns too cold and then south into Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California. No Baja until I get a new vehicle. The truck's starting to moan and groan and I don't want a breakdown in a foreign country where I don't know the language.
Have a good fall and winter and stay active.