RED LODGE - Jason Meeker's camping trip up the West Fork of Rock Creek turned into a wet, wild night when a storm Monday dropped more than 2 inches of rain in four hours, triggering at least four landslides in the drainage.

"I've never seen anything like that in my life," said Meeker, 31, of Red Lodge. "It was intense, majorly intense."

The storm loosened up part of the surrounding mountainside, burned in the Cascade fire that started a year and a day ago. Four landslides spewed out 3-ton boulders and rivers of sand and uprooted trees 30 feet tall and 14 inches in diameter from a north-facing slope.

The smell of freshly fallen pine, doused campfire and wet dirt hung in the air as the muddy West Fork of Rock Creek roared past, carting off the storm's debris.

The slides crossed the West Fork Road - the only access to the canyon's campgrounds, hiking trails and recreational cabins - just west of Basin Campground. One slide scoured a 15-foot-deep gash out of the mountain, leaving a small stream trickling down its center where none had been before. Debris from the fire and slides, along with the onslaught of water, pushed the West Fork of Rock Creek about 2 feet higher during the night.

"Last night at 5 it was jet-black," said Jeff Gildehaus, recreation planner for the Beartooth Ranger District, as he revisted the site. "I had the wipers going full blast and I still couldn't see."

One slide piled mud, rock and trees 8 feet deep across the dirt road.

"To float rocks like this it would have to be a rapid, mass movement of material," he said.

Post-fire behavior

Forest officials were not surprised by the slides, a common occurrence during rainstorms following fires, but they were impressed by the intensity of the storm.

"This probably isn't the last of this," said Traute Parrie, Beartooth District ranger. A flash flood warning was in effect for Tuesday night for the Beartooth Front, as well. "It's a dynamic environment. It could be two to five years before it settles."

Forest Service engineers, hydrologists and geologists were examining the terrain Tuesday. Once the damage is assessed, the agency will have to figure out how to pay for removal of the debris. Parrie said the district has some money left over from funds targeted for fire recovery work.

"We'll try to tap into that," she said.

Luckily, the agency has machinery in place doing work to widen and straighten a section of the West Fork Road. Parrie said a contract could be drawn up to get the additional work done.

The road crew already did the agency a favor by plowing a one-lane swath through the debris. The crew wanted out Monday night, so they used a front-end loader to plow through on their own.

The road work that started earlier this month had restricted access to the canyon. Mondays through Thursdays, cars were allowed only from noon to 1 p.m. and after 6 p.m. Now the road is closed to the public. Parrie said she hoped to have the road cleared and reopened in a week.

The agency also temporarily pulled its trail crew out of the canyon. The four workers had been building a new section of the Senia Trail after a portion was washed out in an earlier storm. Gildehaus estimated another 10 days of work was left to complete the new trail section.

Escape route

Meeker attempted to abandon his rain-soaked tent Monday night by driving his sedan out of the canyon, but he was stopped by the first slide he reached. Taking his dog, Emily, with him, he decided to try to walk out during the deluge.

"I was sinking about 18 inches into the mud walking out," he said. "It was scary."

Pressing forward, he eventually was able to hitch a ride out.

Stephen and Patricia Jordan were caught on the opposite side of the slides. The couple, now from Nashville, Tenn., but formerly of Helena, were visiting a family cabin at Camp Senia on Monday when they went into Red Lodge to do laundry. When they tried to return, the road was closed by the mudslides.

After being let in to retrieve their belongings Tuesday, the couple stopped to thank Gildehaus and Parrie for their assistance before continuing on to their home.

"If it had to be, it was good timing for us," Stephen Jordan said.

Last year, they weren't so lucky. Expecting to spend time at the cabin, they arrived to find the Cascade fire had started nearby that day.

"So last year we were refugees," he said, traveling around Montana to fill the vacation time they'd allotted for their cabin visit.

Returning to the blackened forest this year after the fire was a bit traumatic for the couple, and the rainstorm was a capper.

"Intellectually, we knew what was here," Stephen said, "but emotionally it was shocking, unbelievable. We still haven't taken it in."

Contact Brett French at french@billingsgazette.com or at 657-1387.