This remote valley deep in the Bob Marshall Wilderness is home to extraordinary wildlife, including elk, moose, wolf, eagles, mountain goats, ... Day 1: We’ll get an early start for our drive to the Lodgepole Trailhead, so we can cover about 12 miles on horses the first day, going over a mountain pass and camping along the headwaters of the South Fork. Success! Volunteers will be spraying and pulling knapweed and houndstoung in three different spots along Youngs Creek. These "do it yourself" rafting drop floats in the Bob Marshall Wilderness can put you right in the middle of the best fishing in Montana. It is an easy, well used, 5.4-mile round-trip hiking path that passes through coniferous forests and two mountain lakes. Six Montana paddlers took a five day backpacking and packrafting trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness to float about 56 miles of the South Fork of the Flathead River in mid-July. From White River, I go cross-country on game trails, seeking a way up the famous Chinese Wall, a 40-mile-long, 1,000-foot-high cliff that forms the Bob's scenic centerpiece. If you think the last truly wild, unexplored land is in Canada or Alaska, you haven't been to Wyoming's Absaroka range. Error! It's oddly appropriate—there are so many ways this trip could blow up in my face. Perfectly charming when trees sport spring greenery but arguably more popular come first snow, Whitefish, a small northern city, is a winter wonderland known for its accessible slopes and proximity to Glacier National Park. View a map of this area and more on Natural Atlas. Together, they house more than 200 miles of the Continental Divide between Helena, Montana, and the southern border of Glacier National Park. and USFS Trail 179 (Lodgepole Creek Trail), then down said trail to USFS Trail 1 . The falls is within the Morrell Creek drainage, which is fed by Grizzly Basin and is located adjacent to the Bob Marshall Wilderness. From here, climb to broad, campable flats atop the divide. After an eight-mile, 800-foot initial climb, I top the Divide's first summits and have a look. Why? In fact, I'm daydreaming of peanut butter bagels while bashing down through chest-high foliage toward Hoadley Creek Trail and my first resupply at Benchmark when a hairy blob the color of dead pine needles stands up from the bushes just ahead. Round the lake on its northern shore and climb west across meadow and talus to a 7,800-foot saddle. News from UM, MSU, High School sports and more. On the East Fork of Strawberry Creek, about three days from my finish at Marias Pass, I surprise a Montana Conservation Corps trail crew. Time to get back in the game. Total miles: approximately 10. The Lodgepole trailhead is approximately 12 miles north of the town of Ovando, Mt. This is a fully guided horseback pack trip requiring you to bring your personal gear, clothing, and toiletries which will be packed in one or two simple duffel bags not exceeding 45lbs total. "Sounds bigger and badder than the trails we work on," says one. Dean Lake at mile 155 is heaven. Turn south to summit via the steep but nontechnical northwest ridge, staying on its western flanks. Trail on Lodgepole Creek in Flathead NF, Lolo NF, Bob Marshall Wilderness, MT. Furdog777 3,378 views The nonstop views and rampant wildlife are distractingly spectacular. I head through the forks of Ahorn Creek on trails ravaged by a 2010 fire to regain the continental rooftop farther north and camp, exhausted, on a tiny patch of tundra beneath Junction Peak. Local news headlines from ABC FOX in Missoula and Kalispell - delivered to your email inbox every weekday. A cub fires up out of the brush, climbing a trekking pole-thin lodgepole snag, and my heart falls into my boots. Western isn’t close to very much, the regional airports tend to be expensive, there isn’t an easy way to get to the trailheads without a rental car, and even then the number of truly good loop routes is fairly small. Kind weather contributed to a 100% completion rate, with many excellent routes and stories generated. Lodgepole Trailhead access closed after mudslides leave tons of debris, Access reopened to popular Bob Marshall Wilderness trailhead after landslides, The City of Bozeman announced 2020 Bozeman Beautification Award winners, Gallatin Rest Home asks for donations to help isolated nursing home residents, Local delivery business giving away free dinners, Community pitches in on Giving Tree supplying presents to more than 80 kids in need, Dillon Jaycees 64th annual rodeo starts this weekend with COVID-19 safety precautions, Hunter success rates at or above average across west-central and southwest Montana, Montana active COVID-19 cases tops 10,000, MDT Reported Road Issues for October 24th, FWP seeking information in deer poaching case in Chouteau County, Cascade County reports 3 more COVID-19 deaths, Great Falls Municipal Court closed until Nov. 30, Great Falls Public Works Complex closed to walk-in traffic, Eureka women quilt to remember those lost to COVID-19, Send Season's Greetings to seniors in Kalispell, Libby Elementary moves to remote learning after staff members are quarantined, Crews knock down structure fire in Hungry Horse, Carroll College looks ahead to upcoming spring semester, Lewis and Clark County Health Board Enacts New COVID Regulations, Legislators meet in joint rules session to discuss COVID-19 precautions, Montana electors meet to cast Electoral College votes, Missoula Valley Winter Market begins accepting SNAP, Lolo community competes in the Great Lolo Light Fight, Providence St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula receives COVID-19 vaccine, Missoula's Community Medical Center receives COVID-19 vaccine, Bozeman man arrested for attempted homicide, victim stabbed 20+ times, Lewis & Clark County Board of Health to consider changes to tighten regulations, mandates, Law enforcement finds and detains third suspect in felony theft, Help Me Taylor: Woman threatened with eviction for crying baby, Multiple bikes spotted on the river by Broadwater Bay, Wolf Point man admits to assaulting woman with a hatchet, Help Me Taylor: More questions than answers remain in Amy Glanville story, Long-term care facilities, rural healthcare workers next in line for COVID-19 vaccine, FWP warns rainbow trout in the Clark Fork aren't safe to eat. Big Rewards, Shorter Hikes Get the best of the Bob in a week or less. As a wilderness area no motorized or mechanical equipment including bicycles are allowed. Trip Details. Lodgepole Creek Trail is a trail on Lodgepole Creek in Flathead National Forest, Lolo National Forest, Bob Marshall Wilderness, MT. "The Bob," as it's called quite reverently in certain circles, comprises three contiguous wilderness parcels; Scapegoat, Bob Marshall, and Great Bear. Crawl if necessary! No need to register, buy now! "We hardly ever see hikers," smiles foreman Case Dunn. Spot some bruins and sample the goods at these Bearpacker Magazine-approved destinations. One's perception of time warps on long trips like these, shifting from the count of days and weeks to peaks, passes, lakes, camps, and snacks. Too steep. I'm uphill from Mama Grizzly; that, and her concern for junior is the only reason she’s not gnawing on my head. Just before the second crossing, a crossroad with the 3.1 mile-long Porcupine Basin Trail is available to hikers looking for a longer day trip. Descend off the east ridge of the northernmost Sister to elk trails that drop to the headwaters of Three Sisters Creek. This is a very good, concise resource on “The Bob,” especially the sections on wildlife and history! The only sounds are wind, distant thunder—and the unnerving squeak from the kilo of chrome steel that is now my left hip. Together, they house more than 200 miles of the Continental Divide between Helena, Montana, and the southern border of Glacier National Park. Mr. Bob was the spirited conservationist and cofounder of the Wilderness Society The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex consist of the Bob Marshall, Scapegoat, and Great Bear Wilderness areas. The crew is excited about the route I've followed. Please visit Montana Fish and Wildlife website for up to date information.) Boost traffic by filling gaps. My passion—heck, my career—has always been serious backcountry adventure, and recently I've felt benched. Traverse the wildest part of the lower 48's last great grizzly hideaway. The Drumming Fire south of Marias Pass is now 3,000 acres. This week long closure will affect the Lodgepole Trailhead, which is a portal to Youngs Creek in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, and access point in to the Spotted Bear RD. Alarmed by smoke overwhelming my position, I abandon ridgeline ambitions and boogie north until I strike the Chinese Wall Trail, a roughly 18-mile track, overlapped by the CDT, that snakes along the base of the wall's central section. Begin at Headquarters Creek Pass trailhead and hike 2.5 miles and 1,500 feet to Our Lake. Schafer Meadows Landing Strip, in the Great Bear Wilderness, is the only open airstrip in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. Augusta is the "Gateway to the Crown Jewel" of the wilderness system. 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