• Benchmark Trailhead, South Fork Sun River, West Fork Sun River, Prairie Reef Outlook, Prairie Reef traverse, Three Lakes drainage, Moose Creek, and Wall Trail.
  • type: lollipop loop with off trail sections
• distance: 58.6 miles
• elevation change: 10,265 ft. ascent & descent
• time: 4 days & 3 nights
• location: Benchmark Trailhead, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA (google map directions)

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video by John

For my (John) prospective, check out my video of our hike.

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report

day 1 – Benchmark TH to West Fork South Fork Sun River (Yes, that’s the official name.)

stats:

• 10.3 mi.
• 1116 ft. gain & 1089 ft. loss

Today was pretty much an “approach day” spent primarily on trail to setup for our first climb on Day 2. The weather was fantastic and leaves were mid-change throughout – we also saw a black bear a little over halfway in, so that was pretty great.

Today would be pretty easy – we’d driven up to Augusta, MT from Denver

so that we could get an early start.

Pretty impressive bridges along the main trail. (This section is part of the CDT and a very common horse-packer route.)

A recovering burn scar encompassed much of the route until we crossed the Sun River again. Was interesting to see though, since many of the older trips reports I looked at were from a time when there wasn’t nearly so much new growth.

Views opened up a bit as we progressed.

Another impressively engineered bridge.

Our little black bear friend. He eyeballed me briefly and then sauntered up into the trees. 

Beautiful horseshoe bend.

Camp for the evening was a beautiful, but high use spot along the river and near the junction to the Prairie Reef fire lookout.

day 2 – West Fork South Fork Sun River to (almost) Moose Creek

stats:

• 14.1 mi.
• 4853 ft. gain & 3346 ft. loss

No other way to say it – this day was phenomenal. Just fantastic from start to finish. So many highlights.

We started the day with a pretty quick 3k’ up to the Prairie Reef fire lookout. Consistent uphill, but easy-going trail and very conservative switchbacks.

Yeah – no kidding. (We ended up hauling a few liters a piece for this day – turned out to be a good thing.)

Views began opening up quickly near treeline.

Our first definitive look at the Chinese Wall in the distance.

First look at the fire lookout.

Almost there.

I’d initially assumed the lookout was shut down for the season, as all of the windows were fully boarded, but as I got closer an older gentleman (Bill) would step out to greet me. He invited me in for coffee, but warned it was pretty tight inside – he was packing up to head out for the season the next day. He had been at the lookout since mid-June. (Not a bad place to spend the summer…) As he was preparing to leave for the season, he had plenty of extra provisions and offered a warm meal as well – I’m pretty sure John would give him a Michelin star if he could.

It turned out that Bill had previously manned the fire lookout in Yellowstone at Mount Sheridan for 13 years. So if you’ve been up there in the last couple decades, you’ve probably seen his handiwork. We chatted for a bit – greatly enjoying the warm food/drink – before continuing on our way. Towards the end of our conversation Bill mentioned a large elk herd that had been occupying a ridge nearby and that he’d seen a pack of ~10 wolves come by the lookout a few days previously. (He also said he hadn’t seen any bears up there.)

View north from the fire lookout.

Looking back at the lookout as we continued our route. Really can’t beat that location.

Mostly pretty good walking, but a few talus fields here and there. This is also where we started to hear howling…

While climbing down one of the larger talus fields both John and I started hearing what we thought was howling, but it was pretty indistinct. But once I had a chance to stop and listen it was pretty unmistakable, so I started scanning any open areas I could see. I saw a dark figure moving across a distant ridge – and then another – and then another – until I was able to count 8 of them. I turned back to John and told him – he hurried the rest of the way to my viewpoint.

It was pretty far off, but we had a great look at the wolf pack running along the far ridge. At one point they grouped up and the howling became much louder. We stood there as long as they were in view and just enjoyed the moment. Magical experience. (John: the video starting here of the wolves turned out a bit better than the pictures)

Bear Lake is apparently a pretty popular camp – this time of year and from a distance, even it was noticeably pretty low.

(John: We did find a late season small pond along our way. It wasn’t a great source since it was stagnant, but it still made my pack feel heavier with all the water I was still carrying)

The Chinese Wall (and Sphinx Peak) in the distance. We would be there in a couple days…

in the meantime, the views along our route were amazing and the terrain itself felt as wild as any other while actually being pretty tame.

The ridge flattened a bit and we were able to spot a bull elk and his harem high up in a drainage – he let out a few bugles for us. Further along the ridge another bull elk would startle us with his very loud bugle – but we never actually saw him. Fun nonetheless.

I had hoped to tag a high point near the end of the ridge (far right), but it began to snow and we already climbed about 5k’ on the day. (John: my legs were jelly at this point) We decided to go ahead and begin our drop down to Moose Creek. 

Once we found a reliable water source, we called it a night. Not the best campsite of the year… maybe even the worst, but I still slept like a baby. (There would’ve been a lot better options earlier in the year, but – without bushwhacking all the way down to Moose Creek – this was about our best option for the evening.)

day 3 – (almost) Moose Creek to the Chinese Wall

stats:

• 9.8 mi.
• 1790 ft. gain & 1583 ft. loss

Day 3 would be pretty tame – once we finished bushwhacking 3 more miles down to Moose Creek. The morning was pretty slow and unscenic, but gave way to an afternoon that was easygoing and incredibly scenic. Today we arrived at the Chinese Wall.

I think that’s a game trail… there were a few good ones, but – once lost – they were tough to pick up again.

What a mess…

 

Moose Creek.

Back on the highway.

Approaching the Wall.

To the south.

(John: Once we turned onto the Wall trail, which was the CDT at this point, we started to look for a camp. However there was no camping allowed immediately around this junction due to overuse.)

View to the north.

We found a nice spot that looked to be a regular camp for CDT hikers – we stopped a bit early, since there wouldn’t be much water if we continued on. The plan was to fill up water and traverse the wall the next day.

day 4 – Chinese Wall to Benchmark TH

stats:

• 24.4 mi.
• 2479 ft. gain & 4227 ft. loss

Well, good morning. I got my snow. Only about 1.5″, but beautiful!

Unfortunately – despite looking beautiful – the weather forced a tough decision: the Chinese Wall traverse was a no go. Very low visibility and probable very high winds on the ridge made our prospects look pretty dim. We could do it – I was confident – but between the known quantities going against us and the unknown quantities awaiting us, I decided to make the conservative choice to take the low route. (John: for the first time, this person I met on the internet didn’t try to kill me). Knowing the next few days would only get worse, it seemed prudent to enjoy the AM walking the lower section of the Wall in the snow and head towards the trailhead. We considered stopping for another night, but ended up just hiking the remaining 22 miles to the trailhead.

I was disappointed, but by this time I already knew I’d be returning to the Bob Marshall so I’ll get my chance – and hopefully have some visibility from up there.

My disappointment didn’t last too long… our walk along the wall in the snow was pretty epic. Views came in and out, but the falling snow and ominous presence of the wall at our side was pretty awesome.

Hard to beat this.

(John: As Richard exclaimed in person, “This is wild, with a capital W!”)

Eventually we descended below the snowline and the snow started to turn to rain – I’d say our pace picked up considerably at this point. I wasn’t really ready to end the trip, but the incoming weather looked pretty miserable. Such is the nature of the outdoors – especially this time of year.

Interesting spot where the old trail was very apparent – the previous trail was essentially a straight line irrespective of incline. (Apologies to Robert Frost, but we stuck to the designated route here.)

Almost back to our first night’s camp.

We made a quick stop at the Indian Point Station for lunch before continuing on.

The precipitation and a few large mule trains had turned the trail into a bit of a slippery mess – but we were pretty much to the trailhead by the time it got really bad. (Thankfully.)

This little grouse gave me a bit of a scare, then hopped a few feet away and watched me plod along

Back to the trailhead.

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John’s ratings

The rating below are based on an unevenly distributed scale of 1-5. For full description of the ratings and the categories, see the explanation here.

views/experience: 4. Similar to Richard’s impressions, this was a fantastic trip. My favorite day was our ridge walk on day 2 with the mystical nature of the wolves. Being on top of the ridge was indeed a great way to see the wide open valleys of the Bob. However, despite not traversing the Wall, hiking under it in the snow was a close second favorite on this trip. However, I’d want to the Chinese Wall next time from atop as well.

Also similar to Richard’s sentiment of hating being in the valley. There are long stretches of forest while on trail while you are making your way through the big valleys here in the Bob. They can be a bit monotonous, which this hike is the negative of hiking here.  

difficulty: 4. Off-trail always has its difficulties with talus fields and bushwhacks. However, the route wasn’t the worst. However on a bad day, the exposure on the ridge can be problematic and was the reason we opted to not go onto the Chinese Wall. An added difficulty with the ridge traverse was the lack of water, meaning we had a large water carry. This was especially true during the later parts of the hiking season with the seasonal streams from snow melt dry up. 

If you are looking to hike the Chinese wall on trail, I would say the difficulty is a 2 or moderately difficult. This is especially true if it is raining. The muddy slush that the otherwise nice wide open trail turns to was very difficult. Makes you appreciate all the infrastructure and trail work the rangers and volunteers provide. 

technical: 4. Off-trail navigation was needed for our route. Richard being in the lead made it a lot easier on me, who just had to follow. He did a great job working the map and contour lines to know when to stay with the creek and when to head away onto a bluff to avoid a canyon. 

For just the on trail section, technicality is 2, low, as the trails were well marked. There are river crossings in the Bob even though we didn’t ford any major rivers like the South Fork Sun River on our route. You’ll need to be bear aware, know how to use bear spray, and practice good backcountry management of food as it is grizzly country. There are also wolves too as we witnessed. 

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