Pearls in the Bob Marshall

The rain didn’t seem like much. I figured just a quick shower, as the sun was shining brightly as the drops fell from the sky. Then the hail started to fall. Wap-wap-wapping through the trees, but still, the sun was shining and I figured it would blow over.

We were about 13 or 14 miles into the Bob Marshall Wilderness, give or take (I don’t use GPS, I just keep an eye on my watch, and figure a couple miles an hour, slower uphill, a little faster on the flats) and had set up camp and were trying to get something to eat.

It had been a long day and we were in a pleasant little pocket meadow. 

But the weather just kept getting worse and worse.We glommed down a quick meal, hung the food and hunkered down into our tents.

The skies turned black and a deluge ensued. There is a reason why I spend close to $1,000 on a tent and storms like this were it: Inside each of our tents we were bone dry.

Despite the pounding rain, we made it through the night with warm, dry bedding. The rain finally stopped at some point and I slept amazingly well, despite the rancor outside. The roll of thunder was a wilderness lullaby. That night a family of barred owls called back and forth. They sound like something out of the Amazon jungle with their monkey-like calls.

The plan for this trip was to do a big loop from Benchmark to the Basin over Camp Creek Pass, the Pearl Basin and back down the West Fork of the Sun. River. All told, about 40 miles, give or take.

It’s not a loop I’d probably do again, though it was pretty. The Camp Creek Pass Trail is a slog out of the Basin (which is a huge meadow), with lots of brush and no views to speak of.

Once you drop over the north side you’re back into the Sun River country, which is easy on the eyes. We set up a camp near the Pearl Basin and did an evening stroll up the hillside to get a better look at the rugged, but gorgeous landscape.

The next day we dropped down into the West Fork of the Sun and walked through the pleasant meadows until nearly the bridge crossing. I suppose we could have hiked out entirely, as we were only about 6 miles from the trailhead. 

But I was working on a blister on my foot that was looking pretty ugly and the afternoon was miserably hot, so we set up camp and chilled and slept like a log that night. The next morning was an easy glide out through some of the prettiest country on planet Earth.

All told we had some joy, some misery and some memorable moments. It’s the 60th anniversary of the passage of the Wilderness Act this year, and the 84th year of the establishment of the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

Thanks to the vision of many folks before me, this landscape is preserved as long as the Union exists. It’s the kind of thing you really appreciate as the sun comes up over the hills and lights the meadows gold.

      

    A packer goes by camp.
  

    Mountain chickadee, Bob Marshall Wilderness.