July 19, 2025
After only 6 miles driving further east in the morning, we parked at the Silvertip Trailhead. It’s the end of the road and a popular access to the wilderness (some horse trailers, some cars in the parking lot). We started walking at 9am, ready for a challenging 4-day hike.
Originally we had considered a longer trip but a storm was forecast for Monday late/Tuesday all day (rain and thunderstorms), and being high in the alpine in these conditions did not sound smart.
The arrows on this map give you an idea of the loop we selected to hike:
Our trail followed the Spotted Bear River, and was well used by horse groups that bring visitors into the “Bob”.
We started getting our share of mud and horse poop, and had to navigate big pits of that mixture. Rock hopping and pushing through the bushes on the side of the trail to avoid deep mud became our sport!
But there wasn’t any significant elevation gain, and we kept going all day. Due to the significant grizzly bear population in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, talking and yelling all day became normal on this trip!
After about two hours, we entered the Great Bear Wilderness:
We took a few breaks, and had 3 creek crossings – I tend to just take my shoes off and walk across, and the water was ankle to calf deep only.
We met a Forest Service trail crew, passed a few visitors on horses and later their pack train, passed Pentagon cabin where a side trail and CDT alternate turns towards Switchback Pass, and kept going past that 10 mile mark at Pentagon, until, with the day disappearing on us, we got tired and hungry.
The total was 24.3km for the day when we found a small campsite that accommodated our 3 tents nicely. After climbing to a higher spot to eat (always away from camp) we spent a quiet night without visitors!
We did not see any bears or other wildlife. Do chipmunks count? Besides the claw marks on the trees, there wasn’t even any sign of bears.
From Pentagon cabin to well into the third day we were walking on a CDT alternate. The Continental Divide Trail is one of the 3 main long distance trails in the US, and Gary is actually a “Triple Crowner”, having hikes all 3 (PCT, AT and CDT).
The main CDT runs through the Bob further east but this alternate was on our way (alternates are options that can be selected based on weather, resupply or preferences, and connect back to the main trail at some point).
