The Crazy Mountains are an isolated mountain range in Central Montana, the Crow people revere this range- it's easy to see why. I've hiked/ran in the Crazies a lot, but have yet to come up w/ a good loop, plenty of out and back and point to point options, but the trails simply don't line up for a loop. I've tried to put together several different loops, but the off trail sections thus far have offered up pretty sketchy scrambling/climbing bits. I put together this route, hoping I could finally get a decent loop together.
Plan was to park at the Sunlight trailhead, veer south and pick up the South Fork of the Shields river trail, follow it to it's end (dead end trail) bushwhack 2-3 miles to the head end of the drainage and then pick a good spot to scramble out and over into Elk Ck where I would pick up the trail to Campfire Lake, from there it would be all trail following the Middle Fork of Sweetgrass Ck to the junction with Sunlight, up and over Sunlight down to the truck- roughly 25 miles.
Right off the bat I missed a non-existent turn-off for the trail and ended going one and a half miles too far, what I like to call bonus miles!
I used the gps to cross country and intersect the trail, the trail is very lightly used (and very unmaintained) and would frequently lose and re-find it as I headed up the drainage. Eventually the trail petered out for good and the bushwhacking was slow and tedious.
When I got to the head end of the drainage a very steep cirque surrounded me. I spent a good 20 minutes surveying possible routes and came up with none
I was going to turn around and call it a day when I spied some elk tracks in a snowfield, looking like he was headed up. Animals typically know the easiest routes and so I thought I would follow. This bull evidently didn't know this rule of thumb and led me on a very sketchy scramble up (the kind where you don't want to be looking down). I eventually made it up and over and intersected the Elk Ck trail leading to Campfire Lake.
From here things went pretty smoothly, although even up high it was hot. I would add snow to my bladder to keep the water cool, soak in the lakes up to my thighs, linger in the many creek crossings and even stuff snow in my ball cap
28 miles and 9.5 hours later I made it back to the truck. While this wasn't the loop I was hoping for, still good adventure and will keep me looking for that elusive route.
looking nice and fresh
head end of the South Fork of the Shields looking back down the drainage
Plan was to park at the Sunlight trailhead, veer south and pick up the South Fork of the Shields river trail, follow it to it's end (dead end trail) bushwhack 2-3 miles to the head end of the drainage and then pick a good spot to scramble out and over into Elk Ck where I would pick up the trail to Campfire Lake, from there it would be all trail following the Middle Fork of Sweetgrass Ck to the junction with Sunlight, up and over Sunlight down to the truck- roughly 25 miles.
Right off the bat I missed a non-existent turn-off for the trail and ended going one and a half miles too far, what I like to call bonus miles!
I used the gps to cross country and intersect the trail, the trail is very lightly used (and very unmaintained) and would frequently lose and re-find it as I headed up the drainage. Eventually the trail petered out for good and the bushwhacking was slow and tedious.When I got to the head end of the drainage a very steep cirque surrounded me. I spent a good 20 minutes surveying possible routes and came up with none
I was going to turn around and call it a day when I spied some elk tracks in a snowfield, looking like he was headed up. Animals typically know the easiest routes and so I thought I would follow. This bull evidently didn't know this rule of thumb and led me on a very sketchy scramble up (the kind where you don't want to be looking down). I eventually made it up and over and intersected the Elk Ck trail leading to Campfire Lake.From here things went pretty smoothly, although even up high it was hot. I would add snow to my bladder to keep the water cool, soak in the lakes up to my thighs, linger in the many creek crossings and even stuff snow in my ball cap
28 miles and 9.5 hours later I made it back to the truck. While this wasn't the loop I was hoping for, still good adventure and will keep me looking for that elusive route.
looking nice and fresh
head end of the South Fork of the Shields looking back down the drainage
