This isn't a race report, because it's not a race- it's just an event 

This year's Open had us starting at the West Fork of the Teton River on the east side of the divide and finishing at Inez lake in the Swan Valley (west of the divide); 18 folks started this year, 8 finished (one year no one finished!! ).  This year was especially challenging due to near record snowpack and near record flows.  Our route covered 115 miles and took us a little over 80 hours.  The fastest finisher brought skis and took a high route to stay in the snow as much as possible and finished in 58 hours (this wasn't the first time he finished the quickest, but was the first time anyone brought skis).

We took off from the West Fork trailhead heading upstream and then up to the head end of Olney Ck where we went over the pass into Nesbitt Ck which is part of the Sun River drainage.  We were in snowshoes a couple of miles up Olney Ck and most of Nesbitt Ck ~ 7 miles.

We made pretty decent time to the North Fork of the Sun River and followed it down stream until our first big ford of the Sun near Circle Ck- sadly the ford was a definite no go, we were even committed to swimming if necessary, just too much water and too fast.  There is a stock bridge we can use to get across the Sun, but it adds 3-4 miles, no choice.  We hiked until 10:00 PM and called it a day- roughly 31 miles.

We were up at 5:00 AM (heated water for instant coffee and a quick bite) and on the trail at 6:00.  We caught up to another team near the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Sun- they slept in   Our next ford was of the West Fork of the Sun, we opted again to take a mileage hit and go around to the pack bridge (about a 2 mile hit).  Once across the West Fork we were now on the South Fork of the Sun heading up stream towards Benchmark.  We hit a bunch of blowdown which slowed our pace to a crawl.

blowdown not only slows you down, but consumes a ton of energy- trying to get over/under/around with a 25-ish pound pack sucks

fortunately we also had some good stretches too

we met a bunch of folks in shorts and sandals (and a wee bit portly too) near Benchmark- when they asked where we were coming from and headed, I don't think they believed us 

our next junction was Hoardley Ck which would take us to Stadler Pass and over the continental divide

2-3 miles up Hoadley we started into the snow and wasn't long before we were in shoes

considering the snow and the climb, we made pretty good time up and over the pass

we took a supper break over the top- this is how we typically did supper- it provided a nice sitdown break, good calories and that way we didn't have to cook near camp (grizzly country), plus eating at 10:00 PM just doesn't work that great

nice view of the Swan range while we ate

we made pretty good time down Stadler Ck- heading for the Danaher (headwaters of the SF of the Flathead River), but unfortunately we started hitting a bunch of blowdown and got into some deep fords of Basin Ck, this was even more difficult as we were into headlamps as this point

we finally made it to Basin Ck cabin after 11:00 PM ~ 33 miles, we setup up shelters and slept until 5- we used the porch of the cabin to drink our coffee and eat breakfast

nice, crisp morning and some nice views as we headed down the Dannaher- that's old line that was once used to communicate between cabins, probably up to the 1950's

our next and biggest ford was going to be the junction of the Danaher Ck and Youngs Ck- at the rate we were going I didn't hold up much hope

big log jam on the Danaher

the ford is about a 1/2 mile off the main river trail, it was a definite no go- sure death, this meant a 11-12 mile detour to Big Prairie and the stock bridge across the South Fork of the Flathead 

about a mile down river, we saw a large cottonwood that went almost 2/3 of the way across the river with the top deposited on a gravel, a short (but deep) ford and you would be across the river- this looked promising so we made the 1/2 mile detour to take a closer look

after closer inspection we decided no way; what you can't see in the pic is two large strainers below the cottonwood that if you happened to slip would mean sure death, but Thad thought it was worth testing- John and I tried to talk him out of it

without much luck

I can't put into words what it was like watching someone who if he slipped was a goner, but the SOB made it to the gravel bar- got into the deep water, was swept quite a ways, but made it to the far shore 

he was shouting for us to follow, no f%&ing way- this is where we split ways and John and I trudged our ways towards Big Prairie

it took us until noon to make Big Prairie and the stock bridge, we crossed and ate some lunch

now we had to back track another 5-ish miles if we were to continue on our route up Youngs Ck and up and over the Swan, unfortunately we bumped into Gordon Ck and the ford there was sketchy at best, definitely a swim and if you happened to get swept, into the South Fork and who knows what

we changed plans yet again and decided to go up Gordon Ck, up and over Gordon Pass and end up at Holland Lake, quite aways north of Lake Inez, but we would figure that out later

Gordon Ck is large (long) drainage, the lower end the remnants of a fire and we encountered a ton of blowdown, so much for making good time

we weren't the only ones traveling Gordon Ck

we made it to Shaw Ck around 8:00 PM and decided to call it a night, we didn't have time to make it over the pass and we were beat ~ 27 miles

we were up at 5 and on the trail by 6:00, another nice crisp morning

old growth stand of Western Larch

getting ready to really start climbing

we made pretty decent time up to the pass, plenty of snow, but pretty firm so didn't slow us down too much

we lost the trail as we descended and decided to follow a grizzly track as they are uncanny in their ability to follow a trail when it's buried in snow, sure enough this guy knew where he was headed and we ended up at Upper Holland Lake

a mile or so past the lake the snow started to disappear and we were making good time again, several nice falls along the route

we eventually could see the valley floor and the Mission Range to the west

we made it to the Owl Ck trailhead and were welcomed to 80 degree temps, we also found out that what we thought was about 9 miles to Lake Inez was actually more like 16 miles   this didn't look good, we ate lunch, watered up, soaked our shirts and headed out'

the main Holland Lake Road is four miles to the highway and gravel, it gets a tone of traffic from folks looking to beat the heat at the lake we ate vehicle dust for four miles; what seemed like forever we finally it the highway, no more dust, but an even bigger problem- a very narrow shoulder and large trucks zipping by at 65+ mph, after a mile or so of this we had to re-think things

what we decided is we would we would walk to a friends cabin and try and get a ride to my waiting vehicle at Lake Inez- it would be a DNF, but between the heat and close traffic calls, it was an easy decision- unfortunately the buddy's cabin is another 5 miles up another dusty road and the mosquitos decided to get in on the act as well!

after the longest five miles of my life, we arrived at the cabin only to find our buddy had already headed back to Helena- doh, fortunately their neighbors took pity on us took us to Lake Inez

about 24 miles this day

but it wasn't quite over, we drove by where Thad's vehicle was and in great surprise it was still there- wtf?  we decided to drive up some Forest Service roads he would have to come down; John also said they stashed some beers in a little creek the weekend before and wouldn't you know it as we rounded a bend, here's Thad drinking a beer!  and with three other guys- the crew from Missoula, they hooked up on top of the Swan and travelled together

we drank a beer, swapped stories and left them to finish (they had about 4 miles to go); John and I headed to Trixies for a Trixie burger, fries and a cold local IPA

thanks for reading

Sounds like a fun adventure.  Iv'e done a lot of whitewater rafting and kayaking, and no way should that guy have crossed where he did. You're right if he slipped on upstream side, he was going to be stuck.

During my race, I was thinking that you were having better views than I was since I kept seeing the same 1.55 miles over and over again.

Congrats on another Bob finish.

Thanks guys!  The BMO definitely qualifies as adventure- pictures and words don't fully capture it; you know you are alive.

AT- yeah a fall either way he was screwed- upstream the cottonwood would have done him in, downstream there were two big strainers just waiting to scoop someone up- scary shit!

Jamie- we didn't see any grizzlies, but on our way up Gordon Ck, John was usually a little bit ahead of mine- I came around a corner and he was standing there with his bear spray in hand- that gets your attention quickly!    I drew mine and stood by him, he pointed up the trail where I could see something moving, but couldn't identify it.  I gave a several loud "Hey bear" and out the brush emerged a rather large black bear, a few more "hey bears" and he reluctantly gave up the trail and moved up hill- I'd much rather see the reaction of them running uphill vs slowly and begrudgingly going up hill- he wasn't overly scared at all.

Thanks for posting this... great photos and nice write-up too. While I can run supported 100 milers fairly decently I don't think I would do too well in this adventure of yours. You gotta' know your shit, to take on that challenge. Congrats on your accomplishment.

WOW!!!  you are Mountain Mike!!    What a cool adventure.  I'd do it if someone carried my pack and made the food.    I can't stand a pack!

Really...who follows Grizzly tracks!

Thanks for sharing Mike...I bet those IPA's were awesome.

PS.  Hmmm no woman

Great report, MT! And I think it was a very wise move to not follow your friend on that cottonwood crossing.

Thanks for sharing!

 

PS.  Hmmm no woman

Noticed that too.

Wow! Great pics.