Montana Backpacking in the Beartooths

The awesome Beartooths are Montana’s highest mountain range and encompass the eastern and northern portions of the vast Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness area. This rugged granitic landscape is in southern Montana, just to the north and northeast of Yellowstone National Park. It is a major wild-land component of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and like our Yellowstone backpacking trips, Montana backpacking in the Beartooth Mountains is a real wilderness experience. But the similarities end there. Unlike the rich verdant mix of forest/meadow/lake and river that one encounters in Yellowstone, our guided Beartooth hiking treks explore a rugged high altitude realm of some of the most breathtaking glaciated mountain country in the United States! There’s not as much wildlife as in Yellowstone, but we do typically encounter mule deer, pikas, marmots, and occasionally mountain goats. There are other critters there, too, but because few animals can digest granite, the wildlife habitat is a bit less productive than that of Yellowstone. To be sure, there are fewer grizzlies than in the park, but remember, I said “fewer”. I did not say that there are none. So we still utilize all of the protocols for safe travel in bear country. And the Beartooths have some of the best alpine wildflower blooms in the Rockies!

Because our guided wilderness backpacking treks in the Beartooths are generally at 7,500 to 10,000 feet in elevation, we recommend that clients arrive in Bozeman an extra day early, if they have the time, to begin the acclamation process. Once on the trail, folks can expect a relatively mellow first day, usually hiking up a beautiful mountain stream valley of forest and meadow framed by high rocky peaks. Day two usually gets us up into the high country, near tree-line, where big vistas of this alpine wonderland are unsurpassed. There are lots of high mountain lakes, too, nestled amidst the alpine plateaus and 12,000-foot peaks. Our 2018 scheduled trip in the Beartooths is August 6-11. This place is every bit as spectacular as the Tetons or Wind Rivers, with the hiking difficulty comparable to our Grand Tetons trip and a bit easier than that of the Winds. Don’t miss out!

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