 |
| Sara on top of Naya Nuki with Sacagawea in the background |
In the world of Montana running, Sacagawea Peak is very well known. Not because of the peak itself, but because it is the marker for the top of the first climb in the iconic
Bridger Ridge Run just outside Bozeman. Sacagawea is near the northern end of the Bridger Range and marks the high point of both the range, and the 20 mile ridge run.
In late July Sara and I used another race, the
Cross Cut 25k, as an excuse to spend the night at Fairy Lake and summit Sacagawea. We drove into Fairy Lake on a Friday afternoon, found a campsite, and then set out up the trail.
From Fairy Lake a well-worn trail ascends consistently up through the trees and into a long bowl, which serves as the faucet that fills Fairy Lake. The first bit of the climb through the trees offers glimpses of the nearby alpine terrain, but once reaching treeline the trail is stunning, assuming you like mountains and rocks and snow.
 |
| Sara nearing the top of the bowl |
Often it seems like features in this part of the country are named after three people, Merriwether Lewis, John Clark, or Jim Bridger. This small, but glorious range, adopted the name of the latter in recognition of Bridger's creation of the "Bridger Trail." This route led from the gold fields in Montana to the Oregon Trail, which is known for ruining every 90's elementary school kid's desire for westward exploration. Jim Bridger first used this route in 1864 as an alternate to the Bozeman Trail. Bridger's knowledge of the area after a 1959 topographical exploratory trip made him a natural fit to lead 10 wagons on a new and hopefully safer route. After the initial successful trip, Bridger was tapped to guide for Powder River Expeditions and never again made a trip on his namesake trail.
 |
| Beginning the climb to the summit |
The Bridger Mountains National Recreation Trail, which Sara and I followed up from Fairy Lake, did not have near the dangers that Jim Bridger faced on any of his adventures, but we did face a very strong, gusty headwind as we emerged from the trees. As we hiked up to the head of the bowl we watched descending hikers repeatedly battle swirling dust devils and laughed until we realized we would hit the same wind funnel in a quarter mile.
Because it was a warm day in July, however, the wind seemed like a minor nuisance and we quickly gained the ridge. From there it was a fairly straight shot up the last 1,000' to the summit. On the way up, however, we decided to bypass the summit on the way out and tag the top of Naya Nuki, the next peak south, because the name is spectacular.
 |
| On top of Sacagawea |
After standing on top of Naya Nuki we turned and went back north, but stayed on the ridge as much as possible rather than drop the 30 feet down to the trail. The top of Sacagawea Peak is wonderful. The day Sara and I went up there was just enough smoke to limit views of distant ranges, but that meant we focused more on the Bridger Range itself. Looking down the ridgeline made me want to follow it into the setting sun. I could easily see why people come back year after year to do the Bridger Ridge Run.
That night our sleep in the Fairy Lake campground was interrupted, not by Friday night partiers, but by a roving heard of mountain goats. They tromped around for a few hours looking for scraps of food, banging heads together, and generally caused a ruckus that left a smile on my face.
Comments
Post a Comment