Point South of Sheep Mountain - Montana Mountain Project

Sara heading towards the summit

Just west of West Yellowstone is small mountain range that is easy to miss. Only driving South to Raynolds Pass does Henry's Lake Range (AKA the Lionhead Mountains) present itself as anything more than a group of hills keeping the Madison river in check.

While heading South on Highway 20, Sheep Mountain and Black Mountain loom high overhead and dominate the eastern skyline. While both are in the 10,000' range, an unnamed point just behind Sheep Mountain takes the award for the highest point in the range at 10,606'.

On Labor Day, after finishing cleaning up from the Rut Mountain Runs, Sara and I took the scenic way back to Missoula (there is no un-scenic way to get out of Big Sky this was just longer) and rambled up to the high point of the range. Both of us were exhausted after a long weekend of working and racing, but wanted to get in one more adventure in an area we don't get to too often.

Sara heading up Targhee Peak in 2014

Our first experience with the Henry's Lake Range came during our trip on the Continental Divide Trail. After spending a few days off trail in West Yellowstone, Henry's Lake Range marked our glorious return to hiking high up on the Divide. I remember being able to look down on Hebgen Lake (where apparently there is some incredible ice-sailing when conditions are right in the winter) from up way up above and finally feeling peaceful again after a few days in town. We did a quick off-trail summit of Targhee Peak, and hiked through the range in a day, but that first taste of Montana stuck with us. Our camp that night was just above Raynolds Pass and we watched the sun set on the valley North of us. As the light turned golden on a few old farm houses with mountains dominating the horizon, I couldn't help but think it was the most stereotypical Montana scene ever. And I loved it.

Damage from the 1959 Earthquake (wikipedia.com)

The North end of that valley, where the Madison river emerges from between the Henry's Lake Range and the Madisons, is the home of Quake Lake. Until 1959 the Madison flowed cleanly from Hebgen Lake to Ennis, but a middle-of-the-night earthquake caused a massive landslide, which buried the river, a campground full of people, and created Quake Lake. The earthquake caused 28 fatalities and most of those people are still buried underneath 50 million cubic yards of earth. Witnesses noticed Hebgen Lake sloshed back and forth for 12 hours with the water surging and retreating at least 20 feet. Fortunately the dam at the foot of Hebgen Lake held and a massive flash flood did not cause more fatalities. The earthquake is a strong reminder that things are moving under our feet!

Smoky Sheep Lake with the high point on the horizon

When we returned to the Henry's Lake Range after the Rut we entered from Highway 87 and drove up Sheep Creek to the trailhead that would take us to Sheep Lake. Due to the heavy smoke we debated the wisdom of heading out, and struggled to find motivation to commit, but once we got going we found some excitement again.

The trail meandered alongside the creek and climbed quickly the first couple miles. Originally we planned on running, but that quickly turned into a mutual "let's hike casually." The long weekend was still in our legs. By the time the trail broke into larger park areas the smoke had cleared enough that we could see the outline of some mountains and we began to match points to topo lines on the map.

Sara gaining the ridge with Sheep Lake down below

We reached Sheep Lake, made mental notes of a couple beautiful campsites, then continued off trail around the lake and up a talus field. For some reason I find that when I'm forced to find the most efficient route, rock-hop, and occasionally use my hands to climb, my excitement level goes up. Maybe it's because I have to be more mentally engaged and focused? I don't know why, I just know that I like the off-trail climbing.

This slope was interesting. Instead of a straight-forward talus slope, there were multiple flat benches filled with moss and, perhaps because of this, also goat hair. We could follow ribbons of these mossy flat spots through the talus and made good time. About 3/4 of the way from the lake to the ridge we came across a massive, and I mean massive, mountain goat. Even from 100 yards away he looked huge. He and his family also did not seem too worried about us and calmly wandered off. Clearly he knew who was boss.

On the high point of the Henry's Lake Range

Although the smoke was thinner at the higher altitude the view from the ridge was not expansive. We could see the next peak or two, but not the miles and miles we would be able to on a clear day. I imagine that on a clear day the Madisons would be looming directly to the North, and some of the peaks in Yellowstone would be visible to the East. This day though we could only see Coffin Mountain a few miles off, Sheep Mountain, and a herd of sheep down the other slope.

We quickly clambered up to the summit, before retreating to a leeward slope for a reprieve from the wind while we snacked.

On our descent we opted to return down the ridge all the way to the lake rather than down the chute we climbed up. This fortuitous chose led us to massive volumes of wild raspberries, perhaps my favorite berry. We took another break while we relieved many of the plants of their berry weight. The plants looked like they were struggling under all that pressure; it was the least we could do.

Running down the ridge

Once we hit the trail again we finally started to run, since that was our original plan. It only took three hours for us to warm-up to running, and of course going downhill helped.

The air quality during this second trip into the Henry's Lake Range was not nearly as clear as the first time around, and it made the range seem like a different set of mountains entirely. We were still happy we made it out of the car though. Days like that re-enforce the idea that it's always worth getting out. It may be smoky, but there may also be raspberries.