One of more popular mid-summer trips. This trip goes into our Gates Park camp on the North Fork Sun River. We stay 4 nights at this location, with a wide range of activities available each day. This is a great fly fishing trip as it hits the peak hot time of year in the mountians and the fish are particularly active. For the non fishermen, we have quite a few day rides and hikes near by including Bear Top fire lookout, Sock Lake (under the Chinese Wall), Biggs Creek Meadows, and the lower Sun River valley.
Day 1: Pack up at the South Fork Teton trailhead. The ride over Headquarters Pass (elevation 7,700 ft) is truly a highlight of the trip - and it's only the first 2 hours in!! The trail from the basin below the pass begins a gradual descent along Headquarters Creek to the North Fork Sun River valley. Along the way we have wide open vistas. We often see wildlife along this ride as is a natural corridor for traveling elk, black bear, deer, and other critters. Camp this evening is our semi-permanent camp ont he Sun River at Gates Park. Riding distance 14 miles.
Day 2: No travel this day but plenty to do. If you're up for a day ride, we often go to Biggs Creek Meadows to explore and see some incredible views of the continental divide to the west and the Sun River valley in all other directions. Riding distance is 5 miles. For the fishermen, you'll want to get on the water right after breakfast and start dueling with the river trout. They get hungry around 10am and be ready for some amazing dry fly action and a LOT of fish. Our fishermen come back telling us they catch upwards of 60 fish a day.
Day 3: No travel this day. For day riders, we often go to Bear Top fire lookout which is the only remaining fire look out in the valley. The view up there are incredible. It's a good trail and we ride most of the way and hike the last 45 minutes. We eat lunch and chat with the fire watch person, and just soak in amazing 360 views. Total riding distance 10 miles. The fishermen will get going again in the morning. Often we can mix it up by taking fishermen downstream or upstream by horseback on an hour ride to get some different views of the river. It's pretty remarkable fishing no matter where you go on this river.
Day 4: No travel this day. Our last day to explore and fish. The ambitious horseback riders may want to go to Sock Lake today. It's about a 14 mile round trip ride, but it's so worth it. Sock Lake sits up in a little bowl under the Chinese Wall and is a stunning place to visit. For the fishermen, we give them some aspirin for their aching elbows (from all the fish pulling on the rods all day) and get them to the river for the final day of fishing. We try to hit a stretch of water they haven't seen yet just to mix things up.
Day 5: We pack up early and head out the Headquarters trail. We get an early start to beat the heat and the dust, and are eating lunch in the basin below Headquarters Pass. We often see mountain goats and bighorn sheep in the basins on either side of the pass. Our day ends at the South Fork Teton trailhead. We typically arrive in there in early afternoon. Riding distance 14 miles.
