Backpacking the Beaten Path of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

The drive into the Absaroka-Beartooth Mountains and Wilderness is one of many layers. Like the layers of the range itself, you must first go through the first layer: in this case the grasslands and rolling hills of Interstate 90, then continue chipping your way up the foothills and hope you make the correct turn. Unraveling further, you pass through farmland where finally, you bounce down a dirt road dodging potholes and prairie dogs while beginning to see the landscape change from rolling hills to forested steep canyons and rushing creeks. Finally you reach your destination; a couple trailheads deep in the range and one heck of a view into the canyon where a creek and trail both wind their way through the landscape. If this sounds like a strenuous project just for access to an even more remote trail system, don’t worry. There is another side to the range where you may choose to start from as well. On the north end of Yellowstone National Park, a stone’s throw from Cooke City. Here one of two access points involves a drive up and over Beartooth Pass, sitting at 11,000 feet, which may close randomly depending on the weather. Or the second, a slow wildlife and tourist caused Yellowstone traffic jam. Both serve as an interesting way start a hike in the incredible Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness...

@jansenjournals shares this article detailing a trip along the Beaten Path in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness - read the full article below in Issue 42:

Wild and Scenic: The Beaten Path of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness

Issue 42 Page 1

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I once did a one week horse packing trip in the Absaroka Range.  We were in the Teton Wilderness and maybe one other one.   At one point we were in 50 miles from the Trailhead on the S Fork of the Shoshone River.  No sign of humans except a faint trail.