Forum Index > Trip Reports > Bob Marshall Wilderness - A trip around the Chinese Wall
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mtn_wanderer
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mtn_wanderer
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PostWed Jul 17, 2019 7:58 am 
As the title says, this was my first trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness aka. the BOB! I've been trying to do a backpacking trip here for a few years but it seemed like something always got in the way. Schedule conflicts... or fires (there's been plenty of those). This year I finally made it in. The main goal of the trip was to see and walk along the Chinese Wall. We started from the Benchmark Trailhead and followed the CDT north. I thought that much of this section of the trail that we would hit on the first day, was burned from google earth research I had done. I was pleasantly surprised though. There was a large burned area, but there was also plenty of forested trail to walk as well. Other than being very beautiful there wasn't much to comment on for the first day. We hiked ~11 miles and camp just short of the Indian Point Station. The second day we set out and left the CDT and forded the Sun River to start making our way up White River Pass. Right after the river crossing the trail was a gentle climb. It got steeper has we neared the pass. A thunderstorm was forming behind us as we climbed. It was a bit nerve-wracking climbing with thunderclaps in the background. There wasn't much snow on the pass and we only had to traverse 2 of them while making it over. It was a long decent down the White River side of the pass. On our way down the storm moved on and the sun came out. It made for some incredible views. Before we reached the White River though, another storm caught us and the skies opened up. I got caught out in the open and got throughly soaked. The storm broke a second time and we were able to setup camp without the rain. On the morning of day 3 we were joined by 2 black bears in camp. They didn't see us at first and kept moving in the meadow we were camped in. Finally one of the saw us and started running for the river (away from us), the second bear never saw us but was spooked by the first bear running away. It just started running and it turned out that it was running right at us. We yelled and hollered and it stopped the bear at first.... then it started running at us again. We were a couple seconds away from needing to use our bear spray, but another member of the group had an air horn which he blew and that finally got the bear turned in the other direction. After our bear encounter we started up the White River trail. We started climbing right away. We quickly came upon Needle Falls. I hadn't read anything about it and was pleasantly surprised. It seems like the river disappears from view and then just explodes out of the mountain. The rest of the river trail was a gradual climb we plenty of water crossings. We made it to the Wall Creek trail and ended up camping just down that trail a bit. On the forth day we started up Larch Hill Pass. It looked to me like there was a fire in there the previous year. Scorched blowdowns were everywhere. The fire did open up some views for us and they were spectacular! Other than that, I thought that the climb up was not too bad. Once we reached the top, we climbed up the ridge for a post car worthy view of the Chinese Wall. It was incredible! Not sure how long we sat up there, but it was a while. Eventually we started down the pass and along the wall. The snow hadn't been an issue so far, but it seemed like all of the snow left in the BOB was along the Wall. It was slow going. Even though I post holed for nearly the entire 6 miles along the wall, having it towering above you as you walk was humbling. Day five was to be our easiest day. It was a lot of woods walking without too many views. We ended up staying at the same camp we stayed at on the first night. Day six we retraced our route back to the Benchmark trailhead. This was an incredible trip and I would highly recommend this loop to anyone. Thanks for following along! Here is a video I put together of the trip:

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JVesquire
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PostWed Jul 17, 2019 9:10 am 
Great video. Thanks for sharing. up.gif

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mtn_wanderer
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mtn_wanderer
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PostWed Jul 17, 2019 9:42 am 
Thanks for checking it out!

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reststep
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PostWed Jul 17, 2019 1:04 pm 
I will have to say that is one of the best videos I have ever seen. It makes me want to go there. Do you have any info on how the wall came to have that name? Did you see many other people?

"The mountains are calling and I must go." - John Muir
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mtn_wanderer
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mtn_wanderer
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PostWed Jul 17, 2019 1:42 pm 
Wow, that is a great compliment. Thank you! I don't know exactly how the wall got it's name, but I've always assumed it was because it kind of resembles the Great Wall of China. The section we walked was on 6 miles or so, but I could see where it continued on in both directions. I think that it may be close to 12 miles in total. On the first day as we were heading in, but saw a few people on horseback just in the there for the day. Day Riders. We ran in to "Adventure Tim" on the second day as we were going up White River Pass. Then we didn't see anyone until the last day when we were hiking out. Then we saw 4-5 horse pack trains. A group of 3 hikers and then a different group of maybe 10 hikers.

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Slim
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PostFri Jul 19, 2019 10:20 am 
Fun stuff. Thanks for sharing. up.gif

"Lean mean money-making-machines serving fiends"
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mtn_wanderer
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mtn_wanderer
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PostWed Jul 24, 2019 7:09 am 
Thanks for the checking it out!

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Brucester
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PostSat Jul 27, 2019 10:45 am 
Outstanding video! Great narration and music! Brought me back! smile.gif CDT Can2Mex in 2004

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mtn_wanderer
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mtn_wanderer
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PostMon Jul 29, 2019 4:44 am 
Thank you! Tried to capture it the best way I could.

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OutOfOffice
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PostMon Aug 05, 2019 7:47 pm 
Awesome! I just spent last week packrafting the south fork of the flathead. We were going to hike to get a view of the Chinese Wall from the confluence of the White River but got lazy lol. Saving it for its own trip. Had a great time on the river though.

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mtn_wanderer
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mtn_wanderer
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PostTue Aug 06, 2019 6:00 am 
Nice! That sounds like an amazing trip!

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Chief Joseph
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PostFri Feb 21, 2020 12:35 am 
I am thinking of duplicating your trip this coming summer. You did not mention any lakes on your loop trip, are there any that you know of along the route?

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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mtn_wanderer
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mtn_wanderer
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PostFri Feb 21, 2020 7:04 am 
There were no lakes on this route. The main water was the Sun River and the White River.

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Chief Joseph
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PostFri Feb 21, 2020 11:59 am 
Not a big deal, mainly interested in the fishing, but I have read that both rivers are good for fly fishing, but get really low in late-dry seasons. Thanks.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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HermitThrush
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PostFri Feb 21, 2020 2:31 pm 
This was an absolute treat. Thank you for sharing.

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