This was my first time summiting a peak on the Swan Range. What a fantastic find! When you reach the top of this hike, at @7800 feet, you are rewarded with views not just of the Swan Range, but of the Mission Mountains, Grizzly Basin, and the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Upon reflection, I do believe this is the first time ever seeing "The Bob." I know, it was hard for even me to believe!
To start this hike, drive up Hwy 83 to Clearwater-Morrell Rd., between mile markers 27 and 28. If you're coming from Seeley Lake, turn right. From Condon, you'll be making a left. Drive three miles and take the right fork, road #4353. After another 4.3 miles, you'll find the trail head. Actually, it looks like three trail heads. To get to Sunday Mountain, you'll start walking up Swan Divide Trail #382, on the left.
The first two miles are a very gentle slope up. You can hardly call it a hike, as it just feels like a stroll in the woods. There is a fork a little before two miles, take the left. I tried both, first left, and after going steadily down for about .2 miles, thought I may have screwed up, so I went back to try the right fork. It pretty much dead ended after another .2 miles. Oh well, it was an easy enough walk, so back to the left trail, straight through the woods, I went! Just after that, I came to another fork. Take the left again. There will be a post at this fork, with no sign on it.
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The right fork even had logs thrown
in front of it to discourage you from
going the wrong way! |
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| The sign-less post |
Now that you've been lolled into a false sense of security, the real hike begins. The first part of this, you start climbing through trees and bushes at a steeper rate. And knowing what is in that direction, as you've been eyeing these mountains the entire hike, you'll realize you're about to climb a very steep mountain, indeed!
In fact, I daresay, it is the steepest mountain I've ever hiked. Thankfully, it's only for a mile, but it feels so much longer! You would think that whoever cut this trail would have put a few switchbacks in it, just to make it more manageable. I would gladly walk an extra mile or two in order to save my burning legs! I'm sure it didn't help that I had just hiked Little St. Joe the day before, which is a fairly steep hike unto itself. I am a bit of a glutton for punishment when I do two in a row like that! I would highly recommend trekking poles, too. I have yet to buy them for myself, but on days like this, wish I'd start using more common sense, and just have them for "in case." It's not that you can't do without, but for me, there was a little bit of crawling at times, and there was a little bit of climbing over big rocks. I think it would have been safer, especially on the way down, to have the poles, or four legs would have been nice, too!
Once you reach "the top," you're reward is obvious! 360 degrees of utter magnificence! I took most of my pictures here, but it's quite clear you haven't reached the summit of Sunday Mountain. Not to worry. It's only another 300 ft. of elevation, and, except for one small section of loose rock, an easy hike up.
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| The view from the trail head....the snow capped Mission Mountains |
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| A lake in the distance |
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Some trees replanted in the shape
of stars after logging? |
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| The Grizzly Basin to the left, with the Bob Marshall Wilderness in the back |
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| I had no idea there was a helicopter out there when I took this. |
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| Almost at the tippy-top |
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| Jeff is known to accompany me on the week-end hikes |
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| Unfortunately, the panoramics don't show the true majesty, as I had hoped! |
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| The Swan Range behind me. |
The one-way data:
