Sphinx Mountain sticks up by itself in roughly the middle of the Madison Range, and consequently affords just fabulous views of the whole region. To the north you’ve got Cedar, Lone, and Pioneer Mountains, with the Spanish Peaks beyond. East lies the Gallatin Range, with a veritable plethora of upper Gallatin/Madison nooks and crannies like McAtee Basin, Buck Creek, the Yellow Mules, Cougar, etc., in the foreground. Continuing your pivot to the south (watch that cliff edge, this is no place to get dizzy!) there’s the expanse of Indian, No Man, Shedhorn, Taylor Fork, and the Hilgards. West lies the Madison Valley, the Gravellies, Snowcrest, and man! Is that the Pioneers or Bitterroots dimly visible beyond?!

So yes, the view is not to be despised, and as mountain climbing goes, it’s not all that difficult to get to. At 10,876’ there’s some notable elevation to be gained, but there’s good trails for the first 3000’ or so from the 6200’ trailhead, and beyond that mostly open scree slopes offering Class 3 scrambling (strenuous, but not dangerous, long as you don’t do anything stupid!). Of course, that’s up the west side of the mountain. The other three sides are thousand-plus vertical foot cliff faces, and if it’s technical climbing you seek; they’d fit the bill nicely. If you’re really hard-core, ski in there during the winter and ice-climb up one of the smears that develop from trickles cascading over the north face! There’s folks that do…. A notable first ascent of the waterfall (a very generous description) that centers the north face was put up by Alex and Jennifer Lowe some years back. Typical for that caliber of climbers, they did it as a one-day venture. Mind-bogglingly hard-core, to my way of thinking, but if that’s your thing, more power to ‘ya.

It’s those cliff faces on the north and east side that lend the mountain its name, or so I’m told, anyway. I don’t exactly lack imagination, but the resemblance doesn’t just leap out at me! I can kinda see it on the east side, with the ridges that frame the face sort of suggesting the arms of the Egyptian namesake, but it’s still kind of a stretch. No matter; it’s a fine name for a mountain, and I am down with that!

So, if you’re interested in summiting (Ho! Another word that brings spellcheck to its knees!) a 10,000+’ peak, and thinking the experience could be a bully addition to your vacation or even just weekend, the Sphinx is a great choice. You have your choice of two routes, the Middle or Trail Forks of Bear Creek, and can combine them into a loop. Friends of mine have climbed the Sphinx and made that loop in a day, and folks somewhat commonly make a day trip of it, in & out on the Trail Fork route. The Trail Fork route is about a mile shorter, if that’s a factor. You’re looking at not much shy of 5000’ vertical gain, though, and about eleven miles round trip (add a couple of miles if you make the loop). Plenty do-able, although even endurance-racing types will be aware they’ve had a workout time it’s complete. Personally, I am just not in that big of a rush, and have made it an overnighter. That splits up the distance and vertical nicely, and makes the trip quite do-able for anybody in halfways reasonable condition.

In either case, to get there you want to turn east off US287 at Cameron, south of Ennis. As you’re nearing the mountains, the pavement makes a 90 degree turn, which you want to follow. The 2-track that departs straight ahead leads to a shortcut to Cameron Lake, as well as sundry other Bear Creek bonanzas, but those are for another day. The pavement shortly turns to washboard gravel, but continue through another 90 degree left and to another right. At that point you are at the buildings of the Bear Creek Angus Ranch. At this corner you have the option to continue straight ahead onto another 2-track, which offers a somewhat rough shortcut to the North Fork Bear Creek trailhead. That’s the route I use, for reasons explained subsequently, but generally speaking you probably want to follow the main road south. In about another mile you’ll see the plainly marked turnoff for the Bear Creek campground. There is a Forest Service cabin available for rent there, but only available in the winter months, 12/1-4/30. It’s a dandy base for cross-country skiing, though, not to mention a winter ascent of the Sphinx.

Based on our succinct description ;-), you could probably make this trip without maps, but as always I highly recommend having the USGS 7.5 minute quads along. Besides aiding in identifying all the interesting spots visible from the summit, they’ll provide answers to no end of questions; if nothing else the inevitable "how much farther?" query. The ones you want are the Lake Cameron and Sphinx Mountain, MT quadrangles, available at better map stores everywhere or direct from USGS at http://mapping.usgs.gov/esic/to_order.html

The trail departs straight up the canyon from the campground, and in about 4.5 miles reaches the saddle between the Helmet and the Sphinx. The Helmet is a darn impressive 9652’ spire in its own right. If the extra 1100 some odd vertical feet to the top of the Sphinx is just too much, the Helmet offers an alternate goal. For that matter, the saddle between the two peaks is not too shabby of a spot, and at a smidgen over 9000’ you’re starting to get up there. If you’re making an overnighter of it, there are decent camping spots along the creek at about the 8600’ level. There’s also evidence of folks having camped in clumps of trees right at the saddle. It’d be a dry camp, although you could (probably, depending on the season, etc.) get water at a trickle that comes off the west face of the Sphinx. Better to camp 400 feet lower, in my opinion.

Personally, I’m partial to the Middle Fork Bear Creek route. It just gets less traffic, like quite a bit less. We use our horses, and there’s a couple of decent if not just exemplary campspots not far east of where the trail up to the saddle departs the Middle Fork Trail. From there it’s about a thousand vertical feet up to the saddle, with terrifically inspiring views of the Helmet and Sphinx the whole way (we leave the ponies at camp, & hike from there). It’s marginally shorter to reach the Middle Fork by departing the North Fork trailhead, which is accessed by the 2-track that departs the main Bear Creek road at the Angus Ranch buildings mentioned earlier. If you’re pulling a horse trailer you’ll need 4-wheel drive and probably even low range, depending on how many nags you have in the back. It’s kind of rough, and narrow, and steep, and the more I think about it I wonder what the heck I’m partial to it for, anyway! Probably a holdover from prior notions I had that the upper North Fork might be a fabled promised land of giant elk, and moderately extensive explorations that proved otherwise. Your experience may vary, but that is something you’ll have to discover on your own!

Regardless of your choice of route to that point, you’re now standing at the saddle, watching raptors soar around the Helmet, and staring up at the looming bulk of the Sphinx. If you’ve camped, it’s early and you’re fresh and raring to go. If you’ve hiked from the trailhead that day, it’s a little later (unless you got an Alpine start at an obscene hour) and you’re feeling the strain a bit if not outright knackered! Man, it looks like a long ways to the top yet! But trust me; it’s not that bad…. A smidgen over 1800 vertical feet, and you gain vertical rapidly from this point on. A band of cliffs a few hundred feet up might give you pause, but there’s a plain trail through them that’s safe as can be (again, we assume no liability for congenital stupidity, bad karma, or anything else that may befall you on a venture of this nature!). After that, all you have to do is keep putting one foot ahead of the other, although you do have somewhat of a choice of routes. A trickle of a stream splits the mountain face. We ascended to the left (north) of that stream, and evidence of trails through the scree provide evidence that other climbers agree. As we’ve noted in other climbing articles; the loose rock in those scree trails is great for a rapid descent, but unnecessarily difficult going up. Stay in the more solid rock alongside them for the ascent. On the descent, my son’s pal Aaron (winner of the ABC television series "Endurance", incidentally) descended to the south of the stream and was thoroughly convinced of that route’s superiority. It does appear to have less loose rock, and another climbing party we encountered on our descent chose that way. In either case, as you near the top you’ll cross the head of that gully and ascend the final couple hundred vertical feet up an open slope to the summit.

And oh, baby, is it worth the effort!! As previously mentioned, the views in every direction are astounding. Superlative!! Bodacious!!! If the summit register hasn’t blown away in the gales that assault the summit during storms; sign in and join the exclusive club of like-minded folks, and revel in yet another memorable Montana adventure. It’s guaranteed to make your spirit soar, and purge your mind of those dreary humdrum concerns that demand your attention in the low country.

See you on the trail….