Checking out Headquarters Pass

 Great snowfall makes for a great waterfall

 Still big snowpack at the pass

Red Buttes in Bob

Doesn't everyone pose for a photo at the wilderness sign at HQ Pass?

The flower of the trip was the mountain columbine.

For the past two weeks I've been worriedly checking with the Forest Service about the condition of Headquarters Pass into the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
I'm planning an extensive trip there with my brother and his wife from Chicago and think this is the most spectacular way to enter the Bob.
I called the Forest Service as late as Monday afternoon and was told the pass was too snowy and icy to consider as a route.  An outfitter friend of mine confirmed that.
Being the "Doubting Thomas" I had to check it out Tuesday and I'm here to tell you that it is passable, if snow clogged in parts.  It is no more snowy than if you were to attempt the pass in June in most years.
The big snow year will keep the approach to the pass a mess for at least a couple more weeks.
The positive out of this is that it will keep horse traffic off the trails until then.