We decided to take a little side quest from our funnest known time on the CDT sobo to come attempt a fastest known time (mixed gender team) pass of the Gallatin Crest trail.
Packing out a whole pizza each, entirely too much body paint and endless enthusiasm- we started from Buffalo Horn Trailhead at 10:00am on July 26, 2025. The climb up was gorgeous, gently graded & lush, though the trail was deeply rutted by dirt bikes which we saw many of. We stopped for water at Ramshorn Lake around 12:30. Fortress mountain was especially unique and once on the ridge we were greeted by gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains.
Dark clouds loomed for a few hours and heavy rain seemed to be hitting everywhere except on us! The trail became significantly less obvious and in some cases disappeared entirely along the ridges (especially around Eaglehead mountain) but we stuck to the map when no trail was clear. Our next water stop was a spring just south of Windy Pass cabin where we had dinner around 5pm. The next ridge walk was our favorite views of the whole trip, made even better by the sunset.
By 9:15pm we stopped to crack glow sticks & prep for night hiking. The trail turned from mostly dirt to mostly rock and navigating the talus fields in the dark was intimidating & exhausting but also exciting. At 2:40am we got to Hyalite Peak and began the slow decent navigating a couple more tricky snow crossings.
We again collected water flowing over the trail just past Hyalite Lake, although there were abundant water crossings & water falls all the way down to the parking lot. The final miles seemed to stretch on forever. At 7:02am we all reached the Grotto Falls trailhead making our time 21 hours, 02 minutes and 17 seconds.
It was an incredible adventure!
Happy trails- Sprinkles, Dad, Lemon, Fruitfly, Losty, Radio & Woods (Kelsey, Colton, Rachel, Masen, Shannon, Tony & Christine)