Spotted Bear Alternate

[10-K]

Looking for information on the Spotted Bear alternate, north of Benchmark Ranch.

It looks to cut 15ish miles off the official CDT and I have heard it's more scenic than the official CDT.

I'm still a bit sketched about navigational issues and primarily am concerned that there is (mostly) a trail to follow for this alternate.

Anybody know what it's like?

[Spirit Walker]

If you're talking about Jim Wolf's route up Pentagon Creek, we took that on our second CDT hike. Both routes are scenic. Both have sections with lots of woods walking. Navigation wasn't much of an issue there on either hike except when hiking in deep snow that buried the trail. Montana really isn't bad for navigation. You have enough hikers and hunters on horseback the trails are quite clear. If the rivers are high, the Gates Pass route is better but it still has a lot of stream crossings.