Can I preview the course before race day?

You are welcome to preview any part of the course before race day except for the finish at the Box Y. The finish is on private property, but the rest of the course is on public land — the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Watch out for snow, though. Many of the high sections of the course remain packed in snow until late June or early July. Although an imprecise tool, you can estimate snowpack from Snotel stations around the course:

  • Triple Peak

  • Blind Bull

  • Willow Creek

Where are there restrooms on the course?

We’ll have portable restrooms at the start at Middle Piney Lake, McDougal Gap, and the finish at the Box Y. There are also public Forest Service “pit” toilets at various points around the course.

Beyond this options, we ask that you follow the Forest Service’s recreate responsibly guidelines for answering nature’s call:

  • Find a spot at least 200 feet from any water source

  • Dig a hole 6-8 inches deep and bury human waste

  • Pack out used toilet paper and feminine products. Animals will dig up those products and scatter them around the area

Do I and/or my crew need a 4WD vehicle?

Yes. Absolutely yes. In fact, you and/or your crew should have a four-wheel drive, high clearance vehicle with at least 8-ply all terrain tires.

Bring a full tank of gas and a full gas can, too. There is nowhere to get gas near the course.

What are the odds I’ll see a Grizzly?

We address thid question on our bears page. Here’s a preview: The best information we can give you on grizzlies is the latest interagency grizzly report. It acknowledges the spread of grizzlies throughout the greater Yellowstone ecosystem (GYE) and notes several confirmed grizzly sightings in the Wyoming Range from 2006 to 2020. The report does not, however, offer an annualized total of confirmed sightings specifically in the Wyoming Range.

When talking to folks who live and work in the Range —wranglers, outfitters, guides, etc. — it seems like "two or three" sightings per year is the common count. This count, by the way, is global — that is, total sightings across the Wyoming Range. I have no idea if "two or three" is valid.

We had two credible sightings in our first year (2021). About a week before the race, a scientist, who was hiking in a leisurely (non-professional) capacity, believed he saw a grizzly near our course and sent us an email. The scientist saw the bear about six miles west of the Rimrock aid station. Then, during the race, a runner and her pacer, both of whom are local, claimed to see a grizzly a few miles north of the Deadman aid station. The pacer, importantly, is a guide in the Wyoming Range — someone, in other words, who has seen grizzlies before.

In our second year (2022), we received reports of an elk kill in the area near 2021's first grizzly sighting. According to the person who reported the kill, it had signs of a grizzly. They didn't explain what that meant, however. The person readily admitted they were not a grizzly expert but spent a fair amount of time in grizzly country.

If you crosswalked our 2021 and 2022 experiences, you wouldn’t be faulted for assuming that a grizzly has travelled around the northern half of the Willow Creek drainage. Against this backdrop, I'll say black bears are common throughout the Wyoming Range, and runners have seen plenty of them.