05/06/14 Mitten Mountain 6004' and Mount Dean Stone 6203' #26

You'll notice that I list two peaks for May 6th.  Only one of them is ranked.  This means, at least in the lower 48 states, to be a ranked summit a peak must rise 300 feet or more from the saddle that connects it to higher ground.  Mitten Mountain is a named summit, but it only rises 224 feet from the saddle that connects it to Mount Dean Stone.  So, for my count, it counts only that I climbed another named peak, but it does not count for this project.  I'm trying to climb 100 different ranked peaks.

Mitten, "Lunch Hill," and Dean Stone (left to right)

I left from the Pattee Canyon Trailhead and took some of the Sam Braxton Trail until it hit a high point.  From there I left the trail and worked my way to a small ridge.  I was delighted to find an old trail or a game trail that took me to the ridge and from there I found an old road that cut across the mountain.  I followed that until I made it to a small drainage with a little creek running down it.  I turned up the drainage and followed the creek uphill.  Here too there was a bit of a game trail and thankfully, less snow than I had anticipated.  There was a bit as I neared the main ridge of the peaks and I had to leave the drainage and get on drier ground just outside of it.

That drier ground led me to the main ridge, where I stopped and rested.  This was my first big hike since my knee had started to bother me and I was worried about it and I was a bit out of shape.  After the rest I followed the ridge up toward Mitten Mountain.  The first section was steep but I was able to follow game paths here and there.  Then the ridge mellowed out and I had a very pleasant walk to the top of Mitten Mountain.

Mount Dean Stone from University Mountain in October 2013

I was surprised how open the ridge top was.  I think it had probably been cleared in the past and even showed signs of having a bit of an old road.  It made the walking easy and enjoyable.  It also had a lot less snow than I thought it would.  This was another pleasant surprise.  The walk over to Mount Dean Stone had one hill I had to hike over before starting the final climb.  Once over it, I made my way down to the saddle and then up the last bit to the summit.  Along the way I crossed a dirt road and climbed up some interesting rocks and then was deposited on the less-than-interesting summit.

The summit was not very exciting because it has all kinds of big towers on it and a couple of small buildings and the hum from all of the machines made me feel like I was not in the mountains.  I found what I thought might be the highest rock and went over and touched it and then looked at the views across the Bitterroot Valley.  They were nice as they were in all directions--ignoring the towers of course.  I maybe stayed a minute or two and headed back to the hill between the summits where I had lunch.  I dubbed it "Lunch Hill."

After lunch I hiked back over Mitten Mountain and down the ridge to the drainage.  I went down the drainage to the old road, back to the game trail that took me back to the main trail.  Once on the main trail, as I was hiking out, I saw 14 elk.  They seemed as surprised to see me as I was to see them.  My knee had held up and I had hiked two peaks--one for my count--that I had wanted to get on top of for some time.  I forgot my camera so the photos are from a hike in October looking at Mitten and Dean Stone.

Elevation gain:  2950'     Total gain:  34,885'