06/22/14 Link Mountain 7227' #50

Avalanche debris on the road

On the 22nd of June I went out with Chris to try to climb my 50th peak--to get to the half-way point.  We decided to try to climb some snow up Whitefish Mountain up near Red Meadow Pass.  On the drive up the long, bumpy, dirt road an animal came out of the forest in front of the car.  It looked big and I thought it was a large dog or cat.  We noticed it had no tail and had very pointy ear tufts as well as the furry jowls.  It crossed the road and we sat there shocked that we had just seen a lynx.  We were glad we had decided to head up that road.

Heading up the ridge

As we neared the pass we were eventually blocked by snow on the road.  We parked and decided just to head up the road and see how far we could make it.  We figured Whitefish Mountain was probably out and that we might be able to get up Link Mountain.  The road was blocked by avalanche debris in a few spots and then was snow free until the turn for the trailhead.  Then there was a melt pond over the road and then snow up to the other melt pond that covered the trailhead.

Red Benchmark

We found the trail in spots and eventually lost it altogether and decided to just head up to the ridge.  We both thought that the trail was a bit more to our left as we climbed, but we never found it until we made it to the ridge and we found the junction with the Link Lake Trail.  From there we stayed on the snow and climbed up the ridge toward the summit.  I had climbed the peak a few years earlier while Chris fished down at Link Lake.  The ridge hadn't been too bad, but it was much better with snow.
I was a bit tired from a big week.  This was my eighth peak of the week and I moved slowly up the snow.  It was a beautiful day and the ridge was enjoyable and soon we found ourselves on the summit.

On top of #50

We took in the great views of many snowy peaks all around us.  There was an eagle feather up top and we placed it on the summit cairn.  I snapped photos of flowers and of the peaks I had climbed and the ones I now want to climb.  We enjoyed a snack and the partly-cloudy afternoon that kept the temperature bearable.

After some time up top we decided to head back down.  We made it down the ridge quickly in the snow and were back at the junction in no time.  We decided to follow the trail as our route up had been steep and not very enjoyable on some steep beargrass.  The trail was easy to follow and we were on it all the way back to the trailhead.  We bypassed the melt pond and were back on the road and quickly back to the car.  It had been a great day in the Whitefish Range.

Elevation gain:  2130'     Total gain:  79,585'