07/16/14 Werner Peak 6980', Unnamed 7020, and Unnamed 7124 #55, #56, and #57

Werner Peak

On the 16th of July I left Whitefish in the late morning.  I wanted to get up a few peaks and had decided I would go toward Werner Peak and the two ranked summits standing further on the ridge.  Since it is possible to get up Werner without much effort as there is a road all the way to the lookout on the sub-summit with a gate on it no more than one mile from the top I decided to start at a further, lower trailhead southeast of the summit.

I started up a nice trail through a forest.  It climbed steadily to the top of the ridge that went northwest to the summit.  Once on top I was in an old burn and the trail was faint to non-existent with cairns marking the way.  This enjoyable ridge went on for about one mile before I dropped a bit and the trail turned into an old road that linked me up with the road to the lookout at the closure gate.

I didn't want to climb up the road as the true summit was on the ridge before the lookout.  The ridge also looked fun to climb and had a snow slope clinging to the east side.  At this point, it was a hot afternoon, sunny, and a bit smokey and I realized I may not have taken enough water to make it through the planned route.  I stopped at the snow and filled up one of my bottles wanting to extend my water as much as possible as well as to have something much colder to drink.  Then I carried on to the top of Werner Peak.  From there it was a nice walk over to where the lookout stood.

Unnamed 7020 and Unnamed 7124 in back

There was a woman out lying on a picnic table near the lookout and I asked if she was the lookout.  I learned then that she was not the lookout but that people can rent the lookout.  Her and her husband had driven past the gate and parked at the last snow drift blocking the road perhaps 100 meters from the structure.  I told her where I was heading and that I would see her later.  I headed down the trail from the lookout on my way toward Unnamed 7020.

On that northern ridge were some large snow drifts.  This gave me some comfort as I knew I could fill my bottle again with snow.  I carried on to the low point and then started up the trail as it climbed.  Near the top, the trail cut left to traverse below the summit.  I left the trail there and climbed the mellow ridge up to a rounded top.  There were many small, sub-alpine fir and it made it a bit difficult to determine the true top.  Close to the spot that seemed highest there was a good view north to Unnamed 7124.

I cut west and descended to the trail and followed it onto the north slope.  Here the terrain was steeper and the trail switchbacked many times.  There were larger and steeper snow drifts than on the north side of Werner.  Most helped to make the descent quicker and before long I was at the low point where the trail turned northeast into the China Basin.  Here I left the trail and started climbing the ridge.  Once through an initial thicker section with some downed trees I found myself on a steep, open slope.  It was steep enough to need to climb with small switchbacks.

Unnamed 7124 from Unnamed 7020

I made it through the steep section and found myself in flatter terrain and a small forest.  I worked through the trees and came to another snow slope, where I again filled my bottles with snow.  I continued on from there to the summit.  Unnamed 7124 is a peak with another high point further north.  It looks like it is probably lower when standing on the true summit, but I had to go out to it to feel confident I climbed to the true summit.  From the high point further north I could tell the first summit was the true high point.  I walked back over in that direction and took a short break.

It was a bit smokey, so the views were not great.  I couldn't even see into Glacier.  I knew I had a long way to go back, so I headed down the slope.  Near the low point I met up with the trail and climbed back up toward Unnamed 7020.  Fortunately I didn't need to climb all the way to the top and I traversed below it on the trail.  The same was true going over Werner.  Once I hit the road I took that down directly to the old road and up that to the trail.  The last bit along the ridge in the burn and the sun really made me feel dehydrated.  The end was pleasant through a shady forest and I reached the car quickly.

Elevation gain:  2520'     Total gain: 92,480'