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| Heading into the burn |
On the 24th of July I set out to do a quick climb of two peaks. The round-trip distance was supposed to be 7.7 miles for Unnamed 8620 according to a Bitterroot Mountain climbing guide I have. In that book, the peak is unofficially called Glen Lake Peak due to its proximity to Glen Lake. As I turned onto the road to take me up to the trailhead I found a sign that said the road was closed ahead. I didn't have a good backup plan so I carried on to see where the road was closed. It was closed quite a ways from the trailhead, but I had my bike in the back of the car. I sat in my car at the closure thinking about what I would do as it started to sprinkle and the clouds looked like there could be more rain in the future. I decided to go for it.
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| Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness |
I biked up the road and came to the "washout" that had the road closed. I was surprised as it seemed to me that most vehicles could have made it past. Instead of getting angry I took the optimistic stance that I would not see anyone else that day at what my book said was a popular hike to the lake. I must have had to bike or push my bike (I'm not a big fan of riding a bike uphill) at least five miles. Eventually I made it to the trailhead.
I was a bit worried about the weather even though the clouds seemed to be losing some intensity and retreating toward the crest. It was quite breezy and I knew much of the trail passed through a burn. This made me more nervous than the rain. I set out up the trail and came to where the burn started. I could see dark clouds headed my way and so I stopped a bit and found a tree to hunker under while I put on some rain gear. The clouds never quite made it, dissipating as they made it further east. I carried on out into the burn. The wind was blowing and I kept my eyes and ears open for falling trees. Thankfully nothing fell close to me.
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| Glen Lake |
I made it up to a bit of a saddle and the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness boundary. Here I left the trail and headed up the rounded Unnamed 7723. The downfall wasn't too difficult to negotiate and I made my way up to the top quickly. The top was not all that evident and I walked around to all the point that looked highest. It was beautiful with beargrass blooming everywhere. As the summit was still in the burn and didn't have great, unobstructed views, I headed down to the west and met up with the trail on its way over to Glen Lake.
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| Beargrass between the lakes |
I saw where the trail branched to the right and made note of it. I planned on coming down that trail from above Glen Lake on my return if I could find it on the other side. I continued on and shortly came to Glen Lake. It is a beautiful little lake nestled into the mountainside. From the lake, I made my way up toward the unnamed lakes above Glen. The trail pretty much disappeared and I just kept hiking up through the burn, rocks, and beargrass. I eventually came to one of the upper lakes and walked around it and began ascending Unnamed 8620.
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| First tricky boulder |
I started up the only way I found I could maybe make it and stopped short. It required a bit of a move to get to the highest point. I was pretty sure I could get up but not sure how easy it would be to get down (that often seems to be the problem). I backed off. I stood there and looked at the moves for a bit and then started again. I was able to get a bit higher and then went for it. I swung my leg up and got on the last sloped section of the rock and crawled the last two to three feet to where I could touch the top--there was some decent exposure pulling off to the east. I turned around and moved back to the steep section of the boulder and edged off it. It was going to be difficult to get my feet back in the right spots without turning in to the rock, but it wasn't too high off the ground. I edged myself down, and with my body stretched out, jumped the last five feet or so to the ground. This worked out just fine and I was smiling back on the ground.
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| Last tricky boulder |
There was yet one boulder I had seen further east on the ridge that I didn't know if it was taller. The map showed the highpoint being out on the western edge of the mountain, but this one boulder had me wondering. As I made it back over that direction, I stopped and dropped my pack and started up it. I came to a spot where it narrowed to a three-foot catwalk for about five feet to the highpoint. The drop offs on either side were significant. I hesitated and then went for it, again crawling across the scariest section until I could touch the top. These are times I ask how important it is to actually touch the true top. Apparently it is important enough to me to crawl across a catwalk to make sure I feel I have made it up the peak.
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| View back to the summit ridge from an upper lake |
I made it off, gathered my things, and thankfully started hiking down. I found a trail that took me all they way down to the upper two lakes. From there, I found the other trail that bypassed Glen Lake and took it down to the main trail. It was nice to loop the hike a bit. Over the course of the day the clouds had retreated even further to the west and I had good views. The wind also died down and the hike back through the burn was much less stressful. I made it back to my bike and then had an enjoyable bike ride down to the car. It had been two good peaks in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.
Elevation gain: 3920 Total gain: 105,740'
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