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| Climbing through the more-recent burn |
On the 25th of July I headed south. I was planning on meeting my friend and his family down near Hamilton for a bluegrass festival for the weekend. For the day I was hoping to get up a couple of peaks near Skalkaho Pass. As I turned onto the Skalkaho Pass Road I saw a sign that said it was closed 15 miles ahead. I was worried that this would not be far enough to get me to the pass. I drove down the road and was excited when there was no closure at 15 miles. After another mile or two I thought I just might make it to the pass after all. Just after I thought this I rounded a corner and saw the gate. I had been shut down.
Since I didn't really have a backup plan I went off of what I had remembered about the maps and research I had done on the area before heading out there. I had remembered reading on a website that the trail up Skalkaho Creek was only supposed to be four miles or so up to Trail 313, which is pretty high on and around the ridge. I figured from there I could climb at least one, and probably two or three if I felt strong.
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| Jerry Lake and Fox Peak |
The trailhead was closer to the road than the website implied and I started hiking up the trail which was an old roadbed. After maybe 1.5 miles I had to cross Skalkaho Creek. I took off my shoes and socks and hobbled across the rocky-bottomed but slow-moving creek. From there I climbed into a burn and the trail flattened out as I walked a little above the creek. The old burn provided excellent views and the drainage felt deep and unvisited. I carried on and marveled at how wild the hills were and walked and walked. Eventually I checked to see how long I had been walking. It had been over an hour and I could tell I was not near the lake, Jerry Lake.
The trail had been traversing not far from the creek through the burn and had yet to do most of the climbing. This is when I first realized the mileage I had seen online was quite wrong. I was too committed at this point and carried on. Eventually the trail crossed a couple small creeks and then turned up a smaller break in the hills and climbed following a creek. The terrain was fun to travel through and the burn added some mystery to the undulations in the narrowing drainage and eventually I hiked out of the burn. The climb had eased for a bit and I saw a crude bridge over the creek. I crossed it and found what I could only figure was a spot hunters used often for a hunting camp. It was in a great spot and it looked well used.
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| Fox Peak from the ridge |
At this point I was starting to wonder how far Jerry Lake really was from where I took a brief break. "I had to be close to the junction," I told myself. I continued, climbing again, and into a newer burn (probably from the summer before). The trail was shot with all the water that came out of the hillside because it no longer had roots to support. The trail was wet and muddy for a few hundred feet or so and then it started getting rockier. As I carried on climbing up the trail, admiring the flowers, I heard something crashing through the brush below me. I never saw what it was, but I am pretty sure it was an elk.
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| Looking down on the route taken |
I could tell from the terrain that I was nearing the lake. The trail flattened out again and traversed on a large bench up toward Jerry Lake. On the last traverse I was back in the green trees and brush. There was a lot of elk sign and it even smelled of them in spots. No wonder there was that camp lower down on the trail. About 15 minutes after the trail stopped climbing so steeply I came to Jerry Lake. It was a small, beautiful lake. It didn't look very deep, but it's location made it a worthy destination. I thought about how great of a camping spot Jerry Lake would make. It would be an incredible base to climb Fox, Congdon, an unnamed peak, and Kent Peak.
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| Congdon and Kent from Fox |
I could see up to the summit of Fox and I set out with a time limit. I was worried I would be too late to meet my friends if I didn't set limits, so at the lake I gave myself an hour to get to the top. From there I had even set time limits to get back to the lake and car. I hurried up the trail, which headed up the ridge for a bit. After about 600 feet the trail left the ridge to traverse toward Congdon. I left the trail and climbed right up the ridge. The rock was fun in spots, but it was mostly tedious boulder hopping which took more mental and physical energy than I really wanted to be using. I fought my fatigue for the rest of the way through the rocks until quite high on the ridge the angle mellowed out a bit and it was less rocky. It was a pleasant last push to the summit. I touched all of the highest rocks and sat down for a quick snack. I sat looking toward the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness. These are some impressive-looking peaks and my list of peaks I want to climb grew.
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| Closer view of Kent Peak, highest peak in the Sapphire Range |
After eating and snapping some photos I headed back down to the trail and Jerry Lake. I carried on down the trail and found it went faster than it had on the way up. I rejoiced upon seeing the creek crossing. Once across, however, I did not really want to put my socks and shoes back on my aching feet. I did, knowing I was now only 1.5 miles from the car. I walked the remaining distance back to the car, fighting the question in my head, "How much further?" all the way. Fox Peak had been a great climb. I had been completely fooled on the distance of the hike and I felt it. For this reason I think Fox Peak was the hardest peak I had to work for up to this point.
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| Looking to the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness |
Elevation gain: 3540' Total gain: 109,280'
