08/16/14 Unnamed 7256 #71

Hiking around Heart Lake

On the 16th, I drove west of Missoula with Carrie, Jake, and Rhian.  We started a backpacking trip from the Heart Lake Trailhead.  It was a very nice trail up through lush forest to Heart Lake.  Views were nice in spots heading up to Heart Lake, but they became better once we reached the lake.  We encountered some other backpackers who were heading out and offered us their spot.  We had planned on hiking further--past Heart Lake to camp at Pearl Lake.  We saw one or two other groups camping around the lake as we continued to hike.  As we began to climb away from Heart Lake, it began to rain a bit.  Fortunately it did not last long and we pushed on to Pearl Lake.  Heart Lake had been beautiful, and Pearl Lake was even more impressive.

Near the Pearl Lake camp

We found a spot to set up camp a little past the middle of the lake.  We set up our tents and found a way to get up a food hang and then we relaxed.  Jake wanted to go fishing and Carrie and Rhian decided to go pick huckleberries near the foot of the lake.  I had pushed for this trip to have a shot at climbing five peaks in the whole trip and I had figured I needed to climb the first peak on the first afternoon.  It was going to be one of the harder sells to get the rest of the group to climb this random, unnamed hump in the middle of nowhere and in the opposite direction we would need to hike on the last day, so I figured I could hike up it and be back down in time to help cook dinner.

Dalton Lake

I left camp and followed the trail along the lake and then as it climbed beyond the head of the lake.  The trail was a bit steep, but it had some switchbacks that made it more bearable.  At the first saddle I found the trail that headed down to Dalton Lake as well as great views to that amazing lake nestled in below an impressive, cliffy ridge.  From the saddle, I followed steep trail that climbed toward the crest of the ridge and the Montana/Idaho border.  Eventually it quit climbing so directly and did a nice ascending traverse toward the ridge.  Once on top, I took in the great views.  Looking northwest, it was exciting to see the route we had planned to hike out along that ridge.  Equally exciting were the views toward the summit of the peak.  From the lower saddle I had thought the true summit was at the end of the ridge over Dalton Lake, but from the ridge it was obvious that the true summit was a more-mellow walk, mostly along trail, to the top.

The ridge that the trail followed for our hike out

I left the trail to stay on the ridge and save some backtracking.  Before reaching the final saddle I picked up the trail and found it very pleasant to follow it to the top of the peak.  While it may have not been the most stunning peak from the direction I had climbed it, it did provide some stunning views.  Looking east toward Crater Mountain and beyond to the south worked to greatly increase the number of peaks on my list of ones I would like to climb.  I stood on an outcrop of rock over a small patch of snow and had quite the perch over the Trio Lakes.

Two of the three Trio Lakes and Crater Mountain

After snapping some photos and trying to memorize the new and beautiful scenery, I decided to head back so as not to be late to cook dinner.  The descent back to the first saddle was quick along the trail.  I again decided to leave the trail so as to stay on the ridge and save some time.  Once back on the trail I descended quickly back to Pearl Lake and camp.  I made it back in time to help Carrie cook some dinner, and we sat up into the dark and starry hours enjoying the evening and each others' company.

Evening on Pearl Lake

Backcountry dinner

Elevation gain:  2600'     Total gain: 129,920'

08/15/14 Petty Mountain 7270' #70

Albert Point from the trail

On the 15th I set out to climb my 70th peak of the challenge.  I wanted to make it special as 70 seemed like an important mark.  I had been thinking about Petty Mountain all summer as I had climbed at least four peaks in the same area and used some of the trails that I would need to use to climb Petty.  Most people climb Petty from Petty Creek, but I had spent so much time in the Albert Creek drainage already and had my mind set on using the trails that circle the rim of that drainage.  I was going to start from the Albert Creek Trailhead, but I decided I would actually save some mileage from starting at the unmarked trailhead on the road up above Albert Creek.  I made the long, bumpy ride up that road to the start of the trail and began my adventure.

View toward Petty Mountain from the ridge extending from Albert Point

View toward Petty from highpoint

The trail descends initially from the road to the junction with the trail that drops down to Albert Creek.  I could have carried on from there and just followed the trail up the ridge to the summit of Petty, but I had had it in my mind to do the big loop for this peak and it was fitting for #70.  At the junction, I turned and headed down toward Albert Creek, turning at the next junction, in almost one mile, to the right and descending further to the creek.  The total loss of elevation was about 1000 feet from the trailhead to the creek.  I didn't mind as the creek is a great spot with a nice little footbridge and because the ridge that extends from Albert Point toward Petty was incredible.  I had spent a little time on that trail earlier in the summer and was looking forward to walking the entire ridge.

Summit hitchrail

I crossed the creek and began my climb up to the ridge.  Once there, I enjoyed the walk through the cool forest and recalled the previous hike where I had been up there.  There were some spots with great huckleberries and I stopped to sample them.  The trail along the ridge is very nice with an open forest and decent views.  It also feels surprisingly remote.  I saw quite a bit of bear and lion sign in torn up and flipped logs and cat scat.  Both of these helped to increase the feelings of being in a place more remote than it actually was.

Clouds moving in

The day had started a bit overcast, which was fitting as the day I climbed Albert Point along with the two unnamed 5620s it was raining.  However, once I made it up to the ridge, the sun was out.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time walking on the trail along the ridge, gaining and losing elevation here and there as I slowly climbed toward the head of the drainage.  Eventually the trail came to what seemed like a four-wheeler road.  The junction was unmarked and I was glad I wasn't heading in the opposite direction as I may have missed the trail.  I was expecting it to be a trail junction and not as much of a road as it was.  It was still a very rough and very steep road and I climbed quickly to some highpoints along the ridge.  I stopped on one and had a quick snack and took some photos before heading for the summit.

Enveloped

The storms seemed to be building and there were dark clouds around and rumbling from thunder could be heard in the distance.  I dropped off a highpoint and onto a trail from the end of the four-wheeler road.  This took me past another trail junction, and I stayed on the ridge trail.  In less than 30 minutes from the highpoint where I had stopped I came to the summit of Petty Mountain.  It was a bit of a strange summit, as it was not very obvious where the highpoint was.  There were some concrete blocks, which had helped hold down a structure or tower that was no longer there and a hitch rail right on the top.  I had carried one beer up to celebrate and I sat on a concrete block and drank it as the storm clouds moved in.

View back toward Petty

The clouds and the rumbling came closer and closer and I knew I had to head out.  I quickly followed the trail along the high, open ridge until the ridge became more defined and started dropping.  I thought for sure I would be hit with some rain and lightning and thunder, but some clouds moved in over the ridge and enveloped the ridge and me along with it.  I was able to descend quickly and really was not rained on much until I was closer to the end of my loop and the last five-minute climb back up to my car.  My knees hurt a bit on the hike down and I was worried for what that might mean for the remainder of the peak challenge.  Despite that, it had been a great day, and I had climbed a peak via a route I had been wanting to do since May.  I highly recommend it!

Elevation gain: 3650'     Total gain:  127,320'

08/07-08/14 Cleveland Mountain 7337' and Welcome Benchmark 7723' #68 and #69

Suspension bridge at start of the trail

I set out on the morning of the 7th excited about a plan I had to ascend some of the peaks in the Welcome Creek Wilderness.  My plan was to hike up the trail up Welcome Creek and to climb Cleveland Mountain and then make it over to Welcome Benchmark and then find a place to camp for the night.  The next morning I would try to climb a couple more unnamed summits before hiking back to the car.  As you can tell from the title of this post, I only made it up the first two peaks.

Wilderness boundary

I made it up to the trailhead along Rock Creek.  I really loved going back there and was excited to be to a new spot deeper down the drainage.  I packed the last bit of my bag and set out.  Right from the trailhead there is a long and high suspension bridge over the creek, which makes for an exciting start to a hike.  I carried on up the trail and was almost immediately in the wilderness.  The trail turned up the Welcome Creek drainage and I began exploring a new wilderness.  It was a warm day and the trail was pretty rocky.  The drainage reminded me of the other hike I had done off Rock Creek to head up Burnt and Babcock Mountains.  The drainage was steep and rocky, but at least it was not so tight that there was no creek.  Occasionally the trail walked by the creek and it made some lovely music as I continued up the drainage.

Old homestead along trail

Eventually I came to a creek crossing on a small bridge and then crossed the mostly-dry creek coming out of a side drainage.  At this point I carried on a bit further and found I had lost the trail.  I backtracked and made another attempt to find the trail and could not find the right way.  I did not want to be thwarted so early into the hike, so I backtracked a bit further.  Here, near the side-drainage creek, I found the trail climbed a bit and didn't stay near Welcome Creek.  It was hard to see because there were a few trees down at this point.  Glad to be back on the trail, I continued on up the rocky trail as it now traveled 100 feet or more above the creek.  It was beautiful.

On top of Cleveland

Not much further I came across an old homestead cabin.  I was ready for a break and sat to have lunch at the cabin.  The trail and cabin were quite a bit above the creek at this point.  After lunch, I hiked further up the drainage.  Beyond the cabin the drainage seemed to be a bit more lush, less rocky, and had bigger trees, which I appreciated for the shade they covered the trail with.  I had been under the impression that to climb Cleveland alone would be about a 15-mile day.  The further I made it up the trail, the more I started to question this.  It seemed to take a very long time to get to the point where the trail finally left the creek and really started climbing up toward the peak.

Tangle of trees on the trail

The first part of that climb was through a burn and was quite hot.  There were quite a few trees down across the trail too.  I pushed on and the second half of the climb was through a green forest, which was much cooler.  I kept going until I hit the junction with another trail.  Here I sat down briefly and had some water.  I didn't rest long as I knew I was near the summit.  I started hiking again and made it to the top within five minutes.  There were some trees up top and the views weren't great, but I was excited to be up there.  As I was quite tired and because I realized my initial plan of climbing 4-5 peaks was out of the question, I pulled out my sleeping pad, took off my shoes and found a place to lay down in the shade.  I rested for 20-30 minutes before putting my shoes back on, packing up, and heading back to the trail.

A little past the junction with the Welcome Creek Trail I came back into a burn.  At first it wasn't too bad as I descended to a saddle.  At that point, however, the downfall was thick.  I pushed on, going over and around the worst tangles and as more time passed I questioned what I was doing out there.  I could tell from the map that the trail traversed around a hill before climbing up that hill and heading toward Welcome Benchmark.  With how bad the downed trees were I decided to leave the trail and just set out toward the top of the hill to hopefully save some time and cut off some of my hiking through the worst of it.

Two tops of Welcome Benchmark

It was perhaps slightly better off trail, or at least I told myself that.  As I was nearing the top of the hill and the trail again, I saw a little, spotted fawn in the mess of trees.  It was all alone and walking around.  I said hello and warned it to be careful as it was lucky I was not a mountain lion or bear.  Not long after seeing the fawn I hit the trail and turned toward the second peak.  It took me less than a minute to realize that this section of trail had been cleared.  I was ecstatic as that meant I would be able to hike at a normal pace.  I started up the trail as it climbed another slope.  At the top of that climb, I left the burn and found myself in a nice, open forest on a great trail.  This section from the burn to the peak was my favorite part of the trail.  It was pretty flat and in a great forest on a ridge.  I was enjoying myself and looked down the trail and saw a black bear thoroughly enjoying himself too walking toward me.  I pulled out my camera and took a blurry photo.  As I stood right on the trail I thought he saw me and continued walking toward me.  As he came closer I finally said, "hey bear," and it snapped him out of his daydreaming.  He seemed utterly shocked that he was not alone up there and he stopped and quickly spun and took off running the way I needed to go.

Smokey morning from the summit

I cautiously hiked up the trail and eventually decided the bear had turned off the ridge somewhere and probably was no longer between me and the summit.  I was excited to have seen a bear.  It was the only bear I saw on this peak challenge that was not in Glacier.  As I neared the summit I came across some cool rock outcrops.  There were still some blooming beargrass hiding in some of the rocks in spots.  Within 45 minutes of seeing the bear I came to the summit area.  Before going to the top, I found a spot where I would sleep and a spot to hang my food.  Then I took my dinner with me up to the summit.  There were two highpoints near on another and I couldn't really tell which was higher, so I went to both.  As I neared the second, I walked to the edge to look down one drainage.  Sitting there on a rock that I had not seen until approaching the edge was a golden eagle.  I was quite close and it took off as soon as it saw me.

Beargrass

I sat up top and enjoyed the views and my dinner as the evening advanced.  Eventually there were a couple of white tail bucks walking around near the top and headed toward my things.  I walked that way to make sure they didn't take my backpack or sleeping bag and then stayed out watching it get darker from the summit.  Eventually I walked over to my sleeping bag and crawled in and fell asleep.

It was great getting to wake up in such a spot.  I immediately went back to the summit and watched a new day starting.  I had a small breakfast up top, packed up, and then headed back down the trail.  I again enjoyed the high forest on the ridge and decided to stay on the trail instead of taking the "shortcut" where I had seen the fawn in hopes that the trail was cleared at least down to the junction at the bottom of the hill.  It was cleared almost down to the junction and then the trail traversing that hill really wasn't that bad until I neared the saddle again.  It was slow going, but I was in high spirits and had more energy than I had the afternoon before.  I pushed through the downfall and made it back to the Welcome Creek Trail.  Along the upper reaches of that trail in the burn before making it down to the creek I stopped often to eat handfuls of huckleberries.

Trail junction

The hike out seemed to take less time, but it was still a long hike and I'm not sure Cleveland is a 15-mile round trip.  Either way, I had finally made it to the Welcome Creek Wilderness and climbed two peaks, one being the highest in the wilderness.  I would love to go back.

Elevation gain:  4940'     Total gain:  123,670'

08/05/14 Unnamed 7054 #67

Unnamed 7054 from the trail

On the 5th of August I set out to complete my goal of climbing all the ranked peaks in the Blue Point quadrangle.  It seemed fitting as I had climbed the other two peaks two days earlier.  I drove up the Marshall Canyon Road and parked at the dirt road that headed up the west side of the canyon.  I rode (and pushed) my bike up the road until I made it to the trail that headed up the mountain toward Sheep Mountain.  I pushed my bike a bit further and stashed it in the brush.  I had no desire to push it up the trail, which I knew would be steeper than the road.  Mostly I wanted it so that I could cruise back down the last three or so miles of dirt road to the car at the end of the day.

Woody Mountain

I started hiking up the trail.  It was a nice trail, but it was hot that day.  The forest was open enough that I spent more time in the sun than I wanted to.  Before getting up near the saddle the forest was a bit thicker and I enjoyed a bit of a walk in the shade.  At that point the trail dropped slightly and then followed the ridge up toward the summit.  Before ascending, I found myself in some thick huckleberries and made mental notes as to where I would stop on my way down to pick berries.

Blue Point

I carried on and thoroughly enjoyed the trail from that point on, despite it being rather steep.  I pushed on up the trail and came to a spot where the trail started traversing in a direction I didn't want to go.  At that point, I left the trail and started heading directly up toward the top.  Near the top I found an old road and crossed it.  Finding the true summit was difficult as it was a broad field of beargrass with some sparse trees here and there.  I walked around and touched every highpoint I could find and satisfied myself that in one of those points, I had touched the top.

I moved back over to the eastern edge, where it dropped off more significantly and sat on some rocks and ate a snack and snapped some photos.  I looked over at Blue Point and contemplated heading over to it.  It is not a ranked summit, but it is a named summit.  If I had more energy and if it hadn't been so hot I may have gone for it, but under those conditions, I would not have been very happy.  It turned out later in the day that I was glad I didn't go for it.

Sappy cones

I followed the old road as I knew it would take me to the trail and maybe be easier walking than the little bit of off-trail walking I had done at the end on the way up.  It did take me to the trail and I followed it around the top of the hill and back down toward the saddle.  When the huckleberries were thick again I stopped for a bit and picked a full water bottle's worth.  Then I made my way back down the trail to my bike.

When I found my bike in the brush I discovered that the back tire was flat.  This was when I was glad I hadn't hiked on to Blue Point.  I now had at least three extra miles to walk that I thought I could have easily coasted on my bike.  Instead of taking 15-20 minutes it took me at least an hour.  I tried to remain in good spirits as it had been a great day.

Huckleberry fingers

Elevation gain:  3560'     Total gain:  118,730'

08/03/14 Unnamed 6750 and Sheep Mountain 7646' #65 and #66

Unnamed 6750 from Sheep Mountain

I set out on the 3rd of August with two goals.  First, I wanted to climb another peak in the Blue Point quadrangle map on my way to climbing all three of those ranked summits.  I already had climbed one of the other ones, Sheep Mountain, in October 2013 and Unnamed 6750 seemed like it might be the most difficult of the three to get to.  My second goal was to have a two peak day and by also climbing Sheep Mountain I could do just that. 

I drove up to the trailhead and started hiking on the beautiful, sunny morning.  I made it up to the saddle and turned away from Sheep to head toward Unnamed 6750 first.  The huckleberries in and around the saddle were incredible.  I told myself that if I had the time later in the day I would return and pick some.  I carried on past the trail that headed down toward Rattlesnake Creek and I was on trail I had not hiked before.  It was a nice trail through forest and huckleberries.

On top of Unnamed 6750

The trail started climbing and I knew I would need to leave it soon.  Eventually I found a spot and started bushwhacking toward the unnamed peak.  At first it wasn't too brushy, but all the brush and grass was wet from the morning dew and I found that my shoes and legs were wet after a few minutes.  This didn't bother me as the day was shaping up to be a warm one.  After twenty minutes or so the brush was suddenly much thicker and I had to deal with a lot of the whacking in bushwhacking.  It was mostly tall false azalea that was giving me difficulties, which was annoying but not as annoying as if it had been alder.

My grouse friend as he walks away

Every so often I found what seemed like bits of game trails that negotiated the worst of the thickness and then they too would fade out in the overgrowth.  I continued to push on and eventually it opened up near the top and the last couple hundred feet of vertical gain was relatively open and pleasant.  I was surprised at how nice of a summit I came upon.  It was still in the trees with few views but it was open with a nice rock outcrop barely pushing through the grasses.  It felt like a peaceful place and I enjoyed being there.  I decided to sit down and enjoy this obscure place and ate some snacks and meditated on being in such a lovely, out-of-the-way location that was rarely visited.  That, and I was in no rush to get back to the bushwhacking.

On top of Sheep Mountain

Eventually I decided to leave and head back to the trail and make my way up Sheep Mountain.  The bushwhack going back down didn't seem to be as bad as it had been on the way up.  That is usually the case that going up through the brush is more difficult than going down through it.  I took a slightly different route, staying a bit closer to the broad, rounded ridge and found my way back to the trail pretty easily.  I had made a friend of a lone grouse on my way.

Once back on the trail I made my way back toward Sheep Mountain and started climbing up that wonderful trail.  Surprisingly those slopes did not hold the same bounty of huckleberries as down near the saddle.  I slowly made my way up the switchbacks through the heat and eventually found myself near the top.  It is really a great trail and near the top there was quite a gathering of beargrass that was pleasant to see.  It was only a couple of switchbacks from there and I was up on top at the rock structure that is slowly falling apart. 

Sheep Mountain benchmark

I spent some time up there taking in the hazy views and chatting with the many ladybugs that congregated on top.  After some time and a couple photos I found the benchmark and then headed back down to the saddle to pick huckleberries.  I filled most of a water bottle in a short time and then headed down the trail to the car.  What a great day!

Elevation gain: 2090'    Total gain: 115,170'

07/27/14 Trapper Peak 10,157' #64

View of snowfield and summit (right) from upper ridge

My friends and their family decided to head back to Salmon, ID early Sunday morning and so I also decided to not stick around for the last day of the bluegrass festival.  I had my sights on Trapper Peak.  Not only was it a peak above 10,000 feet, but also it was the highest peak in Ravali County and in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.  I knew it was a peak I wanted to climb for the peak challenge.

I left the festival and drove less than 30 minutes to get to the trailhead.  I knew there were a couple routes up the peak, but not knowing much about any of them, I decided to just take the standard route up the trail.  I was slightly disappointed to see a couple cars in the parking lot, but it was a little after 8:00 a.m. on a popular peak and I almost expected there to be more.  I packed up and hit the trail.

North Trapper (far right) and Bitterroot range to El Capitan (far left)

Immediately the trail started to climb steeply.  I knew the trail was not very long and figured that meant it would be rather steep.  That was fine with me as I was looking to have a climb that would not take me all day.  I hoped to have it be a half-day adventure and leave me the afternoon to figure out what to do next.

It was a beautiful morning and after just a short ways the trail neared a rocky ridge, where I had some views through the trees over across the drainage to Boulder Peak and the beautiful ridges that led up to and away from that peak.  The trail eventually turned away from the rocky ridge and headed back into the forest.  It maintained a steep grade and I climbed and climbed.  It came to a point that I started wishing for some switchbacks.  The trail was so steep in spots and heading directly up the fall-line that it had gotten wide from use and water damage.  This made it very rutted in spots and quite rocky, which added to the steepness, made it a bit difficult.  I was excited to be out there, though, and carried on with a smile on my face.

East Trapper

Eventually I caught up to a couple that had left before me.  They were still a bit below treeline when I saw them and they were not moving very fast.  I said hello and carried on up the mountain.  Not long after passing them I ran into a lone hiker coming down from the summit.  He must have gotten quite an early start.  After meeting him I carried on through the thinning forest and could tell I was nearing treeline.  A bit further and the trees really thinned out and I had some of my first real views up toward the peak.  Here the trail seemed to lessen in grade and I worked my way up to a ridge where I met another single hiker coming down from the summit.  He had come up another route and I asked him about it.  He said that in the summer it was the only route he took and I vowed to try that route the next time I ascended the peak.

Unnamed highpoint southwest of Trapper

Not long after meeting with him I continued on and the trail became more and more faint as it died out in large boulders.  I hopped from one to another for a while and then made my way to a snow slope on the edge of the ridge that helped me ascend the slope easier.  Once past the snow I was out on the large boulders again working my way up the mountain.  The footing was a bit difficult and the traveling was slow but before long I found my way to the final high saddle and from there it was about ten minutes of boulder hopping to the summit.

I had the top to myself and sat up there for some time taking in the views, snapping photos, and eating my snacks.  Eventually the couple I had passed far below made it to the high saddle.  I had been up there for some time and decided to let them enjoy the top for themselves and I started to descend.  From the saddle I decided to traverse a bit and see if the boulder hopping was any better.  It was and I found my way down to where the trail disappeared and had a lovely stroll along the high ridge for a bit before the trail started descending.

Alpine flower on high ridge

At this point, I started seeing more hikers coming up the trail.  I began to pass groups every so often and the trail started to remind me more and more of climbing a 14er in Colorado.  I eventually came to a family down in the thin trees just below treeline.  The mother was sitting on a log and not looking very comfortable.  She asked me how far it was.  I told her it was not too far.  She asked what that meant.  I said that it meant that I had been enjoying myself and had not been paying attention as to how long it had taken me to get down to that point.  I said they were almost to a spot where they could see the summit.  This encouraged them slightly and I'm not sure if they made it.  The view when you can first see the summit does not make you feel like you are very close.

Alpine views looking toward unnamed highpoint and Boulder Peak

I passed more and more people coming up and I was glad to be descending.  Most of the looks on faces said that people were tired and hoping they were higher than they were and I tried not to make it seem to bad for most of them.  This part really reminded me of the Colorado 14ers.  There were a lot of people asking if they were almost there yet and looking like they were not going to make it.  Hopefully most of them did.  As the trail was steep I came down the mountain pretty quickly.  I made it to my car and since it was still early in the afternoon I decided to go back to the bluegrass festival and catch the last couple bands before heading back north to Missoula.

Elevation gain:  3800'     Total gain: 113,080'