This Week's Hike

Today Mary and I hiked up to Stonewall Mountain near Lincoln, MT.  Being that today is the day before my 50th birthday, this hike was the final one in my 50/50 Challenge, and my 70th peak since last October 4th.  It is fitting that Mary accompanied me on this hike because she was along last year when we started this adventure by climbing Lava and Arrow peaks in the Highwood Mountains for peaks #1 and #2.  My goal was to climb 50 peaks before October 4, 2009.  I am so pleased to have been able to climb 70 beautiful mountains in that period, surpassing my goal by 20 peaks.  I was able to see more of Montana than expected, hiked with more interesting folks than I ever imagined, and challenged myself more than I can articulate.  And, Bryce didn't do badly either, he went on many of these hikes with me.  He turns 10 years old on October 18th, so he will be 70 years old in dog years.  Maybe it is appropriate that I made it to 70 peaks, in honor of my hiking buddy.  What a fantastic year!  Thanks to all who hiked with me, or lead me on these new adventures.  What a blast.

Today's Stonewall Mtn hike was all on trail, winding up a ridge outside Lincoln to gain the higher ridge that leads to Stonewall Lookout high above Lincoln.  This is still an active lookout, an important vantage point to protect the developments within the Blackfoot River valley and Lincoln.  The Forest Service has installed a large radio facility at the lookout, and installed underground electric service all the way up there. 

Of interest to me is that this high ridge must have served as an important defensive line during the large fires in the late 1990's.  Once we gained the east-west ridge, we basically followed this swath of barren landscape up to the lookout.  It isn't pretty, but it looks like it worked.  The forest to the south is untouched and green, while the forest to the north is all burned.  I am guessing that the fire line was cut by bulldozers, then the Forest Service started back burns to the north to provide a good line of defense to keep the fires from burning down into Lincoln.  This ridge is a popular ATV route and it also is a snowmobile route in the winter.

Once at the summit Mary and I checked out Red Mtn that we climbed a few weeks ago, and explored all the development on Stonewall.  An interesting feature was 6" screws sticking out of the door to the lookout to keep the bears out.  A big winter storm was moving into the area as we shivered in the cold winds, so we didn't spend much time up there.  On the way down we met some ATV'ers on their way up, bundled up for the wintry conditions.

Snow flurries continued all the way down to the cars.  The woods creaked and moaned under the strong winds, another sign that winter is arriving. 

A great end to an excellent year.  Thanks again to all!

This hike was my first trip into the Great Bear Wilderness, south of Glacier National Park.  It's a hike and climb I would not mind doing again since it offers great views, interesting hiking along Tunnel Ridge, and a good climb up Mt. Liebig itself.  Our group of GMS'ers met along Route 2 and then drove the twisty road up to the wilderness boundary.  This is quite different than the Bob and Scapegoat Wilderness area where the wilderness boundary is miles from the nearest road.  In this case there is no buffer between National Forest and Wilderness, a precarious situation.  Dell, Martin, Linda, Frank, Larry and I set off on the hunter's path up Tunnel Ridge and climbed steadily up to the first of several high points we would attain during the day.  In June some in this group kick-stepped up to this point in deep snow and wisely decided to postpone their trip to Mt. Liebig until the snow left the knife edges of Tunnel Ridge.

I enjoyed the ups and downs of our approach to the mountain.  The ridge drops sharply to the north, with steep vegetated slopes to the south.  These steep slopes gave me problems in that my boots are well suited for travel on rock, but are horrible on bear grass on these steep areas.  I struggled, but eventually caught up with the group.

At our last high point I looked over at Mt Liebig and seriously thought that the mountain was a bit too much for me.  But, the vast experience in our group studied the map and the terrain and picked a potential route.  And, on cue, two goats walked up the ramp the group identified, cut right up the cliff band, and accessed the upper scree slopes, confirming the proposed route.  It was quite a thing to see.

We slipped down a steep scree slope and crossed the last saddle.  Staying left on the mountain we walked an easy ramp to where a logical notch provided access to the scree and upper rocky areas.  After exiting the notch our group spread out all over the mountain, picking their route of choice, and we all gathered back together at the summit.  It was a joy to be up there in sunshine, and light winds after our windy experiences the day before on Mt. Richmond.  Being that this area was new to me, I liked looking around and seeing all kind of new places to explore on future trips.

On the way back I had the same problems with slippery shoes on steep vegetative slopes, but didn't end up in the valley floor. I did take a few good butt slides though.  Back at the final high point we took a break before embarking on a Huckleberry gathering expedition.  The Huckleberries were large and ripe, and right along the trail.  It is amazing how those little balls of sugar can reinvigorate a tired hiker.  We topped off the Huckleberries with some Cowboy Caviar at the trailhead before heading back home.  For my first trip into the Great Bear Wilderness, I am greatly impressed, and anxious to return

After several years of saying I would do so, I finally joined Tom Kotynski and frequent hiking partner Mark Hertenstein on a hike on the Rocky Mountain Front.  Tom and Mark were leading this Glacier Mountaineering Society trip up Richmond Mountain, which is located just to the west of Swift Dam.  As we gathered at the start of the trail, Tom and Mark asked if the group would mind if we considered this trip "exploratory" and tried a new, untested, route up the mountain.  Since Tom and Mark have been up this mountain before, and just about everywhere else on the Front, trying new routes makes things interesting for them.  Our group readily agreed to the idea, and we started up the beautiful North Fork of Birch Creek.  On the way in we identified several possible routes on the mountain, finally deciding on a ridge extending down to the northwest.  After an interesting creek crossing adventure, we made our way through the forest until we bisected a dry stream bed coming down from the ridge we wanted.  The streambed brought us up to a steep scree slope that provided access to the higher ridge.  While on the ridge, several of us looked at the cliffs above and thought there would be a route up through them and onto the higher ridge.  Sure, no problem.  Wrong.  As we climbed up the fragile rock it became apparent that the upper parts were just too steep, and the rock too crumbly to continue.  So, we turned around and carefully worked our way back down to the scree.  Tom dislodged a large rock he was counting on for support, and it went tumbling down the hill.  That shakes your confidence when you put your weight on a hold and it goes screaming down the hill.  We all made it down safe, then hiked up the smaller scree to a saddle below the summit ridge.  At this point the winds had started to increase as the weather service had predicted.  A High Wind Warning was posted for the Front, and it was coming in. 

As we hiked up to the higher points, I veered off to the south and started up the ridge to the "summit" Mary and I had looked at two years ago when we hiked in the area on the Blind Tubby trail.  Too bad it was not the true summit.  After realizing I was over there all by myself, I hiked back over to the unimpressive rocky ridge that was the summit and rejoined the group.  We hung out for a while and seriously considered hiking over to Mt. Sentinel to the south.  The connecting ridge appeared to be very narrow, and we considered the high winds on that traverse.  The decision was reached that we'd climb Mt. Sentinel on another day, and started back to the cars.  In keeping with the "exploratory" theme for the day, we started down another ridge rather than hiking down the standard route.  We encountered some steep rocky areas, a chute or two, but had no great difficulty in reaching the lower part of the ridge.  But, once we left the shelter of the cliffs we came in full contact with the gale force winds.  Tom describes this part of the trip as the part where we will remember the winds.  That we will.  Not only we will remember the winds, we will talk about them for many hikes to come. 

On the exposed ridge, the winds became persistent and we didn't have the breaks to make a dash before the next gust.  For most of the time on the ridge we laughed and smiled, but then 4 of us got blown over at one time, and Jerry Moore took a nasty tumble head-first onto the rocks.  This caught our attention, and we immediately dropped over to the east and got out of the full force winds.  It was amazing the relief we felt when we were sufficiently out of the winds and could walk without being in brace position!  Bushwhacking down the hillside and into a stream bed, we worked our way back to Birch Creek and another creek crossing adventure. 

Back at the cars after 9  hours on the trail, we looked up at the "standard" route to Mt. Richmond, but were glad we hiked the route we did.  It was much more interesting the way we went, and if we would have done the standard route, we would have been back at the cars before the winds went wild, and we would have missed all the crazy times on that exposed ridge.  Thanks Tom and Mark for a great hike.  We will remember the winds!

Mary and I returned to the Front recently and hiked up to Route Creek Pass in the Middle Fork of the Teton drainage to access Old Baldy Mtn.  This valley is always beautiful in the fall with the yellows of the aspens in the river bottom.  Bryce was glad to be back on the trail and enjoyed a dip on the way up.  At the pass we climbed up the short but steep talus to reach an interesting ridge that leads to the mountain.  This ridge is just a nice place to be.

Part way up, Mary decided to hang out and enjoy the ridge while Bryce and I continued up.  On the lower ridge I found a nice band of smooth rocky on the west side of the ridge (also the windy side) that gave Bryce good footing.  About half-way up I considered switching over to the east side, but thought that we would encounter rocks/steep faces that would give Bryce trouble like on nearby Rock Mountain recently.  So, this is where "Route Choice By Dog" began.  I spied a dirt-filled chute farther on the west side that was perfect for Bryce to scoot up, and I thought it was just around the next bend...it wasn't.  I side-hilled across several chutes and ridges, seemingly never closing the gap with that dirt chute.  We finally reached it and I climbed the rock on the side while Bryce used the dirt and wandered around waiting for me.  This chute brought us up to a series of scree filled areas and small ridges.  Not good climbing at all, but good routes for a dog.  We finally topped out on the summit ridge and walked a bit to the south and hit the summit.  The views were interesting and you could see an almost straight line of upthrust mountains extending all the way to Glacier.  I also spied Beartop Lookout glistening in the distance.  We dropped into the saddle and made our way over to the east summit, then returned to the saddle for a descent via the scree slope.  Near the bottom I angled to the west and started following the strata up and toward the approach ridge, taking an impressive side-ways flop as I walked on round rocks just waiting to send me flying.  Back at the ridge I re-joined Mary and we hiked back on down, once again admiring the fall colors in the river.  About a mile from the trailhead Mary spied a black bear below us as it moved away.  Great sighting.  It was close to dark as we reached the car, a sure sign that fall is approaching.

With the amazing fall weather continuing, I decided to extend my stay in Glacier a few days, and thankfully Mary was able to take care of Bryce while I continued to wander around the woods.  On Wednesday I drove over to Elk Mountain along Route 2 below Marias Pass and hiked the trail up to Elk Mountain.  As soon as I started up the steep trail from the Fielding Patrol Cabin I had a suspicion that there had been a lookout on Elk Mountain at one time.  So often you find steep trails leading up the mountains, from the vicinity of a patrol cabin, with little or no switchbacks.  This trail fit that pattern.  Elk bugled in the valley below, and a hawk hunted on the winds as the trail climbed up through a variety of woods and grassy slopes, eventually gaining the open ridgeline.  Farther up the mountain I found a single strand phone wire laying on the ground, another clue from the lookout days.  Topping out on the small summit I found concrete footings and steel turnbuckles from the former lookout.  It is amazing how many of these lookouts there once was.  My interest soon changed to admiring the scenery of Summit Mountain, Ole Creek, and the Great Bear Wilderness to the south.  I enjoyed the summit for awhile then hiked back to the car and drove into East Glacier for lunch.

The next day I hiked up the Dawson Pass Trail and walked up the scree filled slopes below Flinsch Peak.  When I started the winds were calm, and a good deal of smoke hung over the mountains from a prescribed burn somewhere to the west (so I was told).  However, as I worked my way up Flinsch Peak the winds picked up and the smoke cleared nicely.  Lucky for those winds! I wandered over to the east ridge line and looked down on Young Man Lake below Rising Wolf Mtn.  This lake is located in a hanging valley above the Old Man Lake area and probably sees very few visitors, other than those of us looking down on it from the surrounding mountains.  I carefully scrambled up the crumbling rock of the summit block, what a mess.  This mountain is a true matterhorn in shape, and very recognizable from the entire Two Medicine area. 

After walking back down to the pass I walked over to Mount Helen and it's subpeak located to the east.  This is a low mountain without great features.  But, it does provide interesting views of Upper Two Medicine Lake and Mt. Rockwell.  A interesting spire, Pumpelly Pillar, extends from the subpeak out to the east.  I'm glad I took the walk out there.

Hiking back down I enjoyed the changing colors of fall along the trail.  And, upon reaching the trailhead I actually headed for home, but still considering spending some more days in this beautiful park.   These peaks brought me up to 66 peaks in my 50/50 Challenge.  What a great year!