Glen Lake Point Summit (Point 8608)

Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, Bitterroot National Forest, Montana

Awoke to another great looking fall morning so I headed out into the wild. This time I went south in the Bitterroot Valley almost to Victor and turned west. After 15 miles I ran out of badly washboarded dirt roads and came to the Glen Lake trailhead. It's as far west as you can drive in the area. The trail started out in an area badly burned in 2006 by the Gash fire.  Lots of dead trees created blowdowns to cross.

After a mile and a half of steady uphill I crossed into the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness area.  This is the third different wilderness I have been in this week, all within an hours drive from my house. Eventually I came to the trails main attraction...Glen Lake. I was surprised at how green the lake is.  This is not a color I have come to expect of high mountain lakes across Montana, and this lake is pretty high at 7,500'.  There are two additional small unnamed lakes about a quarter of a mile further up from Glen lake and both of them were crystal clear and mostly covered by ice.  I got water at the highest one and it was good tasting and really cold.

Glen Lake

After a short break it was time for some off trail scrambling to get to the summit.  This was the steep climbing for the day.  The snow started getting deeper as I went higher.  By staying rear the ridge I made pretty good time.  I did have lots of stops to catch my breath as the slope was nearing 50 degrees of incline in places. By the time i reached the summit the snow was almost to my knees.  Of course I was hiking in shorts and didn't think to bring my snowshoes along.  My feet were soaked by the time I got back below the snow line.  It was so nice out I would do it the same way again in a heartbeat. 

Ridge towards the summit

Summit view towards St Mary Peak

The views in all directions were great, but it was nice to see the summit of St Mary Peak just across the valley. The trip down was a lot quicker than the trip up and the snow actually helped speed up the decent. Just over a mile from the truck I ran into a couple heading in to Glen Lake to spend the night, they were the only people I saw all day.  I am sure they have the place all to themselves tonight.

Young's Mountain Summit

Bob Marshall Wilderness, Lolo & Flathead National Forests, Montana

Another beautiful Fall day across western Montana so I headed to a trailhead I have never been to.  My plan was to get about 12 or so miles of hiking in and get a different view across the Bob Marshall Wilderness from Young's Mountain.  It was a bit of a drive to the Lodgepole Creek trailhead but it was worth every mile of it.  This forest road was one of the best I have driven on this entire year.  My truck was the only one parked there when I arrived and was still all alone when I left.  Really nice to have this whole area of Montana to myself for the day.

The colors in the mountains are really something this year.  The Larch's are all in their best yellow-gold and when the sun hits them just right they are mesmerizing. Lots of shrubs dressed in red as well.  I wish I had the photo skills to capture the brillance of the plants...these pics will have to do for now.

After 4 miles of steady uphill I arrived at Young's Pass and found the "Bob" sign.  Whenever I get into a wilderness area it brings a big smile to my face.

Had a bit of an accident and took a weird fall as I continued the climb to the top of the Mountain.  While I escaped without serious injury, my camera did not.  I think it may be fatal but will know more after I call Nikon in the morning.  I had a "trail rage" moment, but could only get mad at myself as it was my own fault I fell.  I can't share the phenomenal views I saw the last mile to the top but they were the best ones of the year.  The sky was such a great deep blue, the marching lines of mountains were shimmering white with snow...as was the top of the one I was standing on.  If the storm expected on Monday doesn't dump too much snow on the roads to the trailhead I may try and get back up one of the neighboring summits and get some photos of the area to share.  Just have to take the bigger and heavier Nikon.

So what did today bring?  Only 13.4 miles of a great trail, over 4,000' of uphill to another summit, and the realization that I better get a Spot GPS beacon if I am going to continue to hike alone...and maybe it isn't a good idea to walk with an expensive camera in my hand.  Did I mention I found 3 more trailheads in the area to explore.  Even with the fall it was another good day in the mountains.

Cleveland Mountain Summit

Welcome Creek Wilderness, Lolo National Forrest, Montana

Took a long day hike through the Sapphire Mountains Welcome Creek Wilderness to the relatively low 7,327 foot summit of Cleveland Mountain.  While one of the smallest wilderness areas in Montana, it also comes with no crowds!  The lack of people might be on account of the really rocky trails...these are real ankle killers and they go on for miles.

5 miles in the hike I came across an old miners log cabin.  It is called the Carron Cabin.  Still has several old shovel heads and some pots and pans on the inside.  The walls are still intact but the pole roof has caved in on it.  While the valley doesn't get a lot of sun throughout the day, the builder did pick a spot with the morning sun shining brightly on the front door.

The old Carron Cabin

With all the leaves off many of the bushes, you can find some interesting things like this Hornets nest right beside the trail.  I wonder how many passed by it and never knew it was there.  Fortunately with temps hovering right around freezing all day long...no hornets came out to pay their respects to me as I passed by (twice).  If they had I would have picked up my pace...and not taken this photo.

No Explanation Required

It took me a little bit to find the summit survey benchmark because the trail petered out near the summit and it was also lost in lots of blowdowns of old fire destroyed trees.  Once I did it was  I back down the trail towards my truck.  I have a guidebook that shows it is only 5 miles from the trailhead to the summit.  The GPS tells a different story.  I think they have the wrong peak in mind in the guidebook because the elevation is also off by over 2,000 feet.  At least the directions to the trailhead were correct.

Cleveland Mountain Benchmark

The last bit of trail (and first bit as well) crosses over the famous Rock Creek.  I had planned on getting some fly fishing in but the sun was about to set and I still had an hours drive ahead to get back home.  The fish will still be there when I return.  Besides I should be fishing in the Blackfoot river an hour or two for each of the next few days.  This is why we live here.

Rock Creek

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Pyramid Pass

Bob Marshal Wilderness, Lolo & Flathead National Forests,  Montana

I knew it was going to be a great hike when the trailhead greeted me with an abundance of mountain gold, at least the only kind I will ever find.  The Western Larch's are exploding with color all across the region, these just happen to be in the Swan Mountains.

Temperature started off in the mid 20's and didn't warm up till well past noon.  With the exception of some chilly fingers (I didn't put any gloves on even though they were in my pack) it was a perfect day to exert some uphill energy without overheating and working up a sweat.

Western Larches at the Pyramid Pass Trailhead

Near the pass I came across an unnamed lake that was really getting a thick layer of ice on it.  Over 2 inches thick on most of the lake...and just a skim near the north shore with only about 2 to 3 feet of open water along one small stretch.

I located four peaks that I will need to summit in the next year, and have picked a route to try for each.  I might be able to get 2 of them in one day but they are a bit spread out.  Only had to go a bit over 12 miles to scout them all out.

Unnamed lake and peaks