Holland Peak Summit

Flathead National Forest, Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, Montana

An early start to my day with a pan to make it to the top of Holland Peak, the highest summit in the Swan Mountains. The morning was cloudless as I got off the established trail and started up the Rumble creek drainage. This was the first time I was using my new GPS and it has a grade % feature. Most of the time when I checked it the grade was between 34% and 42%. It was steep and stayed steep.

Found an area that had quite a few Yellow Columbine. I sure like these flowers. The mountain in the far left background is where I was headed.

After slow steady climbing that was averaging a 1,000 feet up every mile the final ridge was all that was left. Pretty steep exposure on both sides but the rock is pretty grippy when dry. There is about 200 yards that really made me take my time both ways because a fall would be something that would be really bad. A few clouds were beginning to build out to the west but the weather was still perfect for my summit bid.

Up on the summit I found the USGS marker and it looks a little beat up. Of course life is hard weather wise most of the year up here, plus I'm sure folks have tried to pry it loose a time on two. Checked the GPS up on top and found it was only 5.3 miles and I had climbed over 5,300 feet. Slowest 5 miles I have covered this year at a bit over 4 hours from the trailhead to the top. I really enjoyed my lunch while on the summit. I knew the down was going to be just as challenging as the up had been.

Not often I'm on a summit with others, but there were two guys on top when I got there. So I was able to get a photo with me in it.

This is the view back the way I had just descended from the lower lake. One of the most physically demanding day climbs I have done in years. Would be better to camp at the upper lake and do some fishing then summit the next day. I saw some good sized trout in both the lakes.