Baldy Mountain, Pioneer Mountains
Baldy Mountain outside of Dillon, Montana. One of the most distinct mountains in my memory, having grown up with its summit rising above the valleys of my childhood. This climb was put on during breast cancer awareness month. My mother and I made the ascent with a local group, as her first trip into the mountains after spiral fracturing her leg. While she didn’t summit, she came very close, and we enjoyed our time on the mountain together.
Trapper Peak, Bitterroot Mountains
These photos are from a summit bid of Trapper Peak, in the Bitterroot Mountains, when I was going to school at the University of Montana. It is the highest point in the Bitterroot Mountains, and was one of the first summits I attempted in the range. The hiking is strenuous, straight up the flank of the mountain, but was shortlived, and easy in the grand scheme of the mountain range. The views from the summit were unquestionably sublime, peering deep into the heart of the wilderness fabricating the Montana/Idaho border.
Little and Big Saint Joseph Peaks, Bitterroot Mountains
As I gained comfort in the Bitterroots, I began attempting harder, less known summits. Little Saint Joseph Peak is an easy walk up. The climb, as with all peaks in the Bitterroots, was steep, directly attacking the side of the mountain, but was in no understanding of the phrase technically difficult. A plane crashed into the side of the mountains in the mid 20th century, leaving shrapnel flung across the mountainside. In a few places, people have stacked wreckage into cairns to mark the crash site.
Big Saint Joseph Peak was far more difficult. The ridge line separating the peaks was technical, with some class 4 climbing, if route finding is off, as mine was. I dropped into the bowl on the north face of the ridge, under the summit cone of Big Saint Joseph, and was promptly turned around, as the ground began thawing, and the scree began sliding and falling down around me. This was one of the first times I recall being truly scared in the mountains, knowing full well I pushed far too hard. Luckily, I came out without any battle scars.