Bearhat Mountain and Hidden Lake

Taken from the popular Hidden Lake Overlook 1.5 miles west from Logan Pass. To summit Bearhat, you basically hike down along the east side of Hidden Lake, eventually angling up the hill toward the mountain. Take note of the large rift in the middle of the mountain's west face; climb anywhere south (left), and you'll find an enjoyable way to the top. One note, however; the summit that most hikers reach is actually a false summit. The true summit is to the southwest of the main bulk of the mountain (both have summit cairns: the one to the north is that of the false summit), and requires some interesting class 3 or 4 climbing along a rocky ridge. In J. Gordon Edward's A Climber's Guide to Glacier National Park, he warns of the difficulty of reaching the true summit, but in my opinion it wasn't much worse than any of the climbing we did to get to the first false summit. I'd say it was well worth the extra effort! September 8, 2008