| "Jerome Rock Peak" Mountain/Rock |
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| "Jerome Rock Peak"   | 
| Page Type: Mountain/Rock Location: Montana, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 45.38790°N / 111.4854°W Activities: Hiking, Mountaineering, Scrambling Season: Summer Elevation: 10175 ft / 3101 m | Page By: Bob Sihler Created/Edited: Dec 18, 2006 / Sep 24, 2007 Object ID: 252580 Hits: 1284 Loading... Page Score: 89.28% - 14 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Overview
In my opinion, the best mountains are those unnamed ones that we view and photograph from better-known summits but rarely bother to climb. Sometimes these summits surprise us with unexpectedly fun, challenging routes, but what they always offer are solitude and discovery, and my favorite mountaineering experiences thus far have occurred on unnamed, unappreciated peaks.
Jerome Rock Peak, my name for UN 10,175, is such a mountain. UN 10,175 is the broad-topped mountain comprising the cirque walls of the Jerome Rock Lakes deep in the Spanish Peaks Unit of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness in Montana’s Madison Range. The Madison Range is part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, arguably the greatest wilderness region of the Lower 48.
UN 10,175 is not one of the major summits of the Madison Range, overshadowed as it is by the nearby Spanish Peaks and the awesome Hilgard Peak area further south. That, though, is why you should climb this mountain. You will find relative quiet along the trail and at camp, and atop the mountain you will almost certainly have no other company and enjoy classically beautiful Montana scenery as well. It is also an easy mountain to climb; anyone in decent shape will have no trouble at all on it.
UN 10,175 was my first off-trail adventure in the Rockies and, therefore, one of my most important ever. It worked changes in me that continue to define me today. It will always be one of my favorite mountains.
My only regret in making this page is that I have very few route and other photos to post. I climbed this mountain in 2000, well before I knew SP existed (maybe before it actually did exist, in fact), and so I only took what I thought would be very scenic shots, and I kept only my favorites of those. I used to have a good dawn image of the cirque showing the entire ridge route, but no more. And I junk the negatives for pictures I don’t keep. Two pictures, one on this page and the other on the route page, are previously tossed shots that I was able to reprint since their negative strips have “good” pictures on them, and so I kept those strips.
Other than that, I’m really happy to share this peak that has meant so much to me, and I hope some of you will get out there and see for yourselves why it is such a great mountain.
Getting There  A road map to the trailhead. Click and enlarge.
About two thirds of the way between Big Sky and Gallatin Gateway along U.S. 191 (closer to Gallatin Gateway), Spanish Creek Road heads west. This is a major gravel road and is hard to miss, but still watch carefully, especially if you’re approaching from the south. Follow Spanish Creek Road, a good gravel route passable to almost any vehicle, through some classic Montana ranch country all the way to the road’s end just inside Gallatin National Forest at the Spanish Creek guard station. A picnic area and small campground are here at the trailhead, elevation 6080’. Expect about a 30-minute drive from U.S. 191 to the trailhead.
Red TapeNo fees or permits. Sign the register if one is still there. Signing registers isn’t letting Big Brother track you; it’s helping land managers understand usage and giving a sense of your plans and whereabouts, which might really matter if you get lost or injured.
If you camp in the wilderness, remember the rules of packing out everything you pack in, camping at least 100 feet from lakes and streams, burning only dead and downed wood, and using preexisting campsites and fire rings.
Black bears and other wildlife are likely to be a problem if you don’t store food properly.
CampingThere is a small primitive campground at the trailhead. If it happens to be full, just sleep in the car or set up a tent by your car. No one’s really going to care.
Some Views of and from the Neighborhood
The Spanish Peaks from the divide above Lake Solitude. Say what you want about exotic places all over the world-- to me, this scene is just as spectacular as anything anywhere else. |
Lone Mountain from the divide above Lake Solitude. From here, the ski development is mostly not visible, but resort owners are working hard to change that. |
Images
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