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| Northwest Ridge   | 
| Page Type: Route Lat/Lon: 47.82930°N / 112.8153°W Route Type: Hiking, Scrambling Season: Summer Time Required: Most of a day Rock Difficulty: Class 3
| Route Quality: | | | | Loading...
| Page By: Bob Sihler Created/Edited: Sep 12, 2006 / Jul 19, 2011 Object ID: 225227 Hits: 1078 Loading... Page Score: 86.99% - 5 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
OverviewThis route climbs a ridge from a pass west of Our Lake. It is a strenuous route that requires a considerable amount of steep Class 2 talus hiking and some easy-to-moderate Class 3 scrambling. There is very little dangerous exposure if you carefully choose your route and moves when on the ridge.
One-way distance from the parking lot to the summit is approximately 5 miles, and you will climb about 3000', 1000 of it along the ridge. I give it a "most of a day" recommendation based on the paces of most other people I meet, but strong hikers and climbers can complete a round-trip outing in fewer than four hours.
Once at Our Lake, you will have spectacular views every step of the way.
Getting ThereFive miles north of Choteau, head west on a paved road signed for fishing and skiing access. In about seventeen miles there will be a T-junction with a road that heads left, crosses the South Fork Teton River, and turns to gravel. Take this gravel road (South Fork Teton River Road), occasionally bumpy but easily passable for most cars, for about ten miles to its end at a large parking area. On the right (west) side of the lot is the signed trailhead for Our Lake and Headquarters Creek Pass. Take this trail and, when you reach a signed intersection just a few minutes from the parking lot, turn right for Our Lake. From the parking lot, the trail climbs 3 miles and 1500' to Our Lake, offering great views of Rocky Mountain and passing a lovely waterfall along the way (best in early summer, nearly dry by August in some years).
Stay a little bit at the lake and admire the scenery. Enjoy it all the more since there are few lakes in the Rocky Mountain Front. Scan the slopes around you for mountain goats. Look to the west for the 7800' saddle you have to reach; it is about 500' higher than Our Lake and approximately a mile west of its outlet. When you are ready, travel around the north side of the lake and climb west on a grassy slope featuring a few stands of trees. There should be a use trail most of the way from here to the saddle, but if there isn't or you can't find it, just head west and try to minimize your impact on the meadows. The only way you could get lost would be if there were thick fog and you had absolutely no sense of direction. Take a rest, check out the views, and start planning your way up the northwest ridge.
Looking back to Our Lake |
Route DescriptionIncluded in the "Getting There" information is a description of the hike to Our Lake and then to the saddle beyond it. The northwest ridge route description begins from the saddle.
Looking up the northwest ridge |
From the saddle, look up and to your left and start going. There is no one right way up the ridge and to the summit, so choose what seems to you to be the path of least resistance while staying as directly on course as possible. In general, the closer you are to the crest of the ridge, the better the footing and the more solid the handholds when you need them. The majority of the route climbs talus slopes, but you sometimes encounter rock bands or outcrops that require some Class 3 scrambling that most people comfortable with climbing will find pretty easy. The way I went, I ran into only two spots that were slightly tricky, one of which involved a little downclimbing to easier terrain, but neither section offered deadly or even significant exposure. Yes, a fall would have hurt and maybe been worse if I'd landed just right, or wrong, really, but there were no precipices threatening little spills of hundreds or even dozens of feet. The biggest danger on this route, aside from exposure to lightning, is probably twisting your ankles.
Looking down the northwest ridge |
More than once, you will think you are approaching the summit, and more than once you will be wrong. Eventually, though, my route (mostly on the west side of the ridge and on or just below its crest) took me out onto a wide-open talus slope that offered an easy ascent to the ridge's crest, and then it was a simple walk for just a few minutes more to the summit. A cairn at the summit will dispel any notions that nobody else has ever been where you are, but no matter-- few people do come here, and the sense of remoteness and the sweeping views you get make you feel as if you really have stumbled across some undiscovered country. And the best part to me was the summit of Rocky Mountain looming above me to the south and revealing more and more of itself with each of the last several steps until, finally, I gained the actual summit of "Revelation Peak" and beheld the unobstructed view of what I consider to be the king and titan of Bob Marshall Country since it is the highest peak and just such a beautiful mountain in such a wild setting. Your jaw may drop as you level out and see this mountain in its full splendor.
Summit and Rocky Mountain |
There are three good descent options. One is to return the way you came, but it's always more fun to take different routes, I think. The next option, then, is to descend south to Headquarters Creek Pass, from which you can take a trail for 3 miles back to the parking area. To preview this route, which is Class 2 and Class 3, walk south from the summit of Point 8789 until the ridge starts noticeably descending, and from there look far below to the pass and the trail crossing it.
Since I had camped below Our Lake, that second route was not an option, but that is how I would have gone had this been just a day trip. The way I went down involved descending talus slopes in a generally northeasterly direction until I was directly north of Our Lake in an area of mixed tundra-like meadows (tread carefully here) and rubble piles. Then I found weaknesses in the cliffs and slopes beyond this point (I kept the long, forested ridge descending to the southeast corner of the lake on my right) that allowed me to reach the lake again right next to a snowmelt-fed stream that filled my filter bottle with what seemed like unbelievably cold, sweet, and refreshing water after my windy but still warm and sunny afternoon up on the waterless ridges.Essential GearGood hiking boots, windbreaker and sunglasses, trekking poles (maybe-- I think they just get in the way as soon as things get tougher than Class 2).
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Bob Marshall Country
