Page Type:
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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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48.61830°N / 113.4218°W |
Route Type:
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Mountaineering |
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Time Required:
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Most of a day |
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Rock Difficulty:
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Class 3 |
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Overview
This is a great traverse with views into Glacier and out on the the prairie. Bushwhackinig is moderate and only an issue at the end of the trip.Getting There
I would only reccommend the route from north to south. Ideally you would have two vehicles. Park a vehicle at the border sign for Glacier National Park going into the Cutbank Drainage. Drive the other to the start as described below. A high clearance vehicle is a big plus. Driving from Browning or East Glacier toward st. Mary on Hwy 89 you reach a ridge overlooking the St. Mary drainage. There is a billboard there and a gravel road that splits to the west. The road winds for around 4 miles to an installation of repeaters and towers. If you want to start the route by climbing Divide there is a clear road on your right, maybe a mile before the towers. If you want to start by ascending White Calf, pull off the road in the very flat meadow just before the towers.Route Description
If you want to climb divide as part of the route park at the Divide mountain trailhead. The trail leads up to an old lookout well below the summit, but the route to the summit is pretty obvious and without hazard. From the top of Divide Mtn. it appear that there is a scree and talus slope falling off to the south west toward the saddle between Divide and White Calf. I did not descend this slope but it looked to be without obstacles. From the bottom of this slope continue south and a bit east to the above mentioned saddle where the two approaches join. If you want to skip Divide and start by ascending White Calf walk fairly easy terrain from your car to the saddle.
Once at the saddle traverse around the first prominent hump on the rige to the south. You will be heading to a prominent scree slope with a distinct game trail angling across it. You will need to get to very near the saddle between the "prominent hump" and White Calf to get to this game trail. the trail goes up to a small snow field which I passed below and then went up the ridge on its right side. Continue up the annoying talus and scree toward a clear break in the cliffs as you go south. More slogging on through the chute that forms the break and then on to the ridge. From here it is a simple ridge walk to the top of White Calf.
Beyond White Calf the ridge is pretty straightforward. The first steep knob is ascended via loose rock chutes on its north side. I traversed around the second knob on obvioius goat/climber trails on the west side. Finally you reach gentle slops leading you to the top of Kupunkamint.
I descende via the scree basin north and east of Kupunkamint going slighly north down to the meadows that meet treeline. I bushwhacked from here to the south through pretty easy trees that got worse as you got closer to the road. I would reccommend going from the meadows on a south easterly course so that you intersect the border fence between the Blackfeet Nation and the Park. There is a rough trail on the east side of the fence that leads to the road.