1985, 6-21, Three Trips in the Pintlers, and One in the Tobacco Roots

In 1984-85 I worked for Pegasus Gold as a geologist in mineral exploration in Butte, Montana. In 1984 I worked on the German Gulch (aka Beal) property where we had a substantial drilling project, and I had very little time off. In 1985 I worked on the Revenue and Green Campbell projects, both were much earlier stage, and I had time to take some fun trips. My hiking records from this era are a little sparse, but the one area that really stood out to me was the 158,656-acre Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness just to the west of Butte. It is a huge wild area with a large alpine zone, enticing peaks, and few visitors. The range didn’t get a lot of publicity, but I guess it is easy to get overlooked in a state that has Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness on one end and Yellowstone National Park and the Beartooth-Absoraka Wilderness on the other.

1984, 8-12, Warren Peak, Anaconda Pintler Wilderness

My first trip into the Pintlers was to the range’s most interesting summit, Warren Peak in the center of the range. I did a 11 mile day hike with Rob, one of our summer geologists. We drove in off Highway 38 and FS Road 5141 to Carpp Lake Trailhead. We would hike a counterclockwise loop. We started on Trail 110 which immediately entered  the wilderness from the TH. We lost the trail briefly at Mosquito Meadows (It is probably always a mistake to take a trail through a place named Mosquito Meadows). At Carpp Lake we turned onto Trail 111 and reached Upper Carpp Lake in 2 hours. 

We then continued on Trail 111 up to Warren Pass where we started slabbing east to a low saddle. At the saddle, we cut southwest up a gully and then up the northeast ridge to reach a snowfield just below the summit. We reached the 10,463’ summit in 4 hours. The climbing was steep and exhilarating. Rob had climbed a bunch of the 14ers in Colorado, and even this was not tame to him. There was a summit register listing only 10 other previous climbers that year. We would see no other hikers on the trip.

We decided to descend via the east ridge. We spent about 90 minutes on the ridge, another 30 minutes to the bottom of the talus slope, and 30 more to a small unnamed lake at the head of Maloney Basin, where we took a quick swim. From the lake it was 1:45 back to the trailhead via trails 111 and 24.  We had light showers by 3PM. This was a wonderful trip that gave me the taste of the mountains I’d craved. Unfortunately, it would be another year before I would be able to return to the Pintlers.

Warren Peak from the north.

Warren Peak from the Goat Peaks.

6-21-85, Goat Peaks Backpack, Anaconda Pintler Wilderness

I did this trip with Dan and Don, two of my racketball playing buddies from Butte. To start the trip, we drove through the town of Anaconda and reached the start of Trail 129 in 90 minutes. As a measure of how crowded the area was, we saw no other cars at the three other trailheads we passed on the way. We hiked in only 20 minutes (`1 mile?) to a large meadow just off the Middle Fork of Fishtrap, I think we were just trying to shorten the trip by getting a bit of a start on Friday after work. The mosquito population was pretty dense, but luckily, they did a lot more buzzing than biting.

The next day we hiked to end of Trail 129, where it becomes Trail 128 on a saddle in the ridge between the east and middle forks. Trail 129 was recently blazed, but the footpath was not at all worn. I think here we found an old paper copy of the wilderness map. Lower down was an old diversion canal that provide a totally unexpected source of water. We also passed a nice campsite in the upper reaches of the middle fork.

At the saddle we must have dropped our packs and began to climb the ridge to the cirque that holds Lost Lakes. The last section to the cirque was a steep snowfield. We ate lunch at the upper lake. From the upper lake we scrambled up to the east ridge of West Goat Peak at 10,793’, the highest point in the range. It was a one hour climb on a warm calm day with no use of hands. The summit register showed several entries in 1981, none in 82, two in 83, and none for 84 or 85. I could not believe so few people climbed the peak. We would see no other hikers the rest of the trip.

Next we took a half hour to traverse over to East Goat Peak 10,399’. We had a nice snowslide on the descent off West Goat. East Goat is a far less impressive peak, but there looked to be a nice route on the ridge leading south to Nipple Peak. Our descent down the northeast ridge of East Goat was a definite mistake. The ridge proved to be covered with loose talus, about the roughest footing around. We did see one mountain goat on the descent, to add to the elk and wild turkey we’d seen earlier. We went back down to the snowfield at the outlet of the lakes and found a great campsite in an open area. I hiked all day in my lightweight wool army surplus pants, they worked well, but I wished I had remembered to bring shorts.

Dan and Don on West Goat Peak.

Lost Lakes, ~11 miles, West and East Goat Peaks

On the 22nd we got a late start but eventually hiked down to Trail 128 about at a junction with a small creek draining down from Needle Peak. This trail was also in good shape, at least until we lost it a crossing with another old diversion ditch. However, near the ditch we spotted the largest (>20) herd of elk I’d ever seen. It took 3.5 hours of hiking along the East Fork of Fishtrap to reach FS Road 1203. I ended up walking the 3.4 miles back to our truck at the Middle Fork Trailhead for a ten mile day, and then driving back to pick up Don and Dan. This combination of spectacular mountain scenery, wildlife sightings, untrammeled trail, and high peaks was what I’d come to Montana hoping to experience. 

8-24-1985, Mt Haggin Backpack, Anaconda Pintler Range

My final trip to the Pintlers was another backpacking trip, this time with my friend Don. Our target was Mt Haggin, which is outside the Wilderness Area, but is one of the range’s most prominent peaks.  Mt Haggin looms over the town of Anaconda, so access is relatively easy. I left my car at the parking lot for the Church of Jesus Christ in Anaconda, and we drove Don’s truck up Fifer Gulch and then into Ice House Gulch. The road was rough, but we got the truck further up than we had anticipated. At the time there were no road signs at all. We went just past the crossing of the road and Ice House Gulch, and left the truck in a small turnaround.

Putting on our backpacks we started hiking up the remains of the road. We bore left at two forks. Near a small dam the road petered out to become a trail. After 90 minutes we reached Hearst Lake, apparently an old reservoir and pump station probably for the now closed smelter in Anaconda. The dam for the lake was about 10’ high and made from stone and concrete. 

Hearst Lake pump station.

From Hearst Lake we took a one side hike up and over a small ridge to Haggin Lake. The walk was tougher than we expected, coarse talus on the west side of the divide led to a rough bushwhack before we reached the lake. We met two fisherman who told us they had come in via Garrity and had gotten in most of the way via dirt bikes. Haggin was shallow and surrounded by bogs. One of the fishermen told us that there were lots of trails to Mt Haggin, especially along the ridge that divided the two lakes. We went back to Hearst Lake and camped near the northeast corner of the lake.

Hearst Lake from the ridge to the west.

After a warm night with strong winds our plan was to ascend via the east wall of the cirque above Hearst Lake. We took a poor route with much loose rock, some of which we inadvertently set rolling down. The head of the wall was really steep and we both agreed this was not a route to repeat. We hit the ridge in a gentle col between peaks 9321’ and 10304’ where the route improved greatly. It was wonderful walking along the open ridge with expansive views. There was an abandoned power relay station on the crest near 10,304’. We took about an hour to reach the east-most peak on the crest then another 45 minutes to get to the summit of Haggin. The summit features a huge stone cairn and a register noting 50 climbers already that year, and nine others were already on top. So, this is where everyone goes in the Pintlers!

Hearst Lake from Mt Haggin.

For some reason we did not descend the ridge between Haggin and Hearst lakes but dropped into a small basin on the west side of Hearst Lake. It took only 40 minutes to drop to an old fire warden’s cabin and another 30 to get back to our campsite. For part of the way we followed and old “signal wire” (telephone line?). I was a little tired from the descent but at least my knees were only a bit sore. From the campsite it was only another hour back down to the truck and a 30 minute drive back to my car at the church in Anaconda. 

Southeast Ridge of Mt Haggin.

On the summit of Mt Haggin.

9-1-85, Hollowtop and Jefferson, Tobacco Root Range

The last backpacking trip I did while living in Butte was a solo hike in the Tobacco Roots. I had spent most of the summer looking at the range from below while working at a couple of mining prospects, including one at Revenue Flats. I left Butte and drove an hour to the trailhead (North Willow Creek?) 1.4 miles west of the small town of Pony. There were already 4 cars in the lot. My notes for the route to Hollowtop Lake are fairly detailed, usually a sign that the route is complicated, and that I wanted to have good notes for my return trip. The route in was likely the North Willow Creek Trail (#301). I noted 15 minutes to a creek crossing, and 45 minutes to reach a signed trail junction where the steadily climbing old road finally converted to trail. I did see some bike tracks beyond this point. After a break it was 30 minutes to another junction with a trail leading southwest (the Potosi Peak Trail 3365 leading to the Albro Lake Trail #333?). In another hour I reached the Hollowtop Lake Trail where the navigating became much easier. I saw one party of three, and an elk, just below Hollowtop Lake. However, I did miss a spur to Deep Lake when I tried to visit it. 

Hollowtop Lake.

I arrived at the lakes at 1PM and was tempted to try the climb that day, but decided to wait out some rain in my tent at Hollowtop Lake. After the rain cleared, I realized I was only a quarter mile from Skytop Lake, so I broke camp to move to a better spot at Skytop. 

Head of the cirque above Hollowtop and Jefferson.

The next day it took only 50 minutes to gain the ridge south of Hollowtop Mountain, and another 15 minutes to reach the peak. The summit was covered with some boards, flagging and wire. I got a brief glimpse of the views before the fog rolled in. From Hollowtop it was a 15 minute hike north to the summit of Jefferson, the highest point in the range. There was a USFS register on the peak that had already been signed by `100 people so far that year. The descent back to Skytop Lake took 45 minutes. I still had trouble navigating on the descent, this time going past Deep Lake. The rest of the hike out took about two hours, I passed 7 people on the way out including three on horses. The woods on the east side of the range seemed fairly open from what I could see on the trail, and it looked like the range would have some good opportunities for short bushwhack trips. 

Jefferson from Hollowtop.