What does your massage therapist do in her free time? The past two weekends my partner and two of our friends have been taking advantage of our late warm weather by climbing a couple peaks. Just this morning we returned from a successful summit of Granite Peak, the highest peak in Montana and one of the most difficult of all the state high points to climb.
Our two days on the Froze-to-Death Plateau were, well...freezing. Double down jackets kept me warm, and in rare non-windy moments in the sun I peeled down to just one. Our water froze, even in the daytime. The cold temps and intense wind increased the challenges our bodies already felt from exertion at high altitude so we moved slower than we might have in fairer conditions.
A late September summit also meant shorter days, so after a pre-dawn start and then working hard to get to the peak and back down to the plateau in the afternoon, we still had to hike out about 10 miles mainly in the dark. While routefinding on the open alpine plateau in the moonlit evening was splendid, walking became difficult on the dark rocky trail that descends into the trees below. However, our challenge grew and our pace slowed because the four of us had only three headlamps between us. I won't admit who lost
her headlamp when taking off one of two hats in a moment of warmth just before sunset...
By the time we got down to Mystic Lake, some of our group lost steam (though not the same person in the group who lost her headlamp) and we bivied for a quick night of sleep. It was a treat to spend this morning hiking out through a corridor of turning aspens along West Rosebud Creek.
The Beartooth Mountains were gorgeous as always, and it was especially fun to be on a mountain I had wanted to climb since I first lived in Montana 9 years ago.
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