Date: 08/22/2011
Description: Mt. James
Region: Cut Bank area; SE corner of Glacier National Park
Companions: None
Distance: 17.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 4,175 ft
High Point: 9,375 ft
I have had the extreme good fortune to spend over a month in Kalispell, MT this summer for work. Every aspect of this project is amazing: it is extremely good experience for my career, it will give me enough hours to get a billability bonus, and Kalispell is only hours away from my favorite place on earth (so far): Glacier National Park. I flew into Kalispell a day early in late August to get a full day for hiking before starting work. I decided to start off big: it is a 2.5 hour drive from Kalispell to the Cut Bank access to Glacier. I was on the road at 5:00 am like a crazy person...
This allowed me to view the sunrise over the the Two Medicine Valley.
The tallest peak on the right is Rising Wolf Mountain, 9513'
SE to the Great Plains
Impala for the win!
The hike has a decently long approach to Triple Divide Pass; a little over 7 miles. It was cloudy and windy on the way up. Triple Divide Peak, near the pass, is an impressive landmark. It's the only peak in MT whose 3 drainages go to three different oceans: the Pacific, Hudson Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico. Very cool for a geonerd such as myself.
On the way up...
Medicine Grizzly Lake and Razoredge Mountain, 8569'. Grinnell Argillite is the red rock along the trail. It is about 1.6 billion years old......
Almost to the pass! Triple Divide Peak, 8020' is in the center of the shot.
The view NW from Triple Divide Pass, 7400'. Left to right: Norris Mountain (8882') and Split Mountain (8792').
The view from NW to N from Triple Divide Pass. Mt. James is on the right.
Up I go! The summit is still VERY far away...
The view West from ~8700' on Mt James. Sweet.
Almost there! The view SW from ~9000' on Mt James. The ridge in the middle of the shot is the continental divide.
Summit! 9375'. Multiple glaciers can be seen in the far distance.
It was extremely windy on the summit so I didn't stay long, I did add my name to the summit register, though. I only counted 5 or 6 other names dating back to 2005.
The view to the SW from the summit. Medicine Grizzly lake is in the bottom right corner of the shot. Morningstar Lake is in the center.
The view to the N from the summit, St Mary lake in the distance.
Almost aerial view of Morningstar Lake 3100' below.
Mt Jackson (10052') rises behind the Pumpelly Glacier.
The Pumpelly Glacier on Blackfoot Mountain (9597').
The ~2000' cliff of the NW face of Mt. James.
Back down just below Triple Divide Pass after an epic descent; the weather was much better down here. And there were marmots.
I see you in there....
Mt James on the trail back to Cut Bank. The summit isn't visible from this angle.
Classic GNP view.
Awesome outcrop of Grinnell Argillite.
View of Mt. James from about 2 miles from the Cut Bank trailhead.
Big day! I completed the hike in 7 hours 45 minutes. I was a little sluggish the next day....
Description: Mt. James
Region: Cut Bank area; SE corner of Glacier National Park
Companions: None
Distance: 17.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 4,175 ft
High Point: 9,375 ft
I have had the extreme good fortune to spend over a month in Kalispell, MT this summer for work. Every aspect of this project is amazing: it is extremely good experience for my career, it will give me enough hours to get a billability bonus, and Kalispell is only hours away from my favorite place on earth (so far): Glacier National Park. I flew into Kalispell a day early in late August to get a full day for hiking before starting work. I decided to start off big: it is a 2.5 hour drive from Kalispell to the Cut Bank access to Glacier. I was on the road at 5:00 am like a crazy person...
This allowed me to view the sunrise over the the Two Medicine Valley.
The tallest peak on the right is Rising Wolf Mountain, 9513'
SE to the Great Plains
Impala for the win!
The hike has a decently long approach to Triple Divide Pass; a little over 7 miles. It was cloudy and windy on the way up. Triple Divide Peak, near the pass, is an impressive landmark. It's the only peak in MT whose 3 drainages go to three different oceans: the Pacific, Hudson Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico. Very cool for a geonerd such as myself.
On the way up...
Medicine Grizzly Lake and Razoredge Mountain, 8569'. Grinnell Argillite is the red rock along the trail. It is about 1.6 billion years old......
Almost to the pass! Triple Divide Peak, 8020' is in the center of the shot.
The view NW from Triple Divide Pass, 7400'. Left to right: Norris Mountain (8882') and Split Mountain (8792').
The view from NW to N from Triple Divide Pass. Mt. James is on the right.
Up I go! The summit is still VERY far away...
The view West from ~8700' on Mt James. Sweet.
Almost there! The view SW from ~9000' on Mt James. The ridge in the middle of the shot is the continental divide.
Summit! 9375'. Multiple glaciers can be seen in the far distance.
It was extremely windy on the summit so I didn't stay long, I did add my name to the summit register, though. I only counted 5 or 6 other names dating back to 2005.
The view to the SW from the summit. Medicine Grizzly lake is in the bottom right corner of the shot. Morningstar Lake is in the center.
The view to the N from the summit, St Mary lake in the distance.
Almost aerial view of Morningstar Lake 3100' below.
Mt Jackson (10052') rises behind the Pumpelly Glacier.
The Pumpelly Glacier on Blackfoot Mountain (9597').
The ~2000' cliff of the NW face of Mt. James.
Back down just below Triple Divide Pass after an epic descent; the weather was much better down here. And there were marmots.
I see you in there....
Mt James on the trail back to Cut Bank. The summit isn't visible from this angle.
Classic GNP view.
Awesome outcrop of Grinnell Argillite.
View of Mt. James from about 2 miles from the Cut Bank trailhead.
Big day! I completed the hike in 7 hours 45 minutes. I was a little sluggish the next day....