Medicine Grizzly Peak
August 28, 2023
Mountain height: 2534 m
Elevation gain:
approximately 1219 m
Round-trip time: 10:10
Solo scramble.
A severely
overdue return to one of my favourite places on Earth, Glacier National Park,
Montana, and also a great opportunity to feed my red argillite addiction!
I had been
salivating over the photos of this peak in Blake Passmore’s awesome guidebook Climb
Glacier National Park, Volume 5 for several years. Unfortunately, a pandemic,
restrictions across the border, and restrictions in the park kept getting in
the way of an attempt, until August 28, 2023. And how wonderful it was to find
myself at a Glacier National Park trailhead once again!
The trip started
with about 10 km of easy hiking on two of the park’s innumerable excellent
trails. After that, a short but fierce bushwhack preceded what would quickly become a tour
de force of jaw-dropping scenery. From beyond the bushwhack, the crux of the
trip was trying to get to the summit without being distracted and diverted by a
million things worthy of distraction and diversion!
Of course there
was the red argillite scenery – massive boulders strewn across the landscape and vibrant layers on full display;
then came the unnamed lake – a tranquil turquoise oasis; next was an unplanned visit
to a small glacier above the lake – not a huge glacier but one that I didn’t
expect to see up-close; next, the actual ascent – a fun scramble on classic fun
GNP terrain; and finally the summit view – a little hazy in the distance, but otherwise
spectacular in every direction, filled with striking (and many familiar) peaks.
After a long
and immensely gratifying summit stay, I took a slightly different route down
the mountain and circled the unnamed lake. Views of the colourful body of water
were remarkable. And to avoid the nastiest part of the bushwhack, a traversing
route towards Morning Star Lake seemed like a good idea and it was – the last
unplanned diversion of the day. All that remained after that was a 10.6 km hike
back to start. While it was a bit foot-numbing, the high I was riding from the
day’s events helped get me through the long and sometimes mundane walk.
Couldn’t
have
asked for a more rewarding and awe-inspiring return to the gem of the
United States,
Glacier National Park! This peak convincingly moves into my Top 10
favourite scrambles of all-time. A huge thank you to Mr. Passmore for
bringing it to my attention and for his excellent route description.
Early morning light on Bad Marriage Mountain
First look at Medicine Grizzly Peak
The pyramidal shape of Flinsch Peak is eye-catching
Small double waterfall is a pleasant distraction en route
Medicine Grizzly gets its first rays of Sun
The striking east side of the objective is too steep to scramble
It's also insanely colourful
Getting below that buttress is the key to the route up into the basin below the peak
Looking up the route to the buttress. There's a short but nasty section of bushwhacking to get through first.
Above the bushwhack is nothing but amazing scenery
Great rock
....and twisted dead tress: staples of Northern Montana/Southern Alberta
First significant red argillite sighting
Orange berries. A good reminder to makes lots of noise!
Close-up
Red berries. Nice that the bears get a choice!
The striking buttress demands lots of photo attention
As does the scenery in front
Finally near the base
Medicine Grizzly Peak, looking far more friendly from its south side
A red rock, Flinsch Peak, and Mount Morgan
Close-up of Flinsch
Some of the brightest argillite I've ever seen
Approaching the crux that goes up and alongside the rock wall at the left
Passmore describes the scene: "The basin itself is a magical place with
massive blocks of argillite. Some of the blocks stand 20 feet in the
air"
Mountain goats. I watched them go up the mountain on terrain that would put the fear of God into Alex Honnold!
A small sample of the argillite boulders in the basin
A big example!
At the beautiful unnamed lake. The actual Medicine Grizzly Lake sits on the north side of the peak.
Same as above
What's left of the glacier in the basin. On some maps its depicted as being much bigger.
Across the lake (and the valley) sit Bad Marriage Mountain, Eagle Plume Mountain, and Red Mountain
The north end of the lake
Following a glacial meltwater stream to get to the glacier
As a bonus, it's running down red argillite!
Same as above
Sweet layers of rock
Back to the stream
Back to the rock
The ascent route is at the right, but I'm going left
Resistance is futile!!
Another spot of brilliantly coloured rock
Almost at the glacier
A glacial cave
Looking into it
Looking out from just inside
The cool roof of the cave
Looking out after venturing a little deeper into the cave
Interesting ice
Same as above
Another cave at the other end
Saying goodbye to the glacier
Farewell - you will be missed
Time to ascend Medicine Grizzly Peak
The impressively steep walls south of the peak
Looking back to the lake and Red Mountain
More steep walls
The very impressive peak southwest of Medicine Grizzly (part of the
same ridge) is higher than Medicine Grizzly but unnamed. Obviously
there is no scramble route between the two.
The upper section of the ascent features amazing rock and fun scrambling
Like this
Yellow lichen on red rock - still my favourite!
There was an easy scramble route up through this fantastic section of rock
A little route-finding required here, but an easy route was found
Another section of super red rock
Hitting the ridge to see this colourful view
The view over to the unnamed peak was likewise killer!
All of the above
Reminiscing about a super fun and interesting day on Mount James (left), Amphitheater Mountain (right)....
...and Little Amp (right)
Nothing but vertical walls on the north side of Medicine
Looking down to the approach valley
Minutes away from the summit and Mount Stimson (left) and Razoredge Mountain make their appearance
Summit views: Razoredge (left), with Blackfoot and Logan in the distance
Blackfoot and Logan are also showing less glaciation than what's shown on maps
Norris Mountain and Triple Divide Peak (blended into Norris). Another very memorable day in GNP.
Mount James
Medicine Grizzly Lake at the top and an unnamed lake at the bottom
The first of many summit panoramas
The lake in the basin
The view to the northwest was probably the highlight, courtesy of the lakes and colourful peaks
Some burgundy argillite near the summit didn't hurt the view
Same as above
Mount Stimson - one of six peaks in the peak, over 10,000 feet
Nice to get all three lakes in the pano
More colourful rock on descent
The lake below was stunning throughout the decent, providing plenty of motivation to keep it in view as much as possible
Couldn't help myself at this point and just took a ton of photos of this beaut. My self control has not improved with age!
Easy to see why the lake is such a light turquoise colour - the stream emptying into the lake is full of silt
The lake and Eagle Plume Mountain
Not sure that I'd ever wear these colours as a clothing combination, but they sure look good in the mountains!
Couldn't pass up on circling the lake here - the colours and views were breath-taking
One of two small tarns near the lake
Close-up
The other tarn
Looking back
The tarn and the lake are separated by a thin strip of land
Same as above
No tarn
Back over the argillite boulders
Last look at the lake with Medicine Grizzly
More boulders
Looking down the crux. There was a stream running down it, making for very slippery conditions.
Relieved to be past the crux
And still obsessed with the red rock
Morning Star Lake. Traversing towards it helped to avoid the bushwhacking encountered on ascent.
Traversing
Morning Star Lake
Same as above
Heading home. Parts of Mount James, Little Amp Peak, and Kupunkamint Mountain provided good views.
Different perspective of the double waterfall
A shallow tarn and part of Bad Marriage
More of Bad Marriage
Almost back to the parking lot, where sit peaks of the Mad Wolf Grand Circuit. Mad Wolf Mountain at the left brings back some interesting memories!
The End
LOG
