Lincoln Peak
      




 
September 21, 2024
 
Mountain height:          2260 m
Total elevation gain:     1500 m (includes a short side trip to a lower summit)
Ascent time:                 3:55
Descent time:               2:40
Round-trip time:           8:25
 
Scrambling with Raff.
 
With a blanket of fresh snow inundating much of the northern Rockies, Raff drove south to join me in the Waterton area. Looking for a relatively short trip, Raff suggested we go even further south and try Lincoln Peak in Glacier National Park, Montana. Blake Passmore advertises the peak as one of the easiest ascents in the park, except for a relatively long approach.
 
We quickly and not surprisingly learned the approach was on a typical, totally awesome Glacier National Park trail. As promised, however, short it was not, boasting over 10 horizontal kilometres and 1000 vertical metres of distance. What did come as bit of a surprise, or maybe realization is a better word, is the 1265 m of elevation gain required to summit a mountain that only reaches of height of 2260 m.  In other words, your starting elevation for Lincoln and any other peaks from the Sperry Glacier trailhead is less than 1000 m above sea level – that’s lower than Calgary! Even more bizarre is the fact that to get to the trailhead we drove over Logan Pass, sitting at an elevation of 2025 m, only 235 m lower than Lincoln’s summit – nothing more gut-wrenching than losing 1000 metres of elevation in your vehicle before gaining it all back on foot!
 
Nevertheless, as stated, the trail is a great one and we were soon introduced to the magnificent environs around the Sperry Chalet. Edwards Mountain and Gunsight Mountain towering over the scene certainly boosted my motivation to make one of two of the peaks a priority on the “to-do” list. Continuing past the Chalets, we reached Lincoln Pass shortly after, where a terrific view of Mount Jackson awaited.      
 
Also, as promised, the ascent from the pass to the summit was almost criminally easy – a well-worn trail with less than 200 m of elevation gain made it so. In addition to views of the aforementioned mountains, the highlight of the Lincoln Peak vista featured two lakes: Lake Ellen Wilson and Lincoln Lake, separated by about 450 vertical metres of elevation. We were hoping the lakes to be different colours, as depicted in the guidebook, however, that photo must have been taken when Lake Ellen Wilson had a higher silt content. Still, the panorama was magnificent, even with Edwards and Gunsight blocking much of the view to the north.
 
 
After photographing the lakes from an inordinate number of viewpoints, I proceeded southwest to the next highpoint (but much lower than Lincoln) along the ridge. I still had some gas in the tank and was wondering if that summit would offer a better view of the lakes – it didn’t, but was a fun diversion, nonetheless. Returning to Lincoln, we retook many of the photos, now that the Sun was in a slightly more favourable position.
 
A long, but easy descent ended a most rewarding and enjoyable trip. Lincoln Peak will not be an isolated visit to this stunning area of the park.

First view of a very small section of 16 km long Lake McDonald



Typical terrain on the south side of Edwards Mountain



Terrific rock on Edwards



There's actually a big waterfall (Beaver Medicine Falls) in the center. Unfortunately, the trail never gets close to it.



Looks big from here, but this peak is just a minor outlier of Lincoln



The trail cuts through cool sections of slabby rock



And a few lichen-covered boulders



Sections of Gunsight Mountain (left) start asserting their presence



Edwards and Gunsight, but only minor parts. The summits are not visible and are significantly higher than what you can see here.



Same as above



Raff is loving this great trail



So am I (photo by Raff)



Just before the Sperry Chalet is reached, this scene appears. Didn't know it at the time, but the trail to the Sperry Glacier weaves its way up to the top.



Same as above



One of the Sperry Chalets (closed for the season) and Edwards




Random boulders on slabs



Add a human (photo by Raff)



A small tarn sits close to the Chalet



Past the Chalet, the trail continues on towards Lincoln Pass



Raff is still having a grand old time!



 There sits that peak we saw earlier from far below (photo by Raff)



Red argillite boulder field and Edwards



We actually toyed with the idea of  going over to the peak in the centre, but came to our senses once we saw how low it is



The ridge leading southwest from Lincoln Peak



Lake McDonald appears again



At Lincoln Pass. Massive Mount Jackson dominates.



The first part of the route up Lincoln Peak looks quite tame and it is



Edwards, Gunsight, and Jackson are now all visible



Lake Ellen Wilson is still mostly in shadow



Raff finds a good spot to check out the lake



He finds another!



And yet again!



Arrived! (photo by Raff)



The modest summit cairn doesn't reflect the magnificence of the view



Gunsight Mountain



Citadel Mountain (I think)



Summit view to the southwest



Includes the southwest, west, northwest, north, and northeast



North, northeast, and east



The first of infinite photos of Lake Ellen Wilson (upper) and Lincoln Lake



One with Raff



Another with Raff but his location is not so obvious



Lake Ellen Wilson



Lincoln Lake



Spot the Raffinator



Pretty darn obvious!



Not so obvious



No Raff



Raff finds another great spot



Descending a short distance to get a different view of the lakes



Same as above



Spot the other guy (photo by Raff)



Raff coming down the slope



Raff back up







Probably the best view we got of both lakes



Heading back to the summit (photo by Raff)



Same as above (photo by Raff)



Back near the summit and we are going for more lake photos



One step back and the Raffinator is deadinator!



Self-timed magic by Raff (photo by Raff)



Same as above (photo by Raff)



Heading over to the lower summit to the southwest



Dramatic dead tree



Edwards, Gunsight, and now Lincoln



Good view of the overall area, but now Lake Ellen Wilson is disappearing



The summit block had some interesting scrambling and required a little route-finding



At the summit and the view is not that much different



Add Lincoln Peak, subtract the lakes



Southwest view



South



Better light on Mount Jackson though



Meanwhile, at the summit Raff has found someone else to talk to. Unfortunately, he wasn't much of a conversationalist and kept pointing his E-11 Blaster Rifle at Raff (photo by Raff)



Autumn colours are starting to appear. No Blaster Rifles down here.



The best view of the lakes I got from the second summit



I can see Raff at the summit. He was wearing blue when I left but now he's all red - hopefully not the gruesome result of a close-range E-11 Blaster Rifle encounter



Cool rock



And again with Ellen Wilson



Couldn't resist...



...because resistance is futile (oops, wrong franchise - that's Star TREK!)



Back at the summit



Descending



Same as above (photo by Raff)



Back to those beautiful red argillite boulders (photo by Raff)



The tarn has some visitors



These ones



The goats were not at all concerned there was a human at the tarn



Last look at that peak we didn't ascend

The End

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