Swiftcurrent Mountain

Mountain height:         2571 m
Total elevation gain:   1300 m
Roundtrip time:           11:30

My appetite/need for perfect (cloudless) weather is certainly getting a little out of hand these days. The weather was generally very good for this amazing trip, but I still found myself to be scowling and cursing at the sight of even the smallest cloud.

And when it really clouded over at one point of the day, I almost went ballistic! (slight exaggeration, but you get the point). I really need to get a grip!

I was saving this specific trip for a calm and completely cloudless day and although it was forecast to be as such, the early morning warning signs of instability were there. I conveniently chose to ignore them because I was so excited to be back in the breath-taking Many Glaciers area – one of my favourite places on Earth.

The first several kilometres of the trip were fairly mundane. Thankfully the magical form of Mount Wilbur and striking profile of Grinnell Mountain provided plenty of entertainment along the way.

Also, what you don’t realize as you are hiking up the valley is that you are passing several beautiful lakes – the soon-to-be Feature Presentation of the Swiftcurrrent Pass hike. Further up the valley Swiftcurrent Mountain became more prominent, looking surprisingly close – of course it wasn’t!

And then comes the headwall! Gaining elevation to Swiftcurrent Pass is yet another example of a goat/human/Glacier National Park miracle. The trail magically winds its way up the seemingly impossible headwall, venturing onto terrain that you thought you would never find yourself on. The trail is wide enough to eliminate any exposure concerns, however, there were sections where I did instinctively hug the wall, when the wind picked up, staying as far away as possible from the edge and a certain death fall.

As an added bonus, while marvelling at the amazing path the trail takes, views down the Swiftcurrent valley reveal a string of gorgeous lakes, Wilbur, Henkel, and Altyn on one side, Grinnell on the other, like sentinels guarding the precious water reservoirs. This was the view I came to see. I knew that the Sun would need to be in the west for maximum effect and so I wasn’t terribly concerned that it was only fantastic at this time of the day (stupendous was the adjective I was going for).

More wonderful hiking and excellent scenery preceded my arrival at Swiftcurrent Pass, where I was greeted with a wonderfully snowy, in-your-face view of Heaven’s Peak and Mount Vaught. Equally impressive views of the Logan Pass area revealed themselves upon starting up the prominent trail to the summit (and the lookout perched atop the mountain). The summit panorama was exceptional. Although a small mountain in comparison to its neighbours, Swiftcurrent does offer unobstructed views in every direction.

However the cloud cover was not exceptional and as such I decided an extended summit stay was in order. Maybe things would clear up later in the afternoon.

The summit was a busy place. As well as the very friendly and knowledge person, manning the lookout, several other summiteers joined in a lively conversation about ascent routes up various mountains in the park. This was the first time I had actually shared a summit with other people in Glacier National Park.

One and a half hours after arriving at the top, I gave up hope that the weather would clear and started down. However, the day was still relatively young, no body parts were screaming bloody murder (yet!) and there was an interesting ridge to explore, extending north from Swiftcurrent.

This little side trip yielded some of the most interesting scenery of the day and was a blast.

The ridge was a testament to geological upheaval and glacial erosion, as huge boulders and cool pinnacles balanced precariously on the edge, looking ready to tumble down onto the small glacier below. Route-finding through a maze of splintered rock with gaping holes between them was fascinating and fun.

Although my original intentions were limited to an hour of exploration then a return to Swiftcurrent Mountain, a highpoint on the ridge was suddenly within striking distance. It was easily attained and sported stellar views of nearby Iceberg Peak and Wilbur. Yet again, persistent cloud cover continued to mar the views, thereby annoying the heck out of me (spoiled brat!)

At 4:20 pm I started the very, very, very, very long trek back to the parking lot. Not wanting to side-slope back to Swiftcurrent Mountain I choose to descend to the Ahern Pass Trail and follow it back to Swiftcurrent Pass. As hinted, while terrifically scenic, this route was also terrifically long. I was wiped-out by the time I reached the pass and still had 11 km of hiking to go and a huge amount of elevation to lose. There was more than one body part screaming bloody murder now!

The remainder of the trip was uneventful. I spent most of it wondering why I didn’t live in a time when science had given us Star Trek transporter technology.