July 19, 2016

By Tim Briese

1.7 miles, 600’ elevation gain, 1:15 roundtrip time

Brian and I had plans for a bigger adventure today, but after finishing our backpack late yesterday and arriving at our hotel very late last night an easy outing today seemed like a good idea. Brian is always well prepared with lists of possible alternate peaks to climb to accommodate any issues that may arise like poor weather or over-scheduling.

After enjoying a wonderful breakfast at our hotel in Central City we drove north of town a few miles into Elk Park and parked at a large pull-off on the right side of the road.

a view of montana mountain as we approached on the elk park road

At about 1040 we walked back down the road 200 yards or so and turned right on a rougher narrow road. We soon came to a no trespassing sign along the road and simply veered off into the woods to the right and bushwhacked southwest about a half mile up to the summit, where we arrived at 1120. The broad summit offered some surprisingly nice views because the woods were not too dense.

brian on the summit

the view to the north

After a few minutes we left and bushwhacked in a northerly direction directly back down to the road near where we had parked. After exchanging goodbyes I headed for home.