saddle peak - 9,162' - Class 2
april 2015
Another nice spring day in Bozeman prompted me to get outside and explore more of the Bridger Range so I drove up to the Middle Cottonwood Trailhead, and among many other hikers I started up the trail. We had just been dumped on the week before where over a foot of snow fell in town so I figured I would have some snow to contend with and I was most certainly correct. After a couple miles, right when the trail started climbing above the creek I started hitting snow patches and when I reached the head of the valley it became continuous. I gave up staying on the trail and started punching my way straight up the slope sinking in to my knees at times. When I hit the south facing gully heading towards the west ridge of Saddle Peak, I crossed it and climbed up to an exposed ridge just to the right of the gully. This allowed me to scramble up dry rock for a while until I reached the west ridge which was then completely covered in snow.
I continued up the ridge following some deer or elk tracks in an effort to avoid post-holing past my waist and while it worked for a while, the efforts proved futile as I got closer to the summit ridge. I decided to forgo the false summit and traverse left aiming directly for the small saddle between the false and true summits. Once I reached the ridge it was a short walk to the top and the large summit cairn. Views to the north of Ross Peak were the best around but seeing the airport and Belgrade well below was cool as well.
I was the only one up here and there were no signs of anyone else who had made it all the way up since the storm the week before. For the descent I opted to traverse the ridge all the way back to the gully and descend that way so I could plunge step down. A huge cornice guarded the saddle atop the gully I had to navigate around but once in the gully it was a quick descent down back to the trail. A couple times I heard the snow move under my feet though which was a bit scary. Wet slides were falling all the basin particularly on Baldy. By this point my feet were soaked and I sloshed my way down the trail back to the car.
I continued up the ridge following some deer or elk tracks in an effort to avoid post-holing past my waist and while it worked for a while, the efforts proved futile as I got closer to the summit ridge. I decided to forgo the false summit and traverse left aiming directly for the small saddle between the false and true summits. Once I reached the ridge it was a short walk to the top and the large summit cairn. Views to the north of Ross Peak were the best around but seeing the airport and Belgrade well below was cool as well.
I was the only one up here and there were no signs of anyone else who had made it all the way up since the storm the week before. For the descent I opted to traverse the ridge all the way back to the gully and descend that way so I could plunge step down. A huge cornice guarded the saddle atop the gully I had to navigate around but once in the gully it was a quick descent down back to the trail. A couple times I heard the snow move under my feet though which was a bit scary. Wet slides were falling all the basin particularly on Baldy. By this point my feet were soaked and I sloshed my way down the trail back to the car.
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