A last minute 4th of July trip found Sam, Eric, Manfred and myself backpacking in to the southern Madisons for some camping, fishing and peak bagging (amongst other things). I have wanted to climb Hilgard for a while now and I finally got it. With that summit, I can now claim Bozeman's 5 summits. But I have more than that: Bridgers-Sacajawea, Big Belts-Edith, Tobacco Roots-Hollow Top, Pioneers-Tweedy, Madisons-Hilgard, Gallatins-Electric, Absaroka-Cowen, Beartooths-Granite (x3) and Cascades-Rainier. 5 miles of easy hiking got us to Avalanche lake, a perfect base camp for the peak (even though we couldnt see it). Friday evening we got to listen to/experience thunderheads sound off for ATLEAST one hour with no wind and sporadic rain. The whole cirque just shook when the thunder boomed. I have been in loads of mountain storms and never really experienced a thunder lightning-less storm of that magnitude. Go figure, it wasnt on the forecast. Sam and I had a casual morning before we took off for the summit Saturday morning. Eric and Manfred stayed back at camp and caught dinner, did some widdling, built a sweet fireplace-oven-thing and sun bathed. Sam and I crested the ridge separating Avalanche lake basin from Lake Eglise basin and were not really sure which summit was Hilgard. There are 3 peaks up there with multiple summits. Even though the other two seemed like better mountaineering objectives (harder) Hilgard is clearly taller so we went that direction. Easy snow walking put us on the standard route East ridge quickly and easily. Looking up at the ridge was fairly daunting. Its a pile of rocks with exposure. We just meandered our way up and with some class 5 moves we summited with no hardships. I was kinda bummed that the summit register was gone but oh well. We took some selfies and were back at Avalanche lake within 2(?) hours. We saw one Billy goat the whole trip. Back at camp, we feasted on fresh cutthroat cooked on a hot stone with no seasoning; just the way mountain trout was meant to be eaten. They have all the flavor you need.
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| A McAlpine start. |
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| Avalanche Lake |
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| Wicked storm rolling in. |
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| Das es Hilgard |
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| Summit proper is on the right. |
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| The Madison valley from the summit. |
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| The famous slabby finish is that unbroken chunk of rock over Sam's right shoulder. Or you can walk underneath to keep things class 4. |
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| Looking across the basin to the south. Avalanche lake is on the other side of the far ridge. We booted up the snow to the low spot in the ridge. |
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| Hey nice hat! |
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| Hilgard is a massive pile of rocks. There really isnt any unbroken slabs besides the one on top close to the summit. |
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| It doesnt really look like it, but Sam is in a very high consequence fall zone. |
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| Looking up the East ridge. Summit is hidden. |
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| The fastest and funnest way to descend a couple hundred feet; rain coat glissading! |
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| Hilgard in the background post summit. |
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| Looking down at Avalanche lake. Notice all the trees? Now look at the previous photo. One of the most striking changes in flora I have ever noticed. One side of the ridge is forest, the other is all Alpine. Hmm. |
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| Manfred gurading the fish. |
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| Dont worry dad, I see em. They aint going anywhere. |
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| Da camp. |
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| Cutthroat, backcountry style. |
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| Eric put some time in making this awesome chef-friendly fire ring. |
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| Biscuits with your clam chowder anyone? |
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