Sunday funday found me by myself in my favorite MT mountain range, the Tobacco Roots. Ward Peak really stands out from the rest of the range and oversee's my rock climbing area so its been on my radar for a long time. This, my second attempt, was much more successful than the first. I got to Kid lake and was surrounded by beautiful ski lines making it a little harder to be peak bagging rather than just backcountry skiing. I picked out the best line coming off Ward and started booting up. I didnt hike up the gully, nor did I post hole. That would insinuate a shallow snow pack that you could stay on top of, maybe even have a little purchase. Nope. I carved a switch-backing ditch all the way up that thing. Waist to nipple deep powder will wear you out! I usually do most of my backcountry skiing in the spring when Im chasing corn snow so shredding powder in the winter in a place like that was a dream come true. It was a real test of perseverance both mentally and physically. Being by yourself, its easy to 'be done' or to come up with excuses for turning around. But I realized this might be a unique opportunity for winter backcountry due to the weird weather in SW MT this year and kept on keeping on. The 6 mile approach with 3,700' of climbing got a little tiresome too but my legs somehow kept moving. The descent was all laughs and smiles. My IPAs that were waiting for me at the lake didnt freeze either which was a cherry on top of an excellent day. From the summit to the car there was not even a hint of wind, only a bright blue sky with an abundance of soul-warming sunshine.
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| IPA, Salami, Cheese, Crackers; fuel for outdoor enthusiasts since, well , a long time now. Thats the N-NW face of Ward Peak. The first gully going from left to right (right half of photo) was my ascent/descent. |
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| Not a bad place to hang out by yourself. Great opportunity to get some thinking done. |
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| This is the summit. Looking E at the Bridgers. |
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| Thats Ennis Lake. |
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| The 'hill' in the center is called Kid Mountain. Notorious snow machine country. I was hoping to either catch a ride up or back but ended up being a human powered mountaineer. |
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| Did I mention bluebird skies?! |
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| Looking down at Kid lake. Some old snow machine tracks are visible. |
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| The gullies go from right-to-left trending to left-to-right trending. The first one going left-to-right was my line. |
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| Party in the front, on the sides and in the rear. Cant fake that! |
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| Sun over Ward Peak from the road out. |
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