Western Hiking: Saint Mary Peak Fire Tower

Date: 6-11-15
Miles: 7.0
Elevation Gain: 2,500 ft

The first mountain I ever climbed was Trapper Peak in the Bitterroot Mountains. It was 2008 and I had done quite a bit of hiking, but that trip hooked me on doing summits. The emptiness of this area of Montana and Idaho is unmatched in the Lower 48. The 3 largest wilderness areas are all located within a short drive of the Bitterroot Valley which makes it a great place to jump start all kinds of adventures.

Anne and I rented a cabin near Stevensville, MT with a view of St. Mary Peak. It's the 19th highest peak in the Bitterroots and I wanted to give it a try. Of the 45 or so peaks over 9,000 ft in the range, St. Mary Peak is probably the easiest to access. There is a good forest service road that takes you up to 6,800 ft in the summer. The trail starts out through a beautiful mixed conifer forest.

After a couple miles and quite a few switch backs I hit the Wilderness boundary and the vegetation started to open up.The trail is awesome the entire way, it never gets particularly steep or eroded.

The views started to really open up and there was significant snowpack around 8,500 ft. The spine of the Bitterroots came into view and the wind really picked up.

I left the trail since I didn't have traction to deal with the snow and bushwacked up towards the ridge. The fire tower came into view for the first time. It isn't manned this time of year, but it is still periodically used by Forest Service personnel.

On the ridge I was glad to have my windproof jacket and fleece hat. Even in June it was extremely cold and windy. This is the highest range for hundreds of miles to the West and it is very exposed.

At the top! Despite having a stone foundation, the fire tower is chained to the ground to prevent it from being blown off the ridge. My favorite hat was almost blown off the ridge, but a mad dash across the tundra saved it.

St. Mary Peak fire tower

One of the best things about the Bitterroot Mountains is that there is no way to access the high peaks without hiking or riding horses for a significant distance. The whole ridge is in a Wilderness area so there are no roads up here. There are glimpses of the peaks from the valley below, but it's impossible to appreciate the vast scale of the range without hiking up into the high country.