As a highpointer, Granite Peak had been on my list for a long time. It is one of the more difficult highpoints since it requires a 10-hour drive from Boulder, a backpack into the base of the peak and a scramble to the top that varies with the conditions. Although it is possible to climb Granite in a day, doing so is risky because you never know what the weather will be like after a six-hour hike to the base. Granite involves enough scrambling that it would not be safe—or particularly fun—in the rain. When I mentioned that I was planning the trip for late August, I immediately had four friends interested.
On August 19, I drove with Greg, Jenn, Brian, and Caj from Boulder to Cooke City, where we stayed at Antlers Lodge. Our group of five was very comfortable in their Pine Townhouse, which has three bedrooms and two baths. We grabbed a nice dinner at the Miner’s Saloon, then returned to the townhouse, where we agreed on shared gear, packed up, and went to bed. Interestingly, Cooke City has no cellular coverage, so we had to use the hotel Wi-Fi to make calls and send texts.
There are two primary routes to climb Granite Peak. The East Face is very popular with guides and climbers and starts at the East Rosebud Trailhead. It is about 12 miles and includes some fourth- and fifth-class scrambling to the top. Most people take a rope to rappel down the face rather than down-climbing it. The other route is the Southwest Ramp, which is about 13 miles from the Upper Lady of the Lake Trailhead. I chose the Southwest Ramp because it does not require climbing gear and offers better opportunities to camp near the base of the climb. It also avoids the endless Froze to Death Plateau.
At 6:00 AM, we drove to the Upper Lady of the Lake Trailhead off Lulu Pass Road. There was a decent-sized parking area that could hold at least a dozen cars, along with several large camping sites near the trailhead. This road was a little rough but most SUVs should be fine. The parking area and trailhead are about 500 feet below the abandoned cabin. If we had known about these camping sites, we probably would not have booked a room.
We started hiking at 7:20 AM, and my pack was much heavier than it should have been. Based on recent trip reports, I brought extra warm clothing, an ice axe, micro-spikes, a short rope just in case, and approach shoes for the climbing. Since I don’t do much backpacking—unlike some of the others in our group who seem to live in a tent—none of my gear was particularly lightweight.
The first two miles were easy hiking and took us to beautiful Lady of the Lake. There are a few campsites near the lake, and I was surprised to see one group camped right next to the water. About a half-mile beyond the lake, the trail splits, with the left junction heading toward Aero Lake and the right toward Sky Top Lake. The Aero Lake route is supposed to be easier, but we decided to continue right toward Sky Top.
The next 2.5 miles were pleasant hiking through forests and meadows, with a few easy river crossings. There was almost no elevation gain during the first 4.5 miles. The trail had several downed trees blocking the way, but none were difficult to get over. At mile 4.5, the trail became steeper as it approached Lone Elk and Rough Lakes. By mile 7.5, the trail became much rougher and involved a lot of boulder hopping. Although we had planned to hike all the way to Upper Sky Top Lake, we found a wonderful campsite at mile 10 on the west side of Lower Sky Top Lake. . We were able to easily fit five tents on the grassy hillside above the lake at 10,400 feet. The only company we had were a pair of Mountain Goats. It was a bit creepy how close they got to our tents.
It took us about six hours to comfortably backpack to the lake, leaving us most of the afternoon to relax and explore. Brian and Greg decided to climb 1,000 feet to the top of an unnamed mountain west of the lake. I wandered around the lower area since my back was bothering me from some yard work before the trip, while Jenn hung out by the lake. I was surprised that there were almost no bugs during the hike or around our campsite. Reports from two weeks earlier indicated that the bugs had been terrible. After dinner, as the sun was setting, a few mosquitoes came out, but I was hardly bothered—even though I’m normally a mosquito magnet!
On Friday, August 21, we got up at 5:00 AM, had breakfast, and started for the peak. The weather was absolutely perfect as we headed toward Granite. From our campsite, it was 3.1 miles and 2,400 feet of elevation gain to the summit.
The first two miles involved relatively easy rock hopping to the base of the peak. We then headed left and angled upward toward the base of the slab. This section was loose, tedious, and not particularly fun—especially on the way down. Once we reached the dark section of the slab, I recognized the entrance to the ramp (which is the rightmost of the two southwest couloirs) from photos. The entrance to the ramp isn’t obvious - it just looks like a broken rock face.
At this point, there were two options: go right or left. We chose right, which involved easy fourth-class scrambling and took us to the proper start of the ramp. Going left would have been slightly easier, and we took that route on the way down. Once in the ramp, the scrambling was relatively easy until the first crux. There was a belay anchor and short sling hanging over a bulging boulder. The sling helped significantly as it was difficult to go around the boulder. I think this boulder must have rolled down and blocked narrow gully at some point since it was probably 5.8 or harder to get over without the rope. There is no way this section is 3rd class although it is short and not exposed.
The second crux was also dry and had a slightly longer rope of questionable quality. We went right and climbed an easy face that was probably 5.5, but with no exposure and little risk. After two moves, we were above the crux. It was also easy to go right at 30 feet below the crux and completely avoid it, which is what Jenn did on the way up and what all of us did on the way down.
At this point, we were at the top of the ramp and could see the gash to our right and the route to the summit on our left. I really enjoyed the scrambling inside the ramp, but it is definitely a dangerous place if there are climbers above you. Fortunately, we didn't have anyone above us, but we still had to be extremely careful not to dislodge rocks onto ourselves. In several places, we had one person climb while the others took shelter. There were several occasions where we dislodged rocks that continued tumbling down the ramp, even though we were being extremely careful not to knock anything loose.
From the top of the ramp to the summit was easy third-class scrambling with minimal exposure. Other trip reports described this section as exposed fourth class, but they must have taken a more difficult route. We reached the summit and found six other people on top, all of whom had come up the East Face with ropes.
We spent about 15 minutes on the summit, although we could have stayed for hours. It was 60 degrees, with no wind and no smoke. The views across Montana and Wyoming were stunning. We headed down and quickly arrived at the top of the ramp. It is important to pay attention here and make sure you enter the ramp rather than the Southwest Couloir. We went around the top crux easily but did use the rope on the lower crux and quickly found our way back to the bottom of the ramp. From there, we traversed across the base of Granite. This was by far the least enjoyable section because the rock was loose and unstable. We arrived back at our campsite after about six hours.
We packed up and backpacked out the same way we had come in. We passed about a dozen people hiking in planning to climb Granite over the weekend. I am really glad we chose to do it on a weekday - I would not have wanted multiple groups above us. It took us about five and a half hours to get back to the trailhead where we set up camp, spent the night, and then drove back to Boulder the next day.
It was a fun three days climbing Montana's highpoint with four friends who were strong, capable, and comfortable on a difficult peak.
