Mt Sinopah and the perfect day. Just that simple.

Original Post 8/11/21

The perfect day could be defined as the one where everything went right. But only after endless trials and tribulations and eons and eons of persistence and practice.

Or, is could be defined as the day you did nothing in particular. Just let the events of life unfold, each moment building upon the other without a guiding hand. When you just sit back and bask in the glory of nature’s wonderful harmony.

You decide which path the day took.

I started looking at Sinopah Mtn in the Two Medicine area a few weeks ago. As always, time is short, and what I choose to climb needs to be worthy of the Summer of Dave. Sinopah is a great looking mountain ascetically (in my eye) with a long walkable ridgeline. Not the highest, but a central location that allows a person to really experience the Two-Med wilderness from on high.

The name has a good backstory as well. Sinopah was daughter of an Indian chief, who married a white fur trapper. He became part of the tribe, and was great writer. This fur trapper turned Piegan wrote extensively about the Blackfeet, and his works caught the attention of George Grinnell. Mr. G. happened to own an outdoor magazine, and would be the key person to push for preservation and becoming a national park. Grinnell is actuall called the Father of Glacier Park.

Wow. With such rich history, how could I not climb it? However, getting a tattoo of it I think it a little over the top.

I geared up in the parking lot looking at Upper 2 Med lake. It was pretty windy for being at such a low elevation. I could tell this lake gets hit with heavy wind ALL of the time. The beat up and dwarfed trees on the shoreline do not lie.

But it was a 62F morning, so very tolerable. Just had to anchor down the coffee cup. Because of the arrangement of the valleys and the Continental Divided just a few miles away, weather churns down these drainages. A virtual wind tunnel on an enormous scale.

About a half dozen vehicles all showed up (I’m sure from East Glacier) and put out chairs to watch the sunrise with me. This must be a tour thing because it was timed just right. As for the view, you are off to the right are Lone Walker Mtn (Sinopah’s father), along with Mt Helen (you might recall from a prior hike this summer).

The approach route was clean, direct, and text book perfect. The first couple of miles on trail where level and enjoyable. I could watch the mtn come towards me the entire way. It was so flat I was getting a little concerned, knowing somewhere I’d have to tackle the 2700 feet of up needed to reach the summit.

The storm had blown out most of the haze, so blue skies. The valley I hiked in was deep so kept out the sun until almost 8:30 (nice and cool). Great for morning photos and good afternoon ones. The red and green rocks really came alive.

Off the lake shore, there was zero wind, especially on the ponds surrounding the lake. Sinopah kept coming towards me even after clearing the suspension bridge.

The ‘faint’ climbing trail was looking better than an NPS maintained trail. Rockwell Falls was awesome in the early morning hours, with the zebra stripped sedimentary rock all so softly carved after hundreds of years of flowing water.

There are very few tourist here, and the upper falls are fantastic. Large scooped out hollows in the formations, deep pools, everything you look for in a spot on a hot summer day. Painted Teepee to the south started shrinking as broke the forest and started up the open scree fields.

I loved finding random rock cairns, given the route was so clearly marked with boot prints. An example of one of the many gullies to climb. The sky was just so blue. Didn’t know how much I missed clear skies.

The scree was easy, the cliffs were gentle, and the main couloir was the width of a large family house (as compared to the narrow and nasty ones I always seems to come across). You could pick a chimney to scurry up, or a nice stairstep route and not even use your hands (but not advisable).

Up on top in after a steady, comfortable 4 hours. Really took my time because it was so beautiful. Views of Rising Wolf, Painted Teepee, Never-Laughs, Lone Walker, and Mt Rockwell at the end of the Sinopah ridge stand out the most. Lakes include upper and lower Two Medicine.

The summit had little wind, and a mile plus in length which made for a very nice exploratory ridge walk.

Summit commentary:

I walked this entire ridge. Nearly a mile long. Just had to share with video.

I was up there for over an hour and a half just goofing around, talking to myself, trying to figure out how I was going to reintegrate into the real world in a couple of weeks. I’m not going to tell you what the voices said, but they do really swear a lot. As a bonus, another climbing party came up and I finally got a real photo of myself.

A really photogenic area, great colors, and great trails. Clearly an overlooked area by most, It really got hit hard this year by those who couldn’t get a entry ticket for the Sun Road (can access via Hwy 2). Of course, all they did was fill the parking lot. After three miles there was NO ONE on the trail. Shame.

I’ve got my eye on a couple more key peaks in this area, but they will need to wait for a later time. All of the approaches are close to double digits, and twenty mile days is where I set my limit. Anything past that is why we have pack horses.

It is so hard to get enough of this area. I love it. Now a guilty pleasure with so much more to give.