“We Just Lost the Moon” (Part 2)

There are a half dozen peaks which are best accessed from the Logan Pass. Bearhat Mountain is one of them. Seldom climbed, and interestingly enough, the ONLY one you must hike all the way down to the shores of Hidden Lake before staring the climb. Generally this would mean nothing, except in all of my years in the park, I had NEVER been down to the Hidden Lake (only to the view point). So this was like killing two birds with one stone.

Why had I never climbed this peak? Afraid of the 500’ climb back up from the lake? Views not amazingly enough? Not worthy of the early up for a parking space at Logan Pass? All the above? I don’t know. What I did know it was nearly 10 miles round trip with about 2600’ of gain (500 of it that kicker at the tail end), so it would be a real effort. And the wheels on the shuttle bus have to roll at 3:45p on the dot, so an early start was not just to beat the heat but required to get back in time.

When gearing up I got stalled by some people talking to me. When I hit the trail, I looked at my watch. All I could think was ‘Gentlemen, we just lost the moon.’ I may have just failed before I even began. Crap.

Nothing like trying to psyche your body up for seven hours of steady intense pain, fully knowing the only thing you will have for reward is missing the summit and the warm Michelob Ultra in the back of your car. Ah, the taste of a bittersweet coming-up-short victory. But what the hell. Not like I had anything else to do today.

I found Hidden Lake really rewarding. Deep in a cirque, you are surrounding by giant cliffs. The mountains all look and feel twice their size with great walls full of colorful bands in the rock. I imagined this is how those small villages deep in the Himalayas must feel. Almost secluded and pristine. How can such a tourist haven be so pristine? Simple: all of them stay where the trail hits the lake shore. No one seems to want to go past the outlet of the lake (and get their designer sneakers wet). Once I traversed to the south side of the lake, it was only me. The hoards of tourist were out of sight and out of mind.

When I passed the groups crowded on top of each other on the far shore, I remember there was this one party of about five. All decked out with bright, hew, name-brand hiking gear. One of them was treating water from the lake with their UV steri-pen, commenting on how pure and ‘uncorrupted’ it tasted. Their words, not mine.

I could only smile. Especially when about 100 feet up the shore from them I passed all of the carcasses of the mountain trout that a mother grizzly had been capturing for her two cubs the last couple weeks (the trail had only been closed for much of the early season because of that activity). Yum. UV light might kill the bad stuff, but I don’t like chunky ‘uncorrupted’ water when I hike.

Bearhat is a wonderful conical mountain that you don’t hear much about with some great central views. There were some vibrant oranges as the sun rose over Hidden Lake and Mt Reynolds. The meadows on this side of the lake were something out of a story book. I could tell the trail around the lake was old from how it had been cut and the meaningful was it meandered. For sure pre-WWII, and not maintained since. It takes hundreds of years for those travel scars to heal, given the short growing seasons and fragile alpine environs.

The key to climbing Bearhat is finding the right drainage to cut up from the valley floor, which should be below what was called in the guide books ‘the great rift.’ Yeah, sometimes the old guides read like a pirate map, but that’s half the fun. Generally, you’ll find an old cairn or two to keep you on course, and you treat them like breadcrumbs with a heavy dose of common sense. Seldom is there an exact science in route finding. You have to read the rock and know you own abilities.

Keeping steady, I find a really nice couloir that feels a little too far south, but it is a really smooth going. I’m too late to make it to the top anyway. So just enjoy the views and wait for my watch to tell me when it’s time to start back down. Or so I thought. I didn’t calibrate my altimeter, but it started feeling like I was closer to the top that I should have been. A lot of snow started clogging the chute I was using, so I kept moving over to the right where the cliffs felt more friendly. Suddenly the grade started to even out. The next thing I know I’m on the summit ridge right at 10:30am on the nose. My pre-determined turn-back time!

Crap. I made it. Now I really need to start back down, like right this minute. No time for a victory dance. I estimated my descent time based on smoother terrain, which I didn’t find coming up. Once again, I’ve got hours to go and I’m already late.

Though pressed for time, I kept the photos flowing and took a key shots for route reference should I make it back up here this season for a more relaxing time (and less smoke). Did come across what reminded me of Pride Rock on the lower reaches of and mountain. And yes, I did take the extra minute to stand on top of it and give my best Lion King roar. The ‘great rift’ is just above those two snowfields. Oh, and it is very unclimbable from all the guides I’ve read. I concur.

In this photo you’ll see a large saddle directly across from the lake. This is the pass I must reach and cross to get back to the parking lot. The haze had actually cleared a little and the sky was bluer than I had seen it in a couple of weeks.

Got a pretty good ankle roll on the way down I’ll have to nurse for the next couple of days. But I’m a big fan of the Hidden Lake environ now. The meadows are such classical GNP from the stunted trees to wonderful wildflowers. Could easily pack a small camp chair down there and throw down for a half day. Absorb all the 360 views without a care in the world since I know where the tourist don’t tread. But if there was every prime bear country, this is it. They love to take early summer protein out of this lake well into July. Always keep a can of bear spray hanging from the pack in easy reach.

Made it back to the RV Park with 10 minutes to spare. Just enough for a quick shave and shower. I guess the moon was not lost after all. But more on that when I publish Part 1. Yes, the posts are out of order for a reason.