Mount Powell and Deer Lodge Mountain, Flint Creek Range

Mount Powell from Deer Lodge Mountain.

There are a few mountains that loom large in my psyche. One of those is Mount Powell near Deer Lodge. In college, at Montana Tech in Butte, I spent a lot of time in the Deer Lodge Valley, mainly on the southern end, near Fairmont and Anaconda, cycling and driving through to Discovery or Mount Haggin for skiing. From that end of the valley, Mount Powell is extremely prominent; you can't not notice it. It's actually kind of amazing that I hadn't climbed it until this year. And what a great climb it is, especially if you continue on from Powell to Deer Lodge Mountain, along the knife-edged ridge, another hour one way. You'll be spent at the end of the day if you do this, but I highly recommend it, both for the views as well as for an interesting walk. (BTW: I had lost these pictures, so this is a report from a trip I took some weeks ago.)

Getting there: Getting to the trail head is a bit tricky on this one; this is ranch country and the maze of roads is easy to get lost on. But here's how I got there. Get off on the Racetrack Exit, which is about nine miles toward Butte from Deer Lodge on I-90. Turn right off the exit and head straight (west) for about a mile to a T-junction. Turn right and then look for a major dirt road soon on your left, where you'll turn left heading toward the mountains again. After a few miles, you'll "T" into a road heading north-south, where you'll turn right, and then after a mile or so you'll meet another road at a T-junction with a big stone barn. Once here, you're basically home-free: turn left and then quickly right on forest service road FS 8507. There's a sign here with 8507 and Dempsey Lakes if I remember right. Stay on this road for 7-8 miles to the trail head. 

The hike: Getting to Powell from the trail head is pretty straightforward, though it does requires some off-trail travel. From the trail head walk up the road for several miles (the four wheel drive aficionado may actually want to drive this, but it's pretty darn rough). You'll leave the road at the first crossing of Dempsey Creek several miles in. The crossing has a wooden foot bridge, but you won't use it because this is where you'll take off toward the ridge on your right. You'll almost immediately come to a small, clear stream, which heads up toward the ridge. Follow it, avoiding excessive dead fall, until it peters out, then continue on up. Not long after gaining the ridge, things open up and it's easy walking through the huge summit meadows below Mount Powell.  

Pudge on the summit meadows

The Pintlers from the summit meadows

Flint Creek Peaks

Looking off toward Deer Lodge Mountain

Warm Springs Settling Ponds and Fleecer in the distance from the summit.

Summit Shot

The ridge walk to Deer Lodge Mountain -- awesome!

Getting closer

Looking back at Powell

Closer yet.

The final slopes to the summit of Deer Loge Mtn.

Looking back, again, at Powell, a true beauty.

And the ridge continues on down to the valley. This would be a great way to climb these peaks.

On Deer Lodge Mountain

Powell from Deer Lodge Mountain.

Some interesting rock and sky.