Spanish Peaks with Al Parker

Spanish Peaks at Summit Lake.

This fall has been an excellent one for getting out into the high country, albeit usually without the family in tow. The weather has been stellar, various friends have shown an interest in joining me, and the kids have erected an effective stone wall for deflecting my attempts at planning family wilderness trips (with the exception of Storm Lake -- see the blog last entry). Jen reminds me that not many share my passion for wilderness.

Al Parker is an old grad school friend of mine. He's another PhD mathematician from Montana State U, but has taken a different path than I. He's now a statistician at the Center for Biofilm Engineering at MSU. He's got a sweet gig (maybe even better than being a professor), a sweet family, and lives in an amazing place, Bozeman.

The last time Al and I got together for a backpack trip was five or six years ago when we went into the Lolo Peak area and did the Sweeney-Lolo Peaks traverse.  This year, our plan was to meet in the Pintlers, but the smoke was so bad (this was back in mid-September) that after meeting for breakfast in Butte we continued east, away from the smoke, eventually settling on the Spanish Peaks near Bozeman, a place I'd been wanting to do a trip for some time. It didn't disappoint.

We hiked nine miles or so into the incomparable Summit Lake, spent the night, and then hiked the remaining 15 miles or so the next day, with a side trip to the awesome Gallatin Peak. The scenery was grand, the weather good, the smoke not as bad as in Butte and Missoula, and the companionship as good as it gets.

Al filtering water at Summit Lake

High on the Spanish Peaks

Summit Lake and Gallatin Peak

Al with the route to the summit of Gallatin Peak in the background, day 2.

Mountain goats day 2.

Looking back the way we'd come, Gallatin Peak.

Al and Indian Ridge.

Fall colors.