Three peaks in one week, or wringing the last vestiges of summer dry

The Rattlesnake Wilderness from Stuart Peak.

October has been an extremely busy month for me. It kicked off with a week-long visit from Ralph Smith, a math professor at North Carolina State University, followed immediately for three days by my former PhD student Aaron Luttman, who is now working as a mathematician/senior scientist for the Department of Energy on nuclear energy applications.

October has also been extremely beautiful here in Missoula. In fact, it's been as nice of a fall as I can remember, probably in part because I've been able to get into the mountains a lot; as always, I feel a sense of urgency with winter looming.

On the weekend that Ralph left and Aaron arrived, the weather in Missoula was as fine as it gets, and so I took both visitors on separate hikes: the first on Saturday, with Ralph and current long-term visitor Heikki Haario (a Finn), to Lolo Peak; and the next on Sunday with Aaron to Cha-paa-qn Peak, which sits prominently on the northwest edge of the Missoula valley. We got an early start on both days, had spectacular weather and incredible views from the top.

Unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries on Lolo (the alpine larch and views were stunning), but a few of Aaron's pictures from Cha-paa-qn are below, but I do have pictures from my hike with Jen up Stuart Peak in the Rattlesnake (which I can see from my office window) the next weekend, on another perfect day. Those pictures are what accompanies this blog.

fall colors with Pudge the dog

view from the top of Stuart Peak to the west.

Pudge with Mosquito and McCleod Peaks in the background, from Stuart Peak, Mission Mtns far in the distance.

on top with Jen.

Twin Lakes from Stuart Peak.

Aaron on Cha-paa-qn

Bitterroots from Chapaaqn

Missions from Chapaaqn

Glacier Peaks to the north from Chapaaqn

me on the summit

Aaron from summit.