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| Wildflowers |
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| More wildflowers |
From the Missoula Valley, far off to the west, north of Blue and Black Mountains and south of I-90, you can see a grassy peak. That's Petty Mountain. It's a great hike with great views.
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| Missoula in the distance |
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| More views toward Missoula |
A couple of weeks back I hiked up to Petty's summit. It's a nice hike, about 4 miles from the car to the summit. To get there, head west from Missoula on I-90 and get off on the first Alberton exit, also the exit for Petty Creek Road. Turn left (south), drive under I-90, cross the Clark Fork, and take your first left onto the Southside Road. Follow this road for a few miles, looking for a large brown and white Forest Service sign on the right for Forest Service Road 5563 and Petty Mountain. Turn here and travel about 7 miles to a saddle and the trailhead sign on your right. If the road starts descending you've gone too far. Here's the Peakbagger map.
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| Looking up toward the summit |
The hike is a nice one and is not very far from Missoula. There are lots of open parks and wild flowers and views in all directions, highly recommended.
Side note: I've been reflecting lately on how much less idealistic I am about the world than I was 20 years ago. But my hard boiled cynicism was shaken a bit on this trip when, while driving along the South Side Road, I stopped to ask some locals standing in their driveway for directions and was surprised that one of them was my old friend Eric Leithe. I invited Eric to join me on the hike and he did. We had a great conversation (the first we've had in many years), almost as if our meeting was a synchronicity, one of those words from my more idealistic days.
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| Eric walking in the lead. |
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