South Heavenly Twin: Bitterroot Mountains

From the summit of South Heavenly Twin: the Big Creek drainage with Big Creek Lake in the shadows, Ranger Peak in the upper-right, and Sky Pilot on the left.

During the long spell or gorgeous weather over the past couple of weeks, I took a day and climbed South Heavenly Twin, which is just west of St. Mary Peak in the Bitterroot. This was a summit that had been high on my list of peaks to climb this year, but I'd always found a reason to do something different when an opportunity arose. I admit that I was a bit intimidated by it, as it looks difficult from a distance; see the next picture, taken from Glen Lake Peak last spring of the Heavenly Twin/St Mary ridge. 

The Heavenly Twins are the craggy twin summits on the left, with South Twin the one further to the right. St. Mary Peak is on the right.

I was surprised to find the climb straightforward, however, with nothing more than class 2+ near the summit, though you have to traverse around to the west face to keep things non-technical. Actually, this was a really nice, challenging fall hike. The most difficult part is the bushwhacking once you leave the Big Creek Trail at 4800 feet, heading north up a drainage that leads you to the southern flank of South Heavenly Twin. And also navigating a couple of the small waterfalls along this drainage, which were still only barely class 3 at worst. For my GPS route, see here.  

Looking south from South Heavenly Twin.

Looking north. North Heavenly Twin is in the foreground. Bass Peak, Stormy Joe, and St. Joseph's are in the distance.

Looking up the drainage toward South Heavenly in the morning light.

Looking down the same drainage a little bit later.

The southern flank of South Heavenly. My route took me up to the saddle just down from the summit cliffs. 

The same saddle a bit closer. 

Larch on the way out. For views from the summit. Look above.