Staying Close to Home: Charity Peak and University Mountain

On top of Charity Peak with Pudge closing his eyes into the wind and the Missions as a backdrop.

The end of the fall semester is always a challenging time for me. A frenetic late-summer and fall leads to November's dark, cold, and slow. By the time the end of the semester is at hand, it never fails that I find myself dragging, both physically and mentally. Perhaps it's true that we need these ebbs and flows, but the ebbs are still a challenge. I'm currently reading a biography of Montaigne, who wrote the famous 'Essays' in the 1500's. He would say to strive to stay even and not let the highs or the lows take you with them. This is a Buddhist tenet as well and is sound advice that I strive to follow, but getting out for a few hours on a sunny day sure helps. 

On my birthday, December 5th, I went for a hike and summitted Charity Peak, which is the big mound just to the west of Evaro. To get there, at the top of Evaro Hill, Highway 93 turns slowly left at the Evaro town site and the northbound two-lane turns to a single lane. At this point you'll take a near-immediate left, and the road you'll be on goes pretty high up onto the flanks of Charity Peak. Drive as far as you like and hike the remainder. I started at around 4500 feet. See my GPS route here.

The Charity Peak summit cairn.

The Mission Mountains from Chairty Peak.

Pudge and the Rattlesnake.

Then on the 15th, after a hectic morning of meetings to end what was a hectic semester, and before catching an evening flight to Las Vegas for work, I hiked University Mountain, which is about three hours round trip from the UM campus. I love this hike in winter, as you can get real solitude within a 1.5 hour walk from the edge of town. After two days in Vegas, it's on to Texas to visit my grandmother, who lives in a nursing home in Beaumont. I'll return on the 21st. After the clear cold air I breathed on University Mountain, I feel ready for the trip.
 

University Mountain, near the summit.

Pudge and the Missoula Valley on the way back down.

Again on the way down, Pudge and Mt. Sentinel.