20th Anniversary Peak Bagging Trip, Part 1: Cooney Mountain and Peak 8905, Swan Range

Jen's shoes in the view down Smith Creek.

Jen's in training mode for the Rut, which has the upshot that she wants me to take her on big outings in the mountains. It probably goes without saying that I've been obliging her. Over our anniversary, we had two nights in my Mom's condo at Bigfork, so we bookended our stay with hikes to peaks. The first outing, on the way up to Bigfork, started with the hike to Smith Creek Pass, then south along the north ridge of Cooney Mountain to the summit and on to Peak 8905, and then back again to Cooney and down the west ridge to the trail and the cars. It was a great day, though the north ridge of Cooney turned out to be loose class 3, which made Jen feel sketched. The west ridge was a bit easier, as was the walk over the 8905. You can see a GPS of the route here. We ended the day with an excellent steak dinner at the Hungry Bear in Condon -- highly recommended. 

Jen on Peak 8905 with the Missions in the background

Looking down Smith Creek, again from 8905.

Selfie with Peak 9075 in the background.

The west ridge down from Cooney Mountain

Walking the ridge up to 8905.