The Pintler Mtns., which are 120-180KM SE of Missoula, rise to heights of 3000-3320m, and contain large elevated plateaus and lakes at elevations in excess of 2400m.
As we explained previously in our Mission Mtns. post, although the Pintler Mtns. are 300-500m higher, because they are slightly further south and east, sheltered from weather systems moving in from the southwest and west, they receive less than half the annual precipitation. And hence, there are no permanent significant snowfields or glaciers on them. This also makes them a little more accessible though, even into the winter in parts, and with a much larger extent of terrain over 2000m than in the Mission Mtns., provides an unbeatable 4-season refugia for us.
Above is the northern half of the range and it's wilderness area that protects it, while below is the southern half.
When we moved down to Missoula last March, I needed to find a place like this for us that was fairly accessible, to provide relief from the hot summer conditions, as well as reliable snow for nordic skiing in winter.
Just by looking at our Montana Gazetteer map book, I decided to give the Storm Lake Rd. a try last March, for some classic skiing. What a fortuitous discovery. Storm Lake is the highest real lake in Montana, at 2500m., it is about 1km long, and 500m wide. Access is very easy in summer, 15km dirt road from the main MT-1 highway just past Georgetown Lake, gently sloping up from 1900m to the Storm Lake at 2500m. In winter, the dry powder snow makes for outstanding skiing on it, although it does tend to be quite windy and much colder at the lake, at that elevation, so bring your extra layers. You'll get heated up skiing upslope to the lake, then watch out!
Last March, the Central Rockies of Montana had a snowpack of 130-180 percent of average, which made for even more fantastic conditions. Once up to Storm Lake though, you have to be very careful, there are avalanche chutes on the steep slope above the western shore, and so we stick to the east shoreline trail.
In fact, this incredible drift behind Storm Lake that Kluane was swimming in front of in early July was still left over from a release sometime during the previous winter. It required quite a precarious traverse on our pack trip that 04 July weekend up to Storm Lake Pass (only 6K in from Storm Lake, and which was still snowed in at 2940m). We actually had to set up camp below the pass and use that as a base to explore further into the wilderness, Goat Flat, and Seymour Lake. Goat Flat is an interesting high plateau, just about 9K from Storm Lake, up and over the pass, and along a nice cliff-side trail. It probably is the largest 3000-3150m high expanse in MT west of the Continental Divide. Reminds me of the higher elevations (around 1000m) in the Alaska Interior!
You can see how large the snow drifts still were in early July there on the lip of Goat Flat by looking at our assistant editor Kluane, there is a precipitous 200m drop to Upper Seymour Lake, beneath it.
The alpine terrain and scenery here is outstanding in June/July with the tundra wildflowers and snowfields in abundance. As well as mosquitoes, very much like Alaska also at this time! But not quite as bad as the AK interior, I never did have to resort to a headnet. At these high exposed elevations, it is often quite windy, and showers and thunderstorms develop rapidly in June-September, something to consider. We had to retreat to our camp beneath Storm Lake Pass on our July pack trip when some thunderstorms developed, but I was expecting this, and had planned accordingly. At these high elevations, this area is a sure way to beat the summer heat; when it reaches 34-38C down in the lower valleys such as Missoula at only 1000m, it will still only be 23-26C up here.
One other factor to consider is this. Even though global warming is changing weather patterns in the mid-latitudes, and summers in the Central Rockies are warming significantly, at these higher elevations, low pressure systems in late August and September can still deliver temporary snowfalls, which just last a day or two.
In fact, this past August the NWS numerical weather prediction models, GFS and NAM-12, both forecast a system cold enough to produce snow at the 2500m Storm Lake level on the 21st. Naturally we had to rush up there and enjoy it, as the hottest weather of the summer had just been occurring in Missoula, with daily high temperatures of 32-37C for a few weeks.
Our intrepid associate editor Mattie had to make the most of it, though the Subalpine Larch and Subalpine Fir didn't seem quite as happy. But that's the price paid for living at these elevations in Montana.
Fall colours still come early to the high country here, 2200m and above. The Central Rockies of MT and southern BC/AB are the only areas in the World to be blessed with little Subalpine Larch trees. A cousin of the much larger Western Larch, which grow in the lower elevations. These are one of the few deciduous conifers, and turn a nice yellow/orange by early to mid-September.
As Mattie demonstrates. Here at 3050m on Goat Flat, they are at the highest elevation of their natural range, and hence are quite small.
And when you are up on Goat Flat in early September, as here, a little of the early season snowfalls will hold on on shaded slopes, whilst the nice colours of the Subalpine Larch highlight many of the lower slopes and ridges.
Another nice area of the Pintlers lies to the south and west, centered around 3200m Warren Peak. It's a longer, rougher road to get in to the main trailhead area, Carpp Lakes. These nice little subalpine lakes start at around 2100m elevation just 6km from the trailhead, and another 3km further in, is beautiful little Upper Carpp Lake, at the foot of Warren Peak.
Needless to say, the entire CRP staff greatly enjoys retreating to this cool high-elevation paradise during the hot months of July and August.
The evening sunset colour on the sheer rock face of Warren Peak is spectacular, and just as rewarding at sunrise. Unfortunately, this area is not as accessible in winter as the area around Storm Lake (though I would not go further up to Storm Lake Pass and Goat Flat either, too great of avalanche danger). The road in to the Carpp Lakes trailhead area is not maintained, so it would be a long 25K ski in, before even trying to hike or snowshoe any further (the trails further would be too narrow to ski on). But, into October or early November, before the heavy snows set in, the fall colours in this area are also outstanding. Combined with the deep blue Montana high elevation sky, it makes for beautiful trekking and camping, after very crisp frosty mornings which can start out as cold as -10 to -15C.
Just a few short KM further from the Upper Carpp Lake, at 2400m right at the base of Warren Peak, is 2700m Warren Pass. In this area, you get great views of all the higher Pintler peaks, and can clamber up the slopes of 3200m Warren Peak.
Though it is very steep and rocky, and we may not make a summit attempt. It's extremely exposed and windy and you would need perfect high pressure ridging type weather. On the other side of Warren Peak, along the west slopes, there are trails to other lakes. A beautiful 25K round trip hike from the Carpp Lakes trailhead will get you to 2500m elevation Tamarack Lake, which is just slightly smaller than Storm Lake.
This little lake in a cirque at the base of Warren Peak is a majestic spot, and sees very few visitors. It would be dangerous in winter though, if it were more accessible, with the steep cirque walls on three sides, avalanche danger would be extreme at times. As you can see, it looks very much like Upper Carpp Lake just over a few ridges on the north side of Warren Peak, although it is about 150m higher.
We feel very fortunate to have these beautiful areas accessible to us within 90 min. drives from Missoula, followed by a few hours of skiing or hiking. As we'll discuss in later posts, the effects of global warming are making themselves known throughout the Central Rockies, and we see them here. For example, vast stands of Whitebark Pine and Subalpine Larch die-offs near tree-line from bug kills (due to warmer winters not killing as many of the pests off). Wildfire activity has also increased at the lower elevations, and it will only be a matter of time before this moves up into the higher elevations as well. But even with all that, the Pintler Mountains are a Montana treasure that are relatively undiscovered. We rarely ever saw more than a few people on all our outings here over the past 9 months, and sometimes, none! And all of the CRP staff were thus free to travel and enjoy the full benefits of this peaceful wilderness. Cheers.
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