St. Mary's Peak Lookout

This hike, just like the one to Skookum Butte Lookout, was originally planned for our trip to Montana in July.  However, on the day we intended to hike St. Mary's Peak, we woke up to rain.  Although it wasn't a steady downpour, we were concerned that heavy cloud cover would obstruct any views from the summit.  Today, the weather was completely different.  According to the locals, who have been dealing with wildfire smoke all summer, it was a perfect Fall day by "Montana standards."

This sign made us smile . . .
We guess this is how you are directed to lookouts in Montana!

Now here's an "old fashioned" sign that we're more comfortable with . . .
That's St. Mary's Peak (9,351 ft) in the morning sunshine

After a 12-mile ride on a steep switchbacked dirt road, we have arrived at the trailhead

We saw several of these hollowed out logs, with rocks in them, along the trail . . .
The trail certainly wasn't lacking for extra rocks

We kept waiting for a switchback on this section of the trail . . . 
Instead, the trail paralleled a ridge, on pretty much a straight line, for almost a 1½ miles

About halfway up the trail, the views started to come into focus . . .
You can see a small lake in the center of the picture, just below the pyramid shaped ridge

Ah, there it is . . .
The lookout looked close, but there were still a lot of switchbacks yet to come 

These are the last six switchbacks before reaching the summit

One more to go!

At the trailhead there was a sign posted on the message board saying the tower was closed for repairs . . .
We were a little disappointed that we wouldn't be able to go up the tower . . .
But, to our surprise, when we arrived the tower was open and the shutters were up . . . yea!

The views were tremendous!
Not much was going on inside the tower . . . just a few sleeping bags and lots of paint cans . . .
As it was a Saturday, we assumed the workers went home for the weekend

Looking north towards St. Joseph & Lolo Peaks . . . Missoula is to the northeast of these peaks

We were intrigued with the base of this lookout tower . . . 
Most set on a metal or wood scaffolding, but this one was erected on a rock base . . . it gave it a neat appearance
The lookout was originally built in 1935, but was rebuilt and restored in 1952

Looking west towards the Heavenly Twins

National Geodetic Survey's (NGS) map didn't show any benchmark on this peak . . .
Obviously, there's one here . . . why do they recognize some and not others?
Regardless, we were happy to find one!

We're not a 100% sure, but we believe this is another picture looking towards St. Joseph Peak (9,587 ft) . . .
(Click here for a nice Y/T video from David Stevenson who hiked it in 2020)

We were surprised when this group of Mennonite? Quaker? or Amish? women joined us at the top . . .
They were very friendly and said they were from Stevensville

More Bitterroot views

A selfie with St. Mary's Lookout before heading down

When we first started our trip we had only planned on hiking to three lookouts, but we ended up doing five. (Horton Peak, Granite Peak, Skookum & West Butte, and St. Mary's)  We were amazed at the sheer number of either active, abandoned, or restored lookouts that we found in Idaho and Montana and wondered why there are so many more here as compared to other areas.

It seems to stem back to what was known as the Big Burn/Blowup Fire of 1910 that burned over 3 million acres in Northern Idaho and Western Montana.  It ended up killing 87 people, most of whom were firefighters.  The fire prompted major changes in Forest Service policy and management strategies.  This seems to make sense why most of the lookouts we visited had originally been built in the 1930's.

Leaving the tower and heading for the six switchbacks

This picture show the steepness of the terrain . . . 
That's the Bitterroot Valley some 6,000 ft below us!

Looking back up at St. Mary's Peak (9,351 ft) from near the town of Stevensville in the Bitterroot Valley

A big thanks to Rod Benson (aka Big Sky Walker) whose post on St. Mary's Peak inspired us to give it a try!  This trail came in at almost 8-miles with 2,500 ft of elevation gain.  It took us around 5 hours to complete, but was worth every minute.  If you're looking for a challenging hike, with a neat lookout, and amazing 360° views of the Bitterroot Mountain Range and Bitterroot Valley, then you've come to the right trailhead!

Skookum Butte Lookout

This hike was originally planned for our July trip to Montana, but due to time constraints we weren't able to fit it in (we ran out of time!).  We're so glad that it worked out that we could incorporate it into our Idaho Loop trip.  The lookout was built in 1928 and is only one of three remaining that utilized this type of log cabin construction.  From it's unique rocky butte summit we had 360° views and even found a 1934 benchmark!

There are actually two trailheads for this hike (an official & unofficial one) . . .
Although the official trailhead is a mile longer (r/t), we chose it as time wasn't an issue

The trail starts as an old road, but quickly turns into a path as it drops down into a meadow

For most of the trail there were steep switchbacks that helped us quickly gain the summit
(There is one short section [100 yds] that just goes straight up the side of the mountain)

Before long we came to the base of this knob of pillow granite that Skookum Butte sits atop (7,202 ft)

Although our first inkling was to boulder hop to the top, we took some time to follow the trail
around the butte's south side, where we found a trail that took us up through the boulder field . . .
Interestingly, Kent is pictured straddling the Idaho/Montana border!

To our surprise the door opened when we turned the doorknob!

Inside we found this journal that chronicled the restoration of the lookout . . .
It also served as a summit registry for those who have made the climb

Here's what the Heritage Program crew had to say about their efforts and intentions for Skookum Butte
(Click on the picture to enlarge it)

Although it looks like a postcard, Allison took this shot from the inside, looking out, with the door closed

It didn't take long to locate the 1934 reference markers and benchmark . . .
Sadly, someone has defaced the benchmark to the extent that it is illegible

This is the benchmark, embedded in the granite, on the north side of the cabin 

Kent eating an apple and taking in the views . . . can it get any better than this?

Looking into the Bitterroots

Click on the picture for an expanded view

One last look (and selfie) before we head back down the mountain

Late summer/early fall was certainly in the air and the foliage was beginning to show its colors

This interesting plant is actually the skeletal remains of a fireweed stalk . . .
This is what it looks like once it is done blooming for the season

We decided to take a different forest road on our way back to the blacktop . . .
To make a long story short, we unexpectedly came on another lookout 

Since the road to the lookout was closed (the Forest Service rents this one out for overnight use),
we decided to walk up the road, hoping no one was using it

Lucky for us, it appeared as if this lookout was closed for the season

To our surprise the West Butte Lookout is also located on a rocky butte . . .
Apparently, this is a common feature of many of the mountain tops in the area

Looks like a fun getaway for a night or two

For you coffee lovers, you're invited to percolate your brew the old fashioned way

Although not a benchmark, it was still a nice, unexpected find of this Forest Service survey marker

Survey marker with West Fork Butte Lookout (6,163 ft)

Spectacular views looking north from the lookout . . . a great way to close out our day!

It was a fun day of exploring old lookouts.  Much restoration work has gone in to preserving these important pieces of history!  If you're interested in watching a short video of the Heritage Team restoring the lookout you can click here.  The hike to Skookum Butte entails driving 9-miles on a dirt road, then hiking 3-miles (r/t) with 1,000 ft of elevation gain . . . it took longer to drive the dirt road than to hike to the summit!  West Fork Butte Lookout was a .75 mile road walk that took us right to the base of the butte.  If you have some extra time and you're in the Lolo Hot Springs area, we would highly recommend making the effort to see both of these lookouts for yourself!

Mt. Howard & Wallowa Lake

Our original plan was to ride the Wallowa Tram to the top of Mt. Howard and then hike East Peak.  However, we found that the tram didn't start operation until 10:00 AM and that the last ride down was at 4:00 PM.  This schedule concerned us about having enough time to complete the East Peak hike.  Instead, we spent a couple of hours hiking around Mt. Howard's summit enjoying the views of the valley below and the glacial-carved peaks to our south and west.

Beautiful Wallowa Lake & Mt. Bonneville (8,140 ft)
(Mt. Bonneville separates the east and west forks of the Wallowa River)

We met Clover on the boat dock as she was returning a ball to her master . . .
As we visited with Clover's owner, she continued to entertain us the entire time we talked

Clover was the highlight of our visit to Joseph, Oregon

Did you ever see the movie Homeward Bound?  It was our sons favorite movie as a child . . .
We always wondered what town was located at the bottom of that steep mountain in the movie . . . now we know!
(Click on the picture to enlarge it)

After spending some time wandering the streets of Joseph we headed for the Wallowa Tram . . . 
It took us 15 minutes to get to the top of Mt. Howard . . . In that time we covered 1.83 miles
and 3,700 ft of elevation gain . . . now you can see why we were leery of missing the last tram! 

The gondolas were small . . . seating no more than four people

There was a sign inside the gondola that said, "Don't try and rock it" . . . okay, no problem here!

The views kept getting better as we climbed higher and higher

At the top and looking back down on Wallowa Lake and the town of Joseph

Hey, we're higher than Mt. Bonneville (the first picture in this post)

On our way to Royal Purple Overlook . . .
Looking southwest into the Wallowa Mountain Range . . . That ridge to the left of Kent's hat is Mt. Bonneville

Looking south at East Peak (9,380 ft) . . . this was the hike we were going to do
(East Peak is the farthest tip, to the left, that you can see)

Another look into the interior of the Wallowa Range

Summit Overlook
Too bad we couldn't make East Peak . . . oh, well, something to look forward to on a future trip!
(We don't look too disappointed, do we?  Or is that a look of relief?)

Valley Overlook
Another view of the Wallowa Valley and the rich, fertile farmland that surrounds it

The Eagle Cap Paragliding Club has it's own launch site on the south side of Mt. Howard . . .
The Club erected this sign so that tourists, hopefully, wouldn't pester the paragliders with questions as they were prepping for their flight . . . they want the paragliders to fully concentrate on the safety of their equipment and not engage in conversations that might distract them

As we headed back down, we had a good view of Chief Joseph Mountain (9,616 ft) . . .
Doesn't it look like a peak you'd find in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado?

We spent a little over two hours on top of Mt. Howard.  Altogether we walked 2.5 miles on the Wallowa Summit Loop Trail that took us to different vantage points that looked north/south/east and west.  Would we do it again?  We're not sure . . . we felt the tram was over priced and probably kept many people (families) from being able to visit the top.  If we were to hike East Peak we would certainly use the service so that our climb would be more enjoyable and less strenuous.