Granite Peak 12,807' - Montana's Highpoint

Granite Peak is Montana's highest point and considered one of the hardest state highpoints. It's in the Beartooth Range of the Northern Rocky Mountains. We took a non-standard approach to the peak via Avalanche Lake, which led to lots of bushwhacking through forest and scrambling over rough (spider-laden) boulder fields with heavy packs.

On summit day, we had to cross a steep snow slope along the saddle and then climb the last few hundred feet with rope. The exposure was stunning! To get back down, we rappelled all the pitches. We got the summit but it was certainly not easy! The descent back to the car was wrought with more bushwhacking, as well as a thunderstorm, complete with hail and rain, that soaked us and all our gear, including Ricardo's iPhone, which didn't survive the soaking. We were very happy when we returned to our car at 4 AM in the morning!

State highpoints rank: 10th 

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SCIENCE: The Billion-Year-Old Beartooth Mountains