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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Driving to the trailhead Within the 1st mile we passed this interesting structure The 1st three miles climbing 1100 vertical feet up to Mystic lake are on an excellent trail. The view of Mystic lake from the trail. At this point the trail descends and follows the left side of the lake. The beautiful Montana wilderness! Since we opted to approach Granite Peak via Avalanche lake we hiked the whole southern length of Mystic lake. This section also features a very nice and trail. Once we turned south towards Princess lake the terrain gets steeper and more rugged. Play Pause

SCIENCE: The Billion-Year-Old Beartooth Mountains