Montana High Point | Climbing Granite Peak
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
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Other State High Point Videos: • State High Points
This video was filmed on July 22, 2022.
Bennett and I travel to Montana to climb Granite Peak, the tallest mountain in Montana. At 12,807 feet above sea level, Granite Peak isn't the tallest peak in the United States, but don't let that fool you. This was a very difficult journey which involved several days of bushwhacking, boulder hopping, class 3 and 4 scrambling, and even some snow travel. We did this as a 3 day, 2 night journey. We started at the Mystic Lake Trailhead, hiked up to Huckleberry Creek, climbed up the creek to Princess Lake and camped there on day one. On day two, we climbed to the top of Granite Peak via Avalanche Lake and returned to camp taking the same route. On the third day, we packed our bags, caught a few Cutthroat Trout on Princess Lake, and hiked out.
Granite Peak is located in the Beartooth Mountain Range. You can access it via Cooke City or Red Lodge, depending on which route you take. This area provided some of the most impressive scenery I've seen so far and would love to return and explore some more.
I am on a journey to climb all of the 50 US state high points. This was number 13 for me. If you enjoyed this video, consider subscribing so you can follow along as I make my way to the top of the tallest point in each of the 50 US states.
![Granite Peak Montana Climbing Guide [East Ridge]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/M0ZMWQlbonc/mqdefault.jpg)
![Granite Peak Montana Climbing Guide [East Ridge]](/img/tr.png)
I've heard it said that Granite Peak is the second toughest state high point to climb after Denali. Now that we've knocked out this beast, which high point should we hit next?
Denali
@@lifeofluke Haha I'd love to, need to secure funding first though!
Gannett pk WY I'd argue its harder.
@@karlkoch2758 That one is high on my list. I'd love to go knock it out. Have you climbed it? I can image it's up there on difficulty. I've spent some time in the Winds and am familiar with how rugged they are. Not to mention the massive approach if you don't get a ride into the reservation.
@@WhereKentWent 1 for 2 on granite tried a truck to truck 25.6 mi to the saddle via Ftdp. Gannett I'm 0-3 over 20yrs.. due to wx snow.. I'd like to try via the south over bonney pass titcomb basin.. this summer 2nd WK Aug. More tech with glacier travel and long way from any trailhead..
I did this backpack in 1974 when at the Penn State geology field camp in Red Lodge. We went further up the Mystic Lake trail almost to timberline to avoid the bushwhacking, then turned east to the mountain base and came up Granite from the south side. Great climb! We exited via the Frozen-to-Death plateau. Was great to see you hike video. Glad you had a good time.
Very interesting I hadn't considered that route. Thanks for sharing!
Great work Kent and Bennett! Looks like an awesome climb.
Thanks a lot! We definitely had a great time on this one.
I climbded it 15 years ago when I was an exchange student for 9 months in Idaho. As a 15 year old highschooler I thought it was easy, it was nothing. Now I realise that I had a great guide who planned everything, and that finding a route would not be easy for someone unexperienced, and we got lucky with the weather just like you did. The climb is actually rather dangerous, especially the descent.
It made me understand why the mountains are called rocky :)
Really grateful for the experience, and enjoyed your video!
Very cool! Yeah the route finding was definitely one of the hardest parts of this. Having a guide would be a huge help for that. Thanks for watching, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Fellow Highpointer here, congrats on Granite!
Love that one! I did the SW colour. Finished #50 back in 2017. Awesome to share that with your brother.
Cheers!
UA-cam "Boorah Cobb"
That's so amazing that you've done them all! Also cool that you took the SW couloir route. That looks like a blast. Thanks for watching I'll check out your channel!
Glad I found your channel. Reaching state high points is my goal too. I live in Montana and haven’t climbed the granite peak. Thanks for sharing your experience!
That’s great! I am super jealous of all the outdoor access you have up in Montana. I would love to spend more time there. Have you done any other state high points so far?
Great film. Thanks
I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!
Great video Kent. Nice job on the climb. I’m heading up in about 6 weeks. It helps to see the terrain from your point of view filming.
I’m glad you enjoyed! Thanks for watching and good luck!
Attempting this next week, super helpful pov man, thank you
@@ryanpowell6033 good luck! Glad it was helpful.
Looks like a fun trip, awesome video! 👍
Thanks for watching!
What a rad adventure for you guys! See any bighorn sheep up there?
Didn’t see any bighorn up there, I’m not sure how common they are in that area. I know mountain goats are very common but we didn’t see those either. Thanks for the comment!
Very cool video Kent!
Thanks Logan!
good stuff, the scramble looked great
Thanks Luke! Yeah it was a good time, always a relief when you get back down though!
Thanks for a great video. Still remember the Volkswagon-sized boulders and giant spiders on the way up!
Crazy isn’t it?! Thanks for watching.
Great video! Did you need rappelling gear? Some folks say it’s needed, others say it isn’t.
Thanks! There were a few spots that would have been quite a bit easier to rappel than to down climb. We saw some anchors made of webbing left behind by previous climbers. I believe the guide companies have you rappel those spots. It really just depends on your experience and comfort with exposure. We decided not to bring one and were ok, although it got a little spicy in a couple spots.
hi great video i have been wanting to climb this peak for a bit now and i was wondering if you could answer some of my questions.
1) are ice axes and crampons necessary? i am thinking of climbing this mid to late summer, do you think spikes and poles will work? what is the necessary gear for this trip?
2) how is the hike up huckle Huckleberry Creek to princess lake? you said it was bad but how bad?
3) i am a hard rock climber but i have never gone mountaineering, is there any tips you would give me?
4) when did you leave princess lake to summit?
5) i am thinking of doing this solo, any tips for me?
please and thank you this is really useful
We didn’t bring crampons but were very happy to have our ice axes on the two snow bridges. The hike to princess lake is very overgrown and full of deadfall. That’s what makes it so difficult. You can’t leave for the summit too early, we left princess lake later than we should have, I think around 8AM. The route we took is very slow because almost all of it is over boulders. I wouldn’t recommend doing it solo because of how rugged the terrain is. Also you should look at the FTD plateau route option if you haven’t already.
@@WhereKentWent thank you so much
What did you bring as far as food goes for a trip like this? Great video! Would like to do this one soon. Doing Boundary in a couple months because we couldn't secure Whitney.
Thanks! We just brought normal backpacking food- a couple freeze dried meals, I think we had a homemade dried stew, and then a bunch of quick snacks. We also brought some dinner rolls and warmed them up over the fire. Those were a hit. Good luck on boundary, we enjoyed that one quite a bit. It might not be too late on Whitney this season either, sometimes people cancel their trips and release permits. If you time it right you could get one.
@@WhereKentWent thanks for the response! will definitely still try with Whitney.
Bucket List
Do it!
What's up everyone!? I'll be making my attempt of Granite Peak for the July 4th weekend. I have a few questions for you guys! My only concern is the snow bridge/ice on the home stretch. What time of the summer did you make your ascent?
Best regards!
We did this trip at the end of July. Conditions may be a little different this year with the large amount of snow.
How do you think this compared to some peaks in the Sierras?
The only peak I've done in the Sierras so far is Mount Whitney. Granite is definitely way more challenging than Whitney, including the mountaineer's route. Mostly because the route finding is very difficult, it is extremely remote, and there are not many other people on the mountain.
I find it interesting that Montana’s highest peak & Wyoming’s highest peak have really similar sounding names.
Me too! It is easy to get the two of them confused.