Flathead range, Great Northern to Unawah

Sunrise. Looking along the Flathed crest at the day ahead.

I have dreamed of exploring the Flathead crest ever since Mike Foote, Mike Wolfe, and Steven Gnam casually did the entire range during their Crown traverse.  Although I have had this outing planned for several years, a string of mountain days earlier in the year set me up with the fitness and running durability to confidently give it a go.  With stable summer weather and support from family, I headed North shortly after noon on a Friday in early August.  By dark, I was tucked into a comfortable trailhead bivy, with the 20-mile bike shuttle complete.  I haven't done many big new adventures lately, so I went to bed quite jittery.  

I awoke excited, and was walking way before first light.  I climbed Great Northern on the well worn climber's trail.  The climb was all in the spooky dark, but I enjoyed it.  Summiting at sunrise was sublime. 

Great Northern summit at first light.  Cold but excited for the day.

I had under estimated the cold wind, and was forced to keep scurrying along to keep warm.  Getting off the peak was a little bit more interesting than I had anticipated, but I was able to navigate around steep snow easily enough, and was soon off the peak and moving toward Grant.  The traverse of Grant and Liebig was straightforward and delightful.  This alpine section of the crest is a gem.

Looking back at Great Northern from near the summit of Grant.

Looking back at Liebig.

Beyond Liebig, the crest is below treeline, and the peaks are spaced further apart, but the line continued to be fast and fun.  I was hours ahead of schedule, snowmelt water was abundant, and my energy was great.  It was turning into the perfect day.  Liebig to Elk was a haul, but it was also quite fun.  Adams was quick.  Cameahwait was kind of long, and I started getting tired.  Getting off Cameahwait also took a while, but I ingested enough calories to get a good energy boost for the scrappy climb to Felix.  Unawah was quick enough.  And with that I was on the last summit for the day.  An unforecast rain storm rolled through, but it wasn't too severe, and I didn't care.  

Looking back from Adams.  Showing the simple, clean character of the terrain.

... and on the last summit, looking back to Felix from Unawah.

The exit was on the scrappy side of fun, but it wasn't bad.  I made a last minute change of plans and descended the East ridge to 6,700 feet, then descended straight South to the trail.  The descent was mildly scrappy, with an assortment of downfall, thick brush, and alder in the last few hundred yards to the trail.  But all in all it wasn't bad and didn't take too long.  The Logan creek trail out was pretty over grown, so I settled into a rhythm of mixed walking and easy running, with lots of yips and claps to ward off bears.  Before long, I was back at the car in flip flops, pleasantly tired, and elated about a wild new-to-me day in the mountains.  Approximately 11,600 vertical feet, done in 13.5 hours, trailhead to trailhead.

Thoughts:  What an excellent outing.  Although it is not technically difficult, the length and paucity of good bail options make it a substantial commitment.  The day ended up being quite a bit easier than I expected.  That was fine by me since it was nice to feel totally in control in this Covidian time.  I haven't been running very much this summer, but the biking coupled with a lot of mountain time training plan paid off.  I felt very well physically prepared for the day.

The outing firmly planted the seed for a return trip to take on the entire Flathead range.