Glacier Mountaineering Society

Tue, Sep 1 2009 - Apikuni Mtn (View Original Event Details)

Coordinator(s):		Ken Fielder
Participants:		Ken Fielder

Write Up:
Apikuni Mountain - September 1, 2009 Coordinator: Ken Fielder A small but congenial group of us had a very enjoyable late-summer climb of Apikuni Mountain in the Many Glacier Valley. We started up the trail shortly after 9 a.m. The upper part of the trail is blocked by rockfall and the Park Service appears to have abandoned it. We scrambled up the steep slope next to the falls and sat down at a level spot for a quick breakfast. I glanced at a small clump of trees near the stream just as a small grizzly emerged into the meadow 30 yards away. We all stood and watched as the bear ambled across the meadow, grazing as he went, and disappeared into the krumholz. We gave the bear's apparent route a wide berth as we made our own way through the krumholz and didn't see it again. We followed the creek draining the Natahki Lake basin for several hundred yards and then started up a dry tributary creek which angled straight toward the southeast ridge of Apikuni. We all reached the summit by 3 p.m. It was a warm, nearly cloudless day and we might have stayed longer except for annoying bugs swarming near the summit cairn. Thunder and lightning prompted our rapid descent and it began raining shortly after we reached the treeline. Greg, Leslie and I were a little soggy by the time we hit the trail. We got to the trailhead to find Frank and Bill sitting cozily in Bill's vehicle, having descended quickly enough to avoid the worst of the storm. Climbers were: Bill Haring, Leslie Kermath, Frank Wesolovski, Greg Kushnak, Ken Fielder.

Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Tim Anderson at twamontana@gmail.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.