| Dayhiking Tempest Trip Report |
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| Dayhiking Tempest   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: Montana, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 45.16670°N / 109.7838°W Date Climbed/Hiked: Aug 22, 2002 | Page By: mr kieran Created/Edited: Nov 15, 2003 / Object ID: 169157 Hits: 393 Loading... Page Score: 0% - 0 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Lots of people climb Tempest Mountain: some en-route to or from Granite Peak, some just because they happen to be camped on the upper Froze-to-Death Plateau and the summit, after all, is right there--an easy stroll from the rock shelters dotting the plateau at 11,700 feet or so. But to do it as a day hike?
I concocted this scheme as I sat in the back of my vehicle at the West Rosebud Trailhead waiting for people who didn't show up. Originally, the intent had been to meet up with a friend (and some other guy) and climb Granite Peak, so I had driven down from Missoula with that intent and waited all evening and all the next day. Unfortunately my friend, after telling me to be at the WEST Rosebud Trailhead had gone to the EAST Rosebud Trailhead and embarked from there. After summiting Granite the next day and descending to the col, they would see me silouhetted against the sky on the top of Tempest--a black speck (although they did not know it was me at the time).
So, after blowing a whole day sitting around the trailhead doing nothing (although I did run up to Mystic Lake that evening), and with only one day left to spend before my necessary return, I decided to go ahead and "do" Tempest as a dayhike. I was pretty sure it could be done, though I suspected I would be a tad "fatigued" at the end.
I rolled out of my car (where I spent yet another night) just before light and churned on up the trail. I moved fast. Feeling fresh, I viewed the famed "switchbacks from hell" zig-zagging up to the plateau above Mystic Lake as a fine challenge, reached the saddle above in immaculate, gorgeous sunshine and figured the worst of the trip was behind me.
As a matter of fact, although it does not look like it, the summit of Tempest is a LONG way from the saddle, and the Froze-to-Death Plateau is a long way from being flat. Portions of the plateau surface are swampy, and the parts that aren't tend to be vast boulder fields. Thankfully, the weather was superb: not a cloud in the sky. August is definitely the best month to visit the Beartooths.
I finally reached the top of Tempest around 1:00, took some pictures, ate a Snickers bar, and passed out for a few minutes, then woke myself up snoring. I had good reason to be tired: I had hiked 11 miles and ascended nearly 6,000 feet of elevation since the morning. Now, I had 11 miles to hike and 6,000 feet to DESCEND. And I was through already.
The descent was a nightmare. Either on the way up or the way down (I'm not sure which) I hyper-extended my left knee on a loose boulder and by the time I reached the saddle again, the irritating terrain of the plateau behind me, I couldn't move my leg without feeling shooting, searing pain from the joint. And there were still all those switchbacks to go down.
I reached Mystic Lake on toward evening, limping slowly, and ran into the biggest challenge of the day: three or four steep switchbacks going UP. I almost crawled the distance to the top of that little hill. Now I only had three miles, all downhill. I thought I was going to die.
In all, the descent took me a couple hours LONGER than going up, and when I dragged up to my car at last and crawled into my sleeping bag, I found that I could not sleep...my knee hurt so much. At some point, despite the pain, I feel asleep (passed out is more like it) and woke up suddenly after what felt like a couple of seconds to find that it was nearly 7 a.m.
It was a couple of days before I could walk comfortably again.
So yes Tempest can be hiked in a day. However, what is POSSIBLE is not always PREFERABLE, as I found out.
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