About a month beforehand, Bill reached out to us regarding our Alpine Skills courses in Red Lodge. Being experienced in the mountains and a strong rock climber however, we settled on a more specific course that emphasized objective based learning for alpine rock climbing. To maximize flexibility, we planned four days in the region with one in town and three in the backcountry.
We kicked off the course with an early start in Red Lodge, carpooling to the West Fork trailhead to climb the Witch Towers via Hocus Pocus, a newer route put up by local climbers Ben and Leslie. Sporting a 1.5-2 hour approach and 7-8 pitches of mostly 5.7-9 climbing with a short 5.10a crux, this was a perfect intro into alpine rock in the area. Route finding, anchor building, gear placement, and even a standalone summit were the highlights of this splitter granite adventure.
The next day, we opted for a lazy start to allow for some rest before a few big days in perfect weather. We met at the Glacier Lake Trailhead, packed up our overnight bags, and hoofed it up to Moon Lake. The trail was beautiful as always, leaving the crowds behind on the trail and crossing through beautiful alpine meadows in full bloom.
Once camp was setup, we enjoyed perfect fishing conditions for a few hours before coming back to camp and practicing more anchor building, gear placement, and self rescue. While fishing, we were able to get eyes on our preferred objective: Lunar Arete. Located on the East Face of Spirit Mountain, this 1,500' climb rises off a steep permanent snow field, wandering up a slab beside a vertical wall before dancing around a massive arete high above Moon Lake. The final pitches cross onto beautiful pink granite, visible from camp, and eventually top out directly on the summit plateau. That evening, sleep was difficult with the overwhelming excitement for the next day!
We woke up around 4 am, brewing some coffee and enjoying a quick breakfast. Shortly before sunrise, we were leaving camp and circumnavigating Moon Lake en route to the snowfield guarding the base. With crampons and ice axes, we quickly ascended the steep snow and crossed onto the rock at the base of the climb right as the sun crested Mt Rearguard.
Unexpectedly, climbing beside the waterfall/chimney was no issue as the terrain to the left was only 5.4. Two long wandering pitches brought us to a small rap, where we traversed a ledge out left towards the broad arete feature. Stepping off the ledge, we immediately jumped into harder and more airy climbing. Flirting with the expanse, we found a nice 5.8-9 variation that pulled through a small roof feature and wandered up some slabs above. Generally trending right of the arete would offer the easiest route on this grey rock.
After two more wonderful pitches we found another ramp leading out toward the edge, depositing us at a rather memorable splitter crack. This pitch brought us up to another nice ledge, where tricky route finding wove through some loose but navigable terrain. Two more pitches brought us to a horizontal break in the climb, a rough edge stacked with gendarmes that separates the grey rock from the upper pink rock.
Crossing into the pink rock, the arete became more distinct. Floating 2,000' above Moon lake, this "out of this world" arete felt like the namesake of the climb. The rock quality improved greatly and yielded more splitter climbing, before topping out right on the summit plateau. In this pink rock, generally staying left of the arete was the name of the game.
We topped out after 6.5 hours and 12 long pitches on the arete, likely clocking in at around 1500' of technical climbing. An unsung classic of the Beartooths no doubt, it still has plenty of hazards and should be approached with respect. We enjoyed the midday sun on the summit before beginning the descent. Crossing past the unsafe Frosty Bowl descent, we worked our way through 3rd class ledges towards Frosty lake and eventually into our camp at Moon Lake in time for some more afternoon fishing.
The next morning, we woke up early again to beat afternoon storms and ensure a reasonable hike out. Walking out of camp, we quickly reached the beginning on the North Rib of Metcalf, one of my favorite alpine climbs in the region.
From here, we worked our way across the skyline swinging leads occasionally to practice some new skills real-time. The climb slowly ramps up to the final few pitches, all about 5.7-8. The last pitch is an optional wild tunnel through, ending directly on the summit block, right above camp!
We enjoyed our final summit of the trip, marveling at the spectacular East Face of Metcalf, before descending back towards camp. A quick pack up got us back on the trail and into the trailhead right as the afternoon rain started. Another great few days in the Beartooths! What a treat to be able to play and explore here- already looking forward to the next trip!
Interested in a similar trip? Or simply curious about some beta? Reach out to the author! akio@beartoothguides.com
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSGbWM0CAi0
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