Hyalite Ultimate Ridge Linkup (HURL)

Gallatin Range, MT

View of the East Ridge from Hyalite Peak

Date: 8/22/21

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/5837865447

FKT: https://fastestknowntime.com/route/hurl-hyalite-ultimate-ridge-linkup-mt

Trip Report:

Every time I’ve driven past Hyalite reservoir towards the Hyalite Creek Trailhead, I’ve dreamed of traversing the ridge that surrounds both sides of the drainage. The north side of the ridge running from Hyalite Peak to Blackmore is a common traverse but I hadn’t heard of anyone traversing the south side of the ridge running from Sleeping Giant to Hyalite Peak. I talked to a friend of mine, Tucker, who had attempted to perform a similar traverse last summer and he confirmed that the section of the ridge between Overlook Mountain and Hyalite Peak poised many difficulties and was unnavigable without doing some 5.10ish downclimbing on shitty rock. Equipped with this knowledge, I started thinking of my options as I was intent to complete the full traverse. My two options were: bolt anchors and bring a rope to perform rappels or drop off the ridge into the adjacent basins. The solution was pretty simple and I started mapping out potential routes to bypass the tricky sections of the ridge. To my surprise, dropping into the surrounding basins didn’t really add any distance or vert and it worked out perfectly to be able to refill water since there’s no running water on the ridge. I performed one recon mission to iron out my route Sleeping Giant to Hyalite and felt confident the whole link up would go.

After my legs and energy levels recovered from back to back days racing the Bridger Ridge Run and climbing Lunar Arete in the Beartooths, I started checking the weather for a day with no precipitation and reasonable AQI levels. Thankfully, Sunday August 22nd, looked promising and I had a plan to give the HURL a whirl. At first, I had planned on calling it the HURT (Hyalite Ultimate Ridge Traverse), but the HURL is definitely more fitting as the section of ridges are linked up since you can’t stay on the ridge 100% of the time. SLC has the WURL and now Bozeman has the HURL.

I woke up a little after 4 am and ate breakfast at home before heading into Hyalite. I parked at the West Shore TH and was running by 6:17 AM. About 15 minutes behind schedule, but at least I would have more light before the bushwhack to the base of the North Ridge of Sleeping Giant. After 2.5 miles of road running, it was time to head into the woods and start climbing. A few “Hey Bears” later and I was through the thick of it and heading up the ridge.

The route finding is pretty straightforward once you get on the ridge. The initial climb extends all the way to Flanders Mountain where you’re greeted with great views of Flanders Lake. From here, you work your way along the ridge all the way Overlook Mountain. The next stop is Chisholm Mountain, tied for the highest point in Hyalite at 10,333’. Most of the terrain up until Chisholm is Class 2/3 with some Class 4 moves sprinkled in. I dropped down to Fridley Lakes from the summit of Chisholm and filtered water. After hopping over a finger ridge, I headed up the northwest slopes of Fridley Peak. After Fridley Peak, I dropped into Horshoe Basin and cut over to a point on the ridge where the terrain mellows out again. At last, I was back on the ridge and headed up the east ridge of Hyalite Peak.

After not seeing anyone all day, it was a little strange to run into several groups of people on top of Hyalite Peak. They were a little surprised when I popped up from the opposite direction from the summer trail. I made the most of my limited time actually on a good trail and ran down to the lower saddle before leaving the trail to head up Peak 10201. I worked my way to Divide Peak and was able to stay on the ridge the majority of the time. From here, I worked my way towards Arden Peak and then Mount Bole. I had covered a lot of this same terrain when I performed a traverse from Hyalite to Blackmore with Henry last spring, so it was cool to revisit the area in the summer.

I contemplated whether or not to include Alex Lowe Peak in my route since it’s a bit of a detour off the ridge that runs from Mount Bole to Elephant Mountain. It didn’t take long to conclude that Alex Lowe Peak had to be included in the traverse to pay homage to the man the peak is named after. Alex Lowe is a legend in the climbing world and his feats are still discussed in disbelief today. There is a cruxy section just east of Point 9805 on the ridge running to Alex Lowe. I was able to drop off to the left of the ridge to bypass it. I descended Alex Lowe Peak via it’s southeast slopes and dropped into the head of the South Cottonwood Creek basin. I had plenty of water still, as I was carrying three liters and temperatures were cool, but there was adequate opportunity to filter water in this area. I then headed towards the saddle between Elephant and Blackmore. I heard some rustling in a nearby tree as I climbed out and saw 2 black bear cubs. Thankfully, their mom wasn’t close by. Once I hit the saddle, I headed the short ways up Elephant Mountain before heading back to get on the trail to get to the top of the Blackmore. It was a treat to be able to utilize a trail to get to the top of the last mountain of the day. Spending hours off trail, focusing on every step, sure makes you appreciate how mindless and efficient on trail travel is. I stood on top of Blackmore just as the sun was setting and caught a beautiful (and mostly smoke free) sunset. I dumped all my water in preparation for the 6 mile descent and started heading down. I was able to make it 2 miles without headlamp before it was time to get some lighting assistance. I got back to my truck at the West Shore Trailhead at 9:49 PM, a little over 15.5 hours after starting my day. My watch showed I had traveled over 28 miles with 14,000 ft of climbing.

Before the HURL, I told myself I was going to push the pace a little and try to set a respectable “Only Known Time” but I ended up taking it pretty easy. I just don’t enjoy trying to move fast on super loose terrain to be honest. Still, I’m super satisfied to enchain all the major peaks in Hyalite. I’d love to know if it’s been done before or not. Not surprisingly, there’s rumors of Alex Lowe doing the full horse shoe ridge traverse. Hopefully, the HURL catches on and a few people give it a go each summer. It takes you to the top of 12 peaks and you get to experience miles of untouched ridgeline with breathtaking views of countless alpine lakes.