Upper Holland / Sapphire Lakes loop

On Sunday July 17 Patti, Lynda and I hiked the Holland Lake / Upper Holland Lake / Sapphire Lakes loop in the Swan Mountain Range.  This is one of Patti's favorite hikes and she has wanted to take Lynda and I on this hike for a long time.  This was her only opportunity as in about a week she moves to Wisconsin to start her new job.

The number 13 flag marks the highest point of the hike, what we referred to as "the notch".

The hike - according to my GPS - was 13.5 miles long.  At the start we saw a sign indicting it was 7 miles to Upper Holland Lake so I expected the hike to be at least 14 miles long.  Perhaps the sign is wrong.  My GPS had the distance to Upper Holland Lake as around 6 miles.

If I calibrated my GPS's altimeter correctly we started at an elevation of about 4100 ft and our highest point was 7452 ft.  Of course the hike was not - quite - constantly straight up and down and we ended up gaining and losing about 3961 ft in elevation.

We spent 8 hours 51 minutes on the hike with 6 hours and 22 minutes of that time moving.  Almost 2 and 1/2 hours were spent standing or sitting.  It is easy to spend lots of time at the two lakes.

Patti and Lynda like to go on "death march" hikes.   Distance-wise this didn't meet the standard, but add in the elevation, especially the steep steady downhill over the final four miles and we all were happy to see Patti's car and to sit down.  It didn't hurt that waiting for us back at Patti's car in a cooler with ice was the wine and crackers Lynda had brought for us to toast our final hike together and Patti's moving away.

While the final downhill looks (and felt) brutal, this is the best way to do the loop as we felt the scenic views were best doing the loop in a counter-clockwise manner.

At the same spot about a mile from the trailhead - on our hike in and our hike back out - we met some lost people.  In the morning we met a young couple asking if this was the way to Rumble Lakes.  They were at a junction with a trail that goes over to the Rumble Lakes trail.  We thought the couple started at the Holland Lake parking lot.  No! They had started at the Rumble Lakes trailhead and missed the side trail to Upper Rumble Lake.  They had hiked around 5 miles out of their way and over to our trail.  The trail connecting the Holland Lakes trail with the Rumble Lakes trail was overgrown and brushy.  The young couple were soaked from about their waist down.  They took the news of being "way" lost really well.  I'm not sure I would have been as accepting about it; especially as they had a wet 5 miles hike back to the Rumble Lakes trail.   Oh! To be young!

Then on our hike back to Patti's car we met a father and son at the same trail junction.  They were asking how to get to Holland Lakes.  They had been mountain biking the trail from the Rumble Lakes trailhead.  On purpose!  However they took the trail to Upper Rumble Lakes when they didn't mean to.   I've hiked that trail - it is a user/fisherman's trail and goes in a pretty much straight line to Upper Rumble Lakes and therefore is very steep.  The mountain bikers realized their mistake and got onto the trail that led to us.  The wife had decided to quit after their Upper Rumble Lakes mistake and she planned to drive their vehicle to the Holland Lakes parking lot.  The father and son said the trail was very brushy and often they couldn't see the ground while riding.  The father had a gash on one leg with blood.  He refused Patti's offer of a band-aid.

Patti explained how to get to the Holland Lakes trailhead parking lot and off they went downhill, though carefully in the beginning as there were large tree roots and drops on the trail.

It was ironic that both groups made a mistake that was opposite of what they wanted, but was what the other group intended.

The son riding off once Patti gave directions.

Before we reached Holland Creek we were passed by a man who looked to be a long distance mountain runner.  He could have been the same guy who Patti and I met in 2014 when we hiked up a nearby trail to Holland Lookout.  Later we met a young woman hiking alone who said she knew the guy.  He was indeed a long distance mountain runner.

The young woman (18? 19? 20 years old?) had the look of what in my day back in the early 70s was called a "hippy chick".  She wore along black shirt long enough to be also used as a short dress.  She wore loose flowing pants of a fuchsia(?) color with a wild pattern covering the pants.  And a pack and hiking shoes.

Fuchsia

The young woman passed us as we were crossing Holland Creek.   High water apparently washed out one bridge and damaged another one.  The damaged bridge was tilted.  A handrail was off to one side and one had to be tall with long arms to use the handrail.  I was able to balance and walk across it.  I helped Lynda at the end where the handrail was no longer an option.  Patti took off her shoes and walked across the creek which was not deep.

Damaged bridge

Our hike was a very scenic hike.  For much of the way to Upper Holland Lake we hiked along Holland Creek.  Usually when hiking along creeks one gets an occasional glimpse of the creek.  This time we had lots of views of the creek.  And there were a number of small waterfalls worth a pause to look at.

Upper Holland Lake had a serenity to it and was relaxing.  Sapphire Lakes was pretty in it own austere way.  The hike up to the "notch" was alpine.  The view through the notch was great.  Coming the direction we did had us going from the austere alpine views to the lush valley far below with Holland Creek and Holland Lake.  Also the trail appeared to disappear briefly near the top of the notch as the trail descended quite quick initially before "leveling" out to a steady downhill descent.  Look at the elevation profile above to see the short very steep drop in elevation.

There are quite a number of trails in this area.  Patti had a map of the trails which was very helpful as the trail signs are not the best.


The weather was ideal.  Sunny but not too hot.  The hike to Upper Holland Lake is in trees with plenty of shade on the uphill hike.  The hike up to Sapphire Lakes has some shade but being alpine the trees were not too thick.  The same with the hike to the 'notch'.  The first mile or so down from the 'notch' it was more open than treed, but that gave beautiful views of Holland Lake, Mission Mountains and the valley below.  The last few miles were in trees.

We had some clouds build after we left Sapphire Lake but the rain held off until our drive home.


In the morning as I was getting ready I saw this...

During our drive out of Kalispell we saw another hot air balloon looking for a place to land. I don't know where that balloon landed as it appeared to be either houses or fields with crops all around.



Here are 55 photos from our hike.  I had to put them in Google Photos as Google is no longer supporting Picasa for photo sharing.  Under Google photos (unlike Picasa) I can't add text to be shown as a caption for the photos.  I can add text under the info icon for each photo.  Click on info for a description of the photo.  Let me know if there is a problem - as the photo album owner I probably don't see the photos as you do.

 https://goo.gl/photos/Dw4VUQeCbS9yaDJe6


Here is a 49 second video of Holland Creek and Upper Holland Lake: https://youtu.be/H5NK6EehWVE

Mission Lookout

Friday, October 24, Joyce, Kendra and I hiked to the Mission Lookout in the Flathead National Forest. The lookout, constructed in 1959, is at an elevation of approximately 3,700 feet. It is a 15-by-15 facility atop a 40-foot tower.

To reach the lookout:

From Swan Lake, travel south on Highway 83 for 3 miles. Turn west onto Porcupine Creek Road 10229 (mile-marker 68). After passing Forest Road 9714, turn right onto Forest Road 9803 (2.2 miles after leaving the state highway). Continue on Forest Road 9803 for 1.4 miles, to a gate. The gate may be opened. If not, it can be opened with the same combination code as the tower. The tower and parking area are located just beyond the gate.

The gate was open so we could have driven all the way to the lookout but we parked Kendra's car near the intersection of roads 10229 and 9803 and walked a little over a mile to the lookout.

We gained about 400 ft in elevation.

This lookout was also closed.  We were able to climb the tower until we reached a (combination) locked 'door' in the platform floor.  While this lookout is taller than the Napa lookout, the trees are taller.  So our view of the Swan Mountain Range from just below the cabin floor was merely ok through gaps in the tree tops.

This lookout is a rental lookout.  A fire pit is nearby.  Propane tanks are also nearby with a metal pipe going up the tower to the lookout cabin.

A sign on the tower warned of pack-rats and recommended leaving your vehicle's hood open so pack-rats would not build a nest in your engine compartment.

There is a modern restroom/outhouse at this lookout.

Little Napa Lookout

Friday, October 24, Joyce, Kendra and I hiked to two lookouts in the Swan Valley. First we hiked to Little Napa Lookout in the Swan River State Forest.  Then we hiked to the Mission Lookout in the Flathead National Forest. Both lookouts were relatively close to one another.

Both hikes were short. 2 miles each round trip for a total of 4 miles.
Napa Lookout had an elevation gain of about 540 ft.

I did not see a restroom / outhouse at this lookout.

Napa Lookout:

Near mile marker 62 on Hwy 83 turn onto Center Loop Road.
Drive on Center Loop road for about 4 miles until to get to an intersection.
Turn left and drive a third of a mile until you get to another intersection.  There is a sign here indicating to turn left for Napa Point Road.
Turn left and drive for a little over a mile until you see a road on your right.
Turn right onto this road and drive for a little more than a tenth of a mile until you see a gated road on your left.  This is the trail head.

Red is the roads were drove in on.
Blue is part of the road (Goat Creek road?) we drove out on. We had missed a turn. We ended up 3 miles further south (mile marker 62) when we got back to Hwy 83.
Purple is where we seen the fire activity sign.
Orange is the trail to Napa lookout.

Trail head

The "trail" is a road.

Lookout with Mission Mountains in the background

The lookout was closed for the year.  Solar panels indicates it is used.   A difference in most other lookouts is that metal sheets are used to cover the windows when not in use instead of wood panels.

I don't know what is in the wooden structure under the lookout.  Most likely supplies.   The metal box is unusual.  Not sure what it is for.  A sign mentioned radio frequencies.

Fall colors

Swan Mountains in the foreground.  Mission Mountains in the background.

Mission Mountains

Mission Mountains (left).  Swan Lake.  Swan Mountains (right)

Mission Mountains

Holland lookout cabin

Sunday October 19 Patti and I hiked up to the Holland lookout cabin.  This is a destination Patti and I each have wanted to do for a long time.

Trail to the lookout cabin

 Saturday's clouds and rain moved on and Sunday morning it was a completely clear sky on a relatively warm Fall day.  A perfect day to hike up on top of a mountain to a lookout.  That is, if the mountain top was not snow covered.  Otherwise, Plan B was to hike to Upper Holland Lake.

During the drive down the Swan Valley we looked at the mountains for signs of snow.  It was hard as we were sort of looking into the rising sun and many of the mountains were in silhouette.  Some mountains had snow and others did not.  Not quite a rhyme or reason to it.

It didn't appear the mountains we would be hiking on had snow, but we wouldn't really know until we climbed up there.  We were fortunate as there were only a few small patches of snow in the shade of trees near the trail on high.  Nothing to really write home about.

At about 9:30 am we weren't really early but there were only a few vehicles in the trailhead's large parking lot.  Many trails leave from here and this is a popular hiking area.

Holland Lookout

Established with a camp in 1921, this 14x14' stone & shake cabin, built in 1931, was abandoned in 1953 and is still there.

The distance to the lookout (cabin) was 6.3 miles one way.
The elevation gain was about 4001 ft.  I don't remember much level ground on the trail; it was mainly up to the top which appears to be at 8074 ft.

3 hours 45 minutes to hike up to the lookout and 2 hours 15 minutes to hike back down to the car.  We spent quite a while at the top as there were mountains all around us.  The Bob Marshall Wilderness lay to our east.  Great Northern Mountain could be seen in the far north.

The calves on my legs were a little sore the next day from the up and down hiking.

Half way up the mountain we were passed by a young man with a young dog on a leash.  He was still at the top when we arrived.  He verified which mountain was Holland Peak. He had hiked to the top of Holland Peak last year and we talked about difficulty.  It is doable without technical means.  If you remember, Holland Peak was the mountain I attempted over a month ago before running out of time.

Holland Peak is the far white peak behind all the other peaks.

Patti and I were getting close to the top when we were passed by a young 20-something man who was running up the trail.  He was gone from the top when we arrived.  The guy with the dog told us the other guy went running along the ridge to the mountain to the NW of us.  Even though he was wearing a florescent yellow shirt we never saw him.  He caught back up to us when Patti and I came back down the mountain and were near the junction for trail 42 and 42.1.

There are plenty of trails in the area and during the hike down we missed a trail junction somehow.  Once we came to a tall stand of Canadian Thistle we realized we were not on the right trail.  We apparently weren't the only ones to miss the trail junction as a short distance away was a steep user created cut-off trail connecting the two trails.


Look at all the beargrass!  I have never seen so much, especially over a large area.  It must have been fantastic when it was in bloom this Summer.

The lookout appears to have been recently worked on.

A bit of a climb.  The trail head is near Holland Lake at 4001 ft below.  The Mission Mountains are on the horizon.

For more photos follow this link:

https://plus.google.com/photos/109566462412251958234/albums/6073624292748167393?authkey=CNj03a7TkvbxvgE


For a 360 view from the top follow this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEeOGg6cQ-k&feature=youtu.be

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Rumble Creek Lakes, Holland Peak attempt

Friday August 29 I did a strenuous hike to Lower and Upper Rumble Creek Lake and attempted to climb to the top of Holland Peak.  I hiked with Jim, his son Bob, Dick (75 years old!!!), and Doug.

Jim forgot to turn off his GPS app when we got back to the trailhead so I am estimating our total mileage at 8.5 miles and the elevation gain at 4500 ft.


Driving two vehicles we left Kalispell shortly after 6 am.  We were delayed on our drive down the Swan Valley because we had to stop at a coffee kiosk near Woody's so Bob could get a foo-foo latte.  He lives near Seattle so I think they are required to drink foo-foo lattes.    The kiosk hadn't finished brewing that day's coffees so we had to wait a little bit.

On Montana Hwy 83, about 2 miles south of Condon, MT (mile marker 39) we turned east on the Rumble Creek Rd. We followed that road four miles to parking area, which is a quarter mile or so past the Cooney Lookout Tower.

We were on the trail shortly before 8 am.

It appears the treeline was logged back a short ways from the parking lot.  It also appears there was a fire that went from near the parking lot into the trees a short distance scorching some of the trees.  Most likely a campfire that got out of control.

In the photo below is a group of young backpackers planning to camp at Upper Rumble Creek Lake.  An indication of the slower speed we hiked at, we never caught and passed this group.  When we were heading out from Lower Rumble Creek Lake they could be seen at the top near Upper Rumble Creek Lake, an elevation gain of almost 1000 ft between the lakes.

Forest service trail 192 doesn't have too much elevation gain.  However, after about a mile, and after you cross a wooden bridge over Rumble Creek, you'll round the corner of a ridge, at which point the fisherman/climbers trail to the lakes will be on the left-hand side of the trail.  This trail goes from point A to point B in the shortest way possible.  Other than minor twists and turns around trees I only remember one switchback on the trail.  Otherwise it goes straight up.

For comparison,  think of going up Elk Mountain in Glacier for over 4 miles non-stop.  Or think of hiking higher than Swiftcurrent Lookout in about 4 miles instead of 6.5 miles from the Loop on the Sun Road.

Yeah...  steep!

Part of our slow progress was that once we left the forest service trail (in addition to the steepness) was that Doug, who only planned on hiking to the upper lake to fish, was ahead of me and he stopped numerous times to turn and face me for emphasis when finishing a story.  We were fourth and fifth and the other three hiking members ended up stopping a few times so we could catch up. We were over 3/4 the way to Lower Rumble Creek Lake when I took the low 'road' around a large tree over the trail while he limboed underneath the fallen tree.  Then I was fourth and he couldn't stop to finish his stories.

Other than some downfall - for which user paths were being created around the fallen trees - the fisherman/climbers trail was surprisingly in good condition.  Not many huckleberries left but I found a number of serviceberries to munch on the way to the lower lake.

The highlight of this first section of the climb is that you have a phenomenal view of the Swan Valley, which is much bigger than I thought it to be. You don't realize the sheer size of the valley while driving through it, perhaps due in part to the dense forest. I was surprised at how many lakes and picturesque farm/estates speckle the valley floor.

 The trail does moderate somewhat after a brutal 2,000' elevation gain over the first ridge.

Almost 3/4 to the lower lake you come out of the trees to an open mountain side.  Don't go straight through the old landslide.  Too sketchy.  Instead take a hard right and drop down through the trees a short distance (which seems too long when coming back the the way and you have to climb this section!) and exit the trees on a steep trail.  Coming back Doug tried to cross the landslide area instead of dropping down and climbing back up and regretted it.

Just before reaching the lower lake you have to cross the Rumble Creek over a fallen log.

 

Lower Rumble Creek Lake

We stopped and ate a snack at Lower Rumble Creek Lake.  There is a camping area with some logs to sit on near the lake.

In the photo below, Holland Peak can be seen in the background just sticking up just left of center.  Below the peak, in the center,  is the large rocky area that acts as a dam for the Upper Rumble Creek Lake.  The top of the rocky area is outlined with green/trees.

There is a large waterfall coming out of the upper lake. The waterfall is just left of center in the following photo. The upper lake cannot be seen until you are almost there. You may need to click on the photo to enlarge it to better see the waterfall.  The trail from the lower lake to the upper lake goes on the right side of the lakes.  The trail can be seen from the right side of the photo at the mid point.  The trail goes through rocks, scree and trees and pretty much hugs the right cliffs.  The trail goes up the right side of the waterfall.

Because the trail is along the north side of the cliffs, I imagine there will be snow here well into the Summer.

An overhead view of the lake on our return as Bob waits for us.  Both lakes turned a gorgeous blue when viewed from above.

 

Lower lake to Upper lake.

The loose rock makes the sometimes indistinguishable trail to Upper Rumble Creek Lake a difficult one. We stopped many times to rest and enjoy the view before climbing further. When you reach the upper section of the waterfall, the remainder of the climb is completely unmarked. You'll need to stay to the right as much as possible, where the loose rocks meet the face of the cliff-side. You'll need to be fairly sure-footed here and keep moving so as not to slide back down.

FYI - see the green 'knob' ridge beyond the lake.  The trail went straight up and over the ridge.  Usually game trails or forest service trails would circle around the side of the ridge and gain elevation more slowly.  Also, we started our hike at the same elevation as the brown patch off the left side of the green ridge.  The open area on this side of the ridge was shown earlier in photos where I talked about going down.

Once you get this high (where we are standing in the photo below) you cut across to the left to the trees.  It is a short way up and over to the lake.  You pop out of the trees and the lake is right there.

The Swan Valley and the Mission Mountains are in the background.

 

 Upper Rumble Creek Lake

The elevation at the lake is around is 7,890 ft, almost 1000 ft higher than the lower lake.  The elevation gain from the trailhead is about 3400 ft to the upper lake.  My guess is that it is about three to three and a half miles to the upper lake.

Now one may think the route up to the top of Holland Peak is on the left and then over to the right up to the top.   Nope.  The route is to the right of the photo.  A later photo will show you where you leave the lake.

 

Upper Rumble Creek Lake from above

I was standing on the trail when I took this photo.

 

Upper Rumble Creek Lake to Holland Peak

Time was getting short if we wanted to get back to the vehicles before dark. It was 1 pm now.  Including the lunch stop at the lower lake it took us 5 hours to get here.  We were moving slow.  The plan was to leave the packs here and just take water and a few light snacks.  Even so we ended having another short lunch break.  By the time we got the water and snacks, etc. sorted out more time had passed.  There were chipmunks about so we hung our packs on branches in the short trees.

Doug stayed at the lake and fished.  He claims to have caught several large fish while were gone. One fish was 20 inches long.  He let them go as he didn't want to pack them out.  He also didn't have a camera to take photos of the fish.

The route up is up on the right side of the photo to the top of the ridge.  Then go left along the ridge around the south summit which is left of center.

You can see the start of the trail in the gravel at the bottom.

A view of Dick on our climb.  Yes! This section from the lake to the top of the ridge is very steep.

A view of Jim on our return down.

High enough to see more of Holland Peak.  The last bit to the top doesn't look bad.  Yeah... right!

About 10 or so Mountain goats watch us as we climb.  You can see one goat still has part of its winter coat.  We saw bits and pieces of that coat on the trail starting at the lower lake.

Swan Valley and the Mission Mountains.  Note to Brian: this is the valley you drove through on your return to Minnesota.

On our hike up we met a 60 yr old woman and a young (maybe 20 yr old) French guy.  They only made it as far as most of our group later did.  Jim is in blue climbing up and the couple are mid right side going down.  Note: the "V" on the left edge is where we came up to the ridge top from the lake.

Still looks like the worst is over.

Hmmm... the 'notch' could be tricky.

The 'notch' is a tilted slab of rock.  How to get there?

That's the Bob Marshall Wilderness in the background.

Looking back at the south summit.   The 'pyramid' in the center is Buck.

Another view of the 'notch'.

See a route to the 'notch'? Keep this photo in mind to come back to.

I found a skree chute and went down it.   To the left is the 1500 ft drop to the lake you had seen in earlier photos.

Opps... dead end.  The shadows indicate two cliffy sections I did not want to climb down to reach the notch.

I climbed back up the skree chute to where the group had caught up to me.   Jim had the following descriptions:

Ascent Trip Report

The climbers' trail is very easy to follow. Beyond (N of) the south summit, and just before the blocky slab section, descend an easy scree chute to the east. Then, to keep it class 2, cross west and traverse an easy sidewalk ledge across the top of the 1,500' west face before regaining the blocky slabs and moving to the base of the straightforward summit pyramid.

Another Trip Report

Here's my recommendation to future climbers negotiating the rocky ridge on Holland:

When you reach the first dropoff at the N edge of the flat talus-and-tundra summit plateau of the S peak, proceed a short distance R (E) until you find a talus slope that you can descend. This avoids a sketchy and exposed direct climb down one of the tilted terraced blocks.

Then, keep your eye out for some class 2 ledges on the L (W) side of the ridge. When you see your chance, go for it; it will save you another sketchy and exposed downclimb. Holland Peak can be climbed via a route that's no more than low class 3, and it's not difficult to find it if you know it's there.

But we weren't sure if the skree chute I went down was the correct one.  We checked out other skree chutes but none looked better.

We went back to the top edge and looked.  Using his descriptions and the view Jim wondered if the 'sidewalk ledge' was where the lone tree was located.  I went back down the first skree chute and this time looked for an opening to cross over to the cliff side of the ridge.

There I go.  Don't look down!

Photo taken by Jim.

Photo taken by Jim.

Now to get down to the "V"...  this is the furthest I got.

The "V" up close.

From the "V" looking up to the summit.  Hey!  What happened to the "flat" climb up?  When did it get so steep?

A wider photo taken at the "V" doesn't make it less steep.

Looking back to the group waiting for me.  The south summit is in the center of the photo.

I got this off the internet.  The lower people are at the furthest point I reached.

A closeup view of Holland Peak.  I guess my ascent will have to wait until next year.

Some parting shots of the lakes.

Lower and Upper Rumble Creek Lakes.

View of the Upper lake from the farthest I had reached.

By now it was 3:30 pm.  It was too late to reach the summit of Holland Peak.  It would probably take the group 45 minutes to reach the summit and not much shorter to come back down. And a strong breeze had started.   So we turned around to try again next year.  While it is possible to do as a day hike, we'll most likely camp at the Upper Rumble Creek Lake and then climb to the summit.

Heading back down.

Coming down off the south summit.

After hiking for hours and hoping we were almost back to the vehicles...

... yes, those are our vehicles in the clearing just below the tops of the trees just above and right of center.

Darn!

With such a steep trail the going down was slow as one had to spend energy slowing themselves down.  We made better time and we all got down from the upper lake in 3 hrs 15 minutes.  We reached the vehicles at 8:15 pm just as the sun had set.  Whew!  No hiking in the dark on a very steep trail.

Here is a short video of a few parts of our hike:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seow-evS3DM&feature=youtu.be


86 photos from the hike can be seen at this link:

https://plus.google.com/photos/109566462412251958234/albums/6056596942640407905?authkey=CKmcstap_8SdpwE