Three Sisters and a Feisty Redhead
A traverse of four remote summits in the Bob Marshall Wilderness

Part Two: Over the Peaks
Part One: Hike in to Sock Lake
July 6 - 12, 2012
Copyright Notice

After resting a day and exploring the route possibilities above Sock Lake, April and I headed for the Three Sisters on our fourth day in the wilderness. Sorry, but there are a lot of photos but not too many words.
Pphotos by Ralph Thornton and April Seubert.
On our fourth day we left Sock Lake and traversed to a spot where we could climb the wall to reach the top of the Continental Divide.
April walks carefully along the slope with her big pack.
One last look back toward Sock Lake before we climb to the divide.
Some parts were more challenging than others.
Once on the divide we got our first look toward the Three Sisters and some beautiful trailless alpine country.
To get past a cliffy section of the divide we descended next to an area of huge talus.
A waterfall provided some much needed water and a gully on the right provided access to the higher slopes where we planned to camp.
The afternoon was hot and the climbing very tiring. Eventually we made camp and got our first look at the highest of the Three Sisters (8,900 ft.). The route looked good.
The sky was hazy and a thunderstorm at dinner time failed to clear the air. It was a nice sunset though.
The sun peaked out from the clouds just before dropping below the horizon. Sock Lake is way back there in a basin below the divide.
Finally on our fifth day out we began the traverse of the four peaks.
April approaches the top of the northern most and highest of the Three Sisters.
Great views from the summit.
Looking south past the Middle and Southern of the Three Sisters toward Redhead Peak.
Wahoooo!
The ground was dotted profusely with alpine forget-me-nots.
Hiking toward the Middle Sister.
The climb of the South Sister featured the steepest pitch.
Leaving the Three Sisters behind we begin the ascent of Redhead Peak.
I use the term feisty to describe the Redhead because the rock changed dramatically and the climbing got quite difficult. Loose rock and steep cliffs required some maneuvering.

Unfortunately the camera stayed in the bag during the ascent.
The Three Sister from the summit of Redhead Peak (8,795 ft.).
April is checking for the route down from Redhead Peak to Spotted Bear Pass. Lots of talus and some steep slopes. Lucky for us the bushwhacking was not bad.
After making the pass we walked a couple of miles up hill to My Lake where we camped for the night.
This spruce grouse bid us adieu as we left My Lake.
The days were really warming up and it was all we could do to walk the 15 miles down Rock Creek to the North fork of the Sun River. One more hot 90+ degree day of hiking got us back to the trailhead.

Back to Part One

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