North Canyon Peak (Bitterroots) - July 1, 2023

The first of July found six eager climbers in the Bitterroot Mountains just west of Hamilton on Canyon Creek. Our objective was North Canyon (9042) and Sheer Point (8976). On the trek were Lou Herritt, Sam Jacobs, Larry Hiller, Dori Gilels with Gail and Dell Meuchel. The day promised to be quite hot but, as usual, Montana weather took over. We had thunder and lightning by 10:30 am and began to question our continuation on the trip. We pushed on, seeing “sucker holes” and hoping for the best. The trail was quite rocky and overgrown, making progress difficult for the first six miles. Two lightning storms later we were at the crux of the climb with blue skies, very lucky. The summit block involved some tricky class 3 climbing which led us to a beautiful and very small summit on North Canyon. One at a time at the top. Two climbers continued to Sheer Point. The trip ended up being 11 hours, 15 miles and 4,500 vertical. Beverages at the trailhead topped off an excellent day with a great crew.  Leaders:  Dell and Gail Meuchel