Most challenging passes in the park

[Heff936]

Having hiked up and over many passes in GNP, and also virtually hiked many more on our incline trainer linked with iFit live. For those who aren't familiar with iFit, it's a subscription that allows you, among other things, to create your own workouts using Google Maps. So I can go in and in a fee minutes trace a trail up any pass in the park. The Nordic Track Incline trainer can go up to a 40% slope or down to -6% so it can simulate just about any trail. So I have developed a pretty clear idea of the most challenging passes but I'd like to get the opinions of others on this chat page. Which pass was the most physically challenging and why? I'll offer my own opinions after i see if there is any interest in this topic. Your turn.

Heff

[paul]

Stoney Indian Pass from the east with a full backpack has always been tough for me.

[Ear Mountain]

Cut Bank Pass from the west. Start on Nyack Creek and go from there. Very steep.

[Heff936]

It will be interesting to see the posts. I will have to schedule cut bank pass to test that one out. As for the east side of Stoney Indian Pass, that is my favorite pass to climb and one I have always found very doable because the climb is broken into three steps with flat sections between. While I have never hiked up the Gable Pass trail from the west, I Have descended it enough times to know it is brutal, especially in the first mile and a half when you gain 1500 feet. I found the ascent from the Waterton Valley to the plateau around Fifty Mountain to be tough and unrelenting. The south side of Two Medicine Pass is also very hard on the incline trainer because it is unrelenting and the steepest part is in the last mile. The hike up to the tunnel also seemed tough to me, largely due to the heavy pack and the length of the climb from the valley.

Heff

[Heff936]

Cut Bank Pass from the west. Start on Nyack Creek and go from there. Very steep.

I see what you mean Ralph. About 2600 feet in the 2.8 miles. That is seriously tough. I'll try it on the incline trainer tomorrow but probably won't try to tackle that one with a full backpack.


Heff

[paul]

As for the east side of Stoney Indian Pass, that is my favorite pass to climb and one I have always found very doable because the climb is broken into three steps with flat sections between.
Heff

I think the problem for me is that the first two steps are quite steep and overgrown. This year I hiked up to Boulder Pass from the west. I figured it would be hard but it turned out not bad at all. I think the reason is a consistency of the slope. You are going up most of the time but it's not too steep. Or maybe I was just in better shape this year

[Heff936]

As for the east side of Stoney Indian Pass, that is my favorite pass to climb and one I have always found very doable because the climb is broken into three steps with flat sections between.
Heff

I think the problem for me is that the first two steps are quite steep and overgrown. This year I hiked up to Boulder Pass from the west. I figured it would be hard but it turned out not bad at all. I think the reason is a consistency of the slope. You are going up most of the time but it's not too steep. Or maybe I was just in better shape this year

Paul I have been "virtually" hiking up Boulder Pass from UPK for the last few weeks and I agree that it isn't bad considering it's about a mile longer than most passes and it ascends over 3000 feet. The key is the steep part is in the first mile once the trails starts uphill. After that aren't any long steep sections, just short ones interspersed with shallower slopes. One thing iFit does is give you a good visual of the profile. Like any graph, the more area under the profile line the more energy you expend. The incline trainer really helps me in the winter since I am not allowed to run and we don't have any good hills here and rarely have enough snow to ski.

Heff

[wnysteve]

The south side of Two Medicine Pass is also very hard on the incline trainer because it is unrelenting and the steepest part is in the last mile.
Heff

The first time I hiked to Two Medicine Pass from the Park Creek side, I backpacked out of Lake Isabel and hit the halfway point to the Pass in brutal midday sun. That was exhausting. The next year I started very early in the morning from Upper Park Creek on an overcast day, and it was a totally different experience.

[Heff936]

The south side of Two Medicine Pass is also very hard on the incline trainer because it is unrelenting and the steepest part is in the last mile.
Heff

The first time I hiked to Two Medicine Pass from the Park Creek side, I backpacked out of Lake Isabel and hit the halfway point to the Pass in brutal midday sun. That was exhausting. The next year I started very early in the morning from Upper Park Creek on an overcast day, and it was a totally different experience.

I'm guessing the sun has a big impact on how we perceive the difficulty of a hike. That may be why I found the hike up from the Waterton Valley to be tough. It was a very sunny warm day and we roasted on the way up. There are also some easy hikes that have consistently been in the sun and seemed worse than much harder hikes. I'm sure your first trip up Two Medicine Pass must have been brutal in full sun.

[joybird]

Sun. And water...or lack thereof.

I'm remembering a rather unexpectedly brutal section of my backpack from Packer's Roost up to Flattop in 2013. Turned out to be much harder than the climb from Bowman to Hole in the Wall had been a few days before....all because the sun was relentless and I didn't have enough water. A mistake I don't intend to repeat!

[Heff936]

Sun. And water...or lack thereof.

I'm remembering a rather unexpectedly brutal section of my backpack from Packer's Roost up to Flattop in 2013. Turned out to be much harder than the climb from Bowman to Hole in the Wall had been a few days before....all because the sun was relentless and I didn't have enough water. A mistake I don't intend to repeat!

The more I think about it, the more I think terrain is just one factor and maybe not the biggest factor. I remember some rather brutal downhill sections that were brutal almost entirely because of heat and sun. One backpack from Poia Lake to Elizabeth Foot turned out to be very tough because the sun followed up one side of the pass and down the other. Being able to see the refreshing Elizabeth Lake below us made it even worse since we couldn't wait to get there. The packs were very heavy, but the sun and 90+ heat made all the difference. If I were to hike that route again, I'd shoot for a very early start.

[ND]

[smahurin]

I think there are different types of "difficult". At least for me, I'm in decent shape but have chronic knee issues. As a result I'll ascend all day long and be happy. But descending destroys me... haha therefore I view elevation loss as "challenging". Obviously your goal isn't to incline train descending but based on my knees talking to me the one pass that stands out is stoney indian from the waterton valley side. I've only gone down this way, but that was the one descent that my knees remember to this day.

I believe there is close to 4,000ft in elevation change on that route. Although, it might just be slow and steady and maybe the continuous descent got me as opposed to "steepness", not sure. I know I've done gunsight both ways and the hike from lake mcdonald to lincoln pass going up isn't honestly that bad just because its a steady incline the whole way, and there isn't real "steepness" anywhere. However, going down the 3500ft still made me knees talk to me. So that might not be a true indicator of difficulty.

[Heff936]

I think there are different types of "difficult". At least for me, I'm in decent shape but have chronic knee issues. As a result I'll ascend all day long and be happy. But descending destroys me... haha therefore I view elevation loss as "challenging". Obviously your goal isn't to incline train descending but based on my knees talking to me the one pass that stands out is stoney indian from the waterton valley side. I've only gone down this way, but that was the one descent that my knees remember to this day.

I believe there is close to 4,000ft in elevation change on that route. Although, it might just be slow and steady and maybe the continuous descent got me as opposed to "steepness", not sure. I know I've done gunsight both ways and the hike from lake mcdonald to lincoln pass going up isn't honestly that bad just because its a steady incline the whole way, and there isn't real "steepness" anywhere. However, going down the 3500ft still made me knees talk to me. So that might not be a true indicator of difficulty.

While I don't have knee problems, I definitely agree that descents are harder on the body than ascents. My wife and I have descended from Stoney Indian Pass to the Waterton Valley many times and while the elevation drop is about the same as many other passes, something about that descent kills our feet. I don't know why but it is very painful every time, while my feet do better, for example coming down the steeper Gable Pass trail. There is about 300 more feet of descent and its much steeper in many sections, but it never hurts my feet like that side of Stoney Indian Pass.

[liketohike]

I have been fortunate not to have knee problems so far, therefore my memories are related more to ascents...how about going up to Dawson Pass two days in a row (the 2nd day with a backpack)? Our permit was NON-OLD, so we took the boat the 1st day, set up camp at No Name Lake and hiked up to scramble up Flinsch Peak...The 2nd day went up again and over to Pitamakan Pass and camp at Oldman Lake. Going up the 2nd day was a little rough as we didn't get up super early and it was a warm sunny day, but the views on the other side were well worth it.

It's interesting to hear about going to Boulder Pass from UPK. When we went the opposite direction a couple of years ago (BOU to UPK) I remember thinking I was glad we were going down as it seemed quite long at the time...but may be it's not as bad.