During the winter of 2007 I chose the Anaconda-Pintlar Wilderness (APW) for its close proximity to my home in Helena, Montana. In addition I was nursing the wounds of having almost lost it all in Glacier National Park the winter before and was being ginger in which "bucking horse I was going to crawl back up on" for the grand healing.

Not surprisingly, the APW was not going to be slighted as the easy ride I had drawn the wilderness up to be, when compared to Glacier or the other wildernesses in Montana. Though I did not end up almost getting killed or even perceived myself as coming close to the edge, so to speak, such as I experienced in Glacier, there can be no doubt of the challenge the APW became, even with a low snowpack year.

My intent was to cross the wilderness and move on to something else. As it turns out the APW can not be treated so off-handed. Indeed, no area in Montana can be treated that way during the winter, safely. My first trip, which was on the Johnson Lake trail, soon handed my oversized head to me on a platter and invited me to put the wilderness on the "Gonna kick your butt before you're finished here" list.

By the time I completed the crossing on May 15th, 2007 I had five trips and 24 days of travel behind me, which had begun on February 22nd. Make no mistake, the APW is not the same place in the winter that can be found during the summer. But then I guess that last statement probably applies to all of Montana's Backcountry. Odd how beauty and dangerous seem to conspire with each other for those who would visit a place like the Anaconda-Pintlar Wilderness.

This presentation has approximately 200 photographs, which includes the summit of West Goat Peak (10,793 feet), tallest in the APW,and takes approximately one hour to complete. Samplings of the photos are in the albums below.

Please note important information on the main Presentation page.

You can contact me by email, postal mail, or phone.

Anaconda-Pintlar Wilderness; Winter of 2007
Johnson Lake Trail		Johnson Lake		Lost Lakes Basin		West Goat Peak
The Crossing