Mount Henkel
  • Mount Henkel
  • 2673 m
  • Primary factor 198 m
  • Saddle is interpolated to 2475 m on a 80 feet contour map.
  • Higher neighbor is Apikunl Mountain 2764 m.
  • Glacier National Park, Montana
  • Location: North 48:49.28, West 113:41.00
  • Difficulty: YDS class 2+ (our route)
  • Climbed in June 1997

Information:

How to get there: Henkel is located in Glacier National Park in Montana. It is best accessed from The Many Glacier area on the north-east side of the park.
Route description: For the first part, the route follows the main trail leading in the valley from the motor lodge area. Near a creek, a faint trail turns directly up the grassy slopes towards some distinct rock bands with a small valley above them. The rock band looks difficult, but there are ledges and easy steps leading across and up into the small valley. From here we crossed over to the left and climbed across a very distinctive slope of fine-grained scree. Trying to enter the ridge of Henkel from the very end requires climbing, we followed a `goat trail', a quite distinct ledge, until reaching a gully that seemed to provide a way up to the ridge. (The guide book by Edwards on Glacier prescribes that one should hike into the bottom of the valley, across a few distinct red rock bands and then head up to the ridge, this may well be an even better route, but we never tried it.)
The gully is steep, but with good holds for hands and foot, I had no difficulty guiding my 8 year old up here. After getting onto the ridge, there are no more route finding problems. The ridge is easy to follow all the way to the summit. We did notice a cairn on the ridge which probabely is a marker for the `official' route up onto the ridge.
Comments: We returned by way of the same gully, half way down we met several mountain goats (with kids) on their way up. Our conclusion is that this (alternative) route must have some merit since the `locals' seem to prefer it.