Ptarmigan Spire

This beautiful spire-- which looks unclimbable from this side unless one wants to rope up and trust the rotten rock here-- is an important landmark along the traverse of the Ptarmigan Wall. From here, the saddle just north of the peak, walk the ridge until you find a goat trail heading to the right of the spire. This is the start of the "main" goat trail that traverses hte Ptarmigan Wall to Ahern Pass. If you are doing the traverse from south to north, it is at this point that you have to scramble downhill to the west (right from this perpective, for it faces south) to access the system of goat trails leading to Ptarmigan Tunnel. Glacier National Park, MT-- August 2009