A climb for the "Forgotten Five"

Me on top Forgotten Five Peak (Gordon Whirry photo) 

Gordon Whirry enjoys views from the saddle

Walking the limestone knife-ridge 

Our descent above the 1931 Waldron burn

What we'd like to call "Forgotten Five Peak" in honor of the five firefighters killed in the 1931 fire

Our old guys hiking group, Wayne's Wild Wednesday Walks, has a decidedly Forest Service- firefighters bias with two of our members in that corps while in college.

We've been to Mann Gulch in the Gates of the Mountains country several times with Norman Maclean's "Young Men and Fire" in hand trying to figure out how several of the ill-fated smokejumpers in that Aug. 5, 1949 fire escaped death by running up hill through a break in the ridge to the other side. Thirteen died in that fire.

On Wednesday, with Charles Palmer's "Montana's Waldron Creek Fire," in our pack we explored the South Fork Waldron country near the Teton Pass Ski Area to understand how five firefighters died there Aug. 25, 1931.

While the Mann Gulch Fire is famous, the Waldron Creek fire is virtually forgotten.

Palmer has tried to put that right with his 2015 book that humanizes the tragedy and reveals the Forest Service liability for the deaths of these men who were blamed for their own deaths.

Palmer has seen to it that three of the men have new grave markers, found a fourth grave marker and has ascertained a fifth member is buried in an unmarked pauper's grave in the Chicago area.

Essentially, while the fire boss was attending to some other task, five firefighters broke off and ran downhill from a group of 25 others to attempt to put out what they thought was another spot fire and got trapped as it blew up and consumed them in this remote Teton Peak valley.

The five who died were: Charles Allen of Pittsburgh, PA; Herbert Novotny, 20, of Great Falls, MT; Harry Gunnerson (or Gunderson), 34, of Great Falls, MT; Ted Bierchen, 43, of Great Falls, MT; Frank Williamson, 24, of Great Falls, MT.  We stopped at the Choteau Cemetery and found the Gunnerson and Allen grave markers  that Palmer had provided.

The Gunnerson and Allen grave markers in the Choteau Cemetery 

Williamson grave in Great Falls Highland Cemetery 

Novotny grave in Great Falls' Highland Cemetery

While the Mann Gulch Fire is memorialized with markers where the jumpers fell, there's nothing in this South Fork drainage to indicate the 1931 tragedy.

Palmer has put up a cairn, which we looked for and could not find in this vast watershed that was burned in 1917 and 1931 and then logged. There is plentiful evidence of all those things.

To find the area drive the Teton Canyon road that leads to the ski area and about a mile before you get there there's a marked Trail 193 that rises and falls in just a little over a three-quarters of a-mile to the South Fork where snowmobilers have constructed a make-shift bridge of lodgepoles over the creek. About 100 steps beyond the creek to the left there's evidence of small trail. It appears to be an old Forest Service or outfitters' trail marked by cut logs. We followed this up for about a half-mile and then cut over to the ridge line to the east and the ascended this ridge on a manageable angle. Then, it was a simple walk along the ridge to a saddle above the valley. We climbed the small peak to the east and larger peak, the high point, at 7,853 feet to the west.

We hiked 2.5 miles and gained about 2,200 feet to gain the peak. Along the way on the ridge we encountered sink holes that looked like they could be cave entry-points.

Along the ridgeline the views became more impressive the higher up we climbed. Here you are in the heart of the world class scenery of the Rocky Mountain Front with views of Mounts Wright, Lockhart and Choteau peaks dominant. It was breath-taking to attain the saddle as the Bob Marshall Wilderness high point, Rocky Mountain Peak, Old Baldy and Ear mountains became visible.

It was only 160 feet to the top from the saddle along a broken knife ridge of sharp limestone.

It appears as though others had been there before us as there was a rock pile on top. We added a cairn of five stones to commemorate the fallen fire fighters.

We all agreed that for the amount of effort, 5 miles round trip and 2,300 feet of elevation gain and loss, we had received a lot of bang for our effort.

In addition, we had spent the day contemplating the sacrifice of these men during the Great Depression.

Like Palmer, we had a hard time trying to figure out what really went on or where the men had fallen.

We agreed with him that they were truly forgotten and wondered if it might be appropriate to name this peak in their honor as something like, "Forgotten Five Peak," perhaps putting a plaque on top with their names and a description of the fire.

I think it would be appropriate.

Our route is in the red