A quick trip up Glacier's Elk Peak

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An alpine floral show on the trail 

Gordon Whirry on top

Looking down Ole Creek drainage 

The Fielding Cabin

I'm still trying to recover my strength and am testing myself on familiar peaks.
I abandoned a planned backpack trip into the Scapegoat Wilderness Monday and substituted a quick climb up Elk Peak (elevation: 7,835 feet)  on Glacier Park's southern boundary.
While the climb isn't particularly long at 7.3 miles roundtrip, it is particularly steep, with most of the 3,300 feet gain done in 2.5 miles.
The trail never seems to let up and is stingy with switchbacks.
I love this area of Glacier, immediately west of Marias Pass and just off Highway 2 across the road from the Geifer Creek turnoff into the Great Bear Wilderness.  If you want to do this hike, look for the Fielding Ranger Station in the Park accessed from this site.  The parking is tight, only three spaces at an angle.
The first .82 miles is on what appears to be an old railroad section that had been hlogged or burned.  There's a crossing of railroad tracks and a short search for the trailhead.
In less than a half mile there's the Fielding work station.  Just beyond the trail forks, with the right fork going up the mountain and the left fork to Ole Creek.  This is where the trail shoots straight up.
There are terrific views of the the Great Bear peaks, with Grant and Great Northern peaks especially prominent to the south.  You're high above Ole Creek, flanked by Running Rabbit and Scalplock (lookout) peaks.  To the east, Little Dog (connected by a ridge) and Summit mountains dominate the scenery above Marias Pass.  There are spectacular views across the Great Bear and Bob Marshall wilderness areas to the south.  The Two Med country with Rising Wolf and Flinsch peaks rise to the north.
On top there's debris from the former lookout cabin that has been torn down.
We were treated by a great floral display:  from the daisies near the trailhead to alpine lupine, miner's candle, buckwheat and silky Phacelia.
It is an easy climb, very accessible to those of us in Great Falls, where the climber gets a lot for the energy spent and free of the crowds in the developed Glacier portals.