Broadwater County High Point Trip Report
Mount Edith
Date: August 2, 2001
Author: Jerry Brekhus
We parked at the end of the gravel road in Sec. 36, T.8N, R.4E, one mile from F.R. 423 and accessible from
US 12. It is shown on the Helena National Forest map. Walking up the unimproved road to Trail 152, we
discovered that we could have easily driven another mile. That would be a good place to leave your vehicle,
because it's probably not worthwhile to drive the remaining half mile.
The well-maintained trail switchbacks up to a saddle where I suppose most hikers then descend steeply to
Edith Lake, visible down the north side. Since our destination was Mount Edith, high point of both
Broadwater and Meagher Counties, we turned to the east and headed cross-country on alpine meadow
toward the summit, skirting the nearby false summit.
At the top, we studied several other mountain ranges from our vantage point at the top of the Big Belt
Mountains. These included the Crazy Mountains, Bridger Range, and the Highland Mountains, where we
could see Table Mountain, high point of Silver Bow County.
Three miles to the west, Mount Baldy dominates the skyline. Our hand level sighting showed it very close
to the same height. Some sources call Mount Baldy the highest in the range. The Falcon Press book,
"Hiking Montana", mentions hiking off-trail 4 miles on the ridge connecting Mounts Edith and Baldy.
My Avocet showed an elevation gain of 2320 feet.
By driving another mile, we could have made it less than 2000.
Trip Statistics: 4.5 hour hike duration, 8 miles round-trip distance.
Coordinates - (46 deg 25.907 min N, 111 deg 11.177 min W)
USGS elevation - 9,480+ ft (WGS 84 datum)