Reynolds Mountain is an 9,130' peak near the Logan Pass visitors' center in Glacier National Park. I failed due to weather.
Like desert peaks, this has a relatively mild approach, then gets steep. It starts at the visitors' center and goes along the boardwalk to the Hidden Lake overlook. I'd gone to that overlook the same day as the Virginia Falls trail, but I didn't go down to the lake because there had been some grizzlies spotted in the area. When I got to the overlook the rangers had given the all clear but I wasn't going to chance it.
To get to Reynolds, you turn off the boardwalk at a use trail (ignoring any warning signs meant for lesser people) and head south. There was a snow patch that I gingerly circumnavigated before I got to the actual route up Reynolds. I don't remember any technical difficulties, it was just a Class 2 scramble. The only issues were navigation difficulties and annoying sharp talus. It wasn't anywhere near as rough as the Sheep.
Before long I was about 100' below the summit, and that's when it started to rain. Not a gentle summer rain, but a cold rain with cold wind. This was in fact my last day at Glacier: I left because it was forecast to rain for the next day or two. And, I was currently getting a preview.
If I could see the summit I might have just gone for it. However, the route went around the other side and I had no idea what was involved because a gatekeeping asshole ranger had refused to tell me.
Oh, did I also mention that not only was I doing this solo, there was absolutely no one else within a couple miles as far as I could tell?
So, I'm here all alone in grizzly country, miles from those I might offer as a snack to the grizzlies rather than myself, it's cold, it's windy, it's raining, I'm worried about looking at the map on my phone due to the rain, and I don't know what's around the bend. Based on all of those I decided to just come back another season. Coming down the sharp talus was no fun. It was too large and unstable to plunge step, but not boulder sized so hopping wasn't an option. Once off the rocky parts, I jogged down to make the shuttle. On the boardwalk portion that involved carefully and politely dodging large numbers of tourons.
