Normally, I think of Mount Sentinel has the M with its constant flow of folks making their way to the whitewashed concrete letter, but Mount Sentinel is a large area with an extensive network of trails. On a sunny day, Vida and I decided to tackle the slope from Pengelly Ridge to the top, and we (for the most) had the trail to ourselves. Pengelly Ridge is largely a grass-covered slope that steeply ascends to the apex of the mountain. Once we reached the top, we continued down the Missoula-facing slope to the top of the M, and from here we took the Mount Sentinel Fire trail to our starting point. The most interesting feature on this hike is the copper mine, yep a copper mine was active on the slopes of Mount Sentinel in the 1890s. Not exactly the Richest Hill on Earth (that’s in Butte), the mine seems to have been a short-lived venture.
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