Galena Mountain

Route: Buffalo Boy Mine
Posted On: 10/3/2024, By: mtngoatwithstyle
Info: Used the Jeep Road to hike all the way from the bottom of Cunningham Gulch-->Stony Pass--> Buffalo Boy Mine road to the ridge at 13,000ft. Beautiful and quiet area. Once on the ridge, I hit some PT before I reached Summit of Galena. Dry all the way but on the way back, I had snow and grappel. It was cold. I was hoping to make it a loop and go to Canby as well(and go down via Stony Pass) but with weather not getting better, I made my way down the same way I came up. 

Route: Loop from Middleton
Posted On: 7/26/2024, By: JasonKline
Info: The Galena Mountain, Canby Mountain, Stony Pass Peak, Sheep Mountain, Greenhalgh Mountain, 12654, and 13076 loop (I started from Middleton, which any car can reach, instead of Stony Pass) is in full summer conditions with no snow or ice. 

Route: Porcupine gulch ascent, NE basin ski descent
Posted On: 4/30/2023, By: SnowAlien
Info: Very adventurous day. Ascended via Porcupine gulch on skins (ski crampons advised - I managed to slide backwards and had to self-arrest with a whippet). The snow didn't look inviting - mostly breakable crust. Due to massive cornices, very few options to top out on the ridge (ours involved traversing under a schoolbus-size cornice). From there a short scramble on loose rock in ski boots led to the summit(s). We were not sure which summit is higher (probably due to massive cornices), so tagged both. We decided on the NE basin as a ski descent option, and had good snow - powder and corn. Had to self belay with an ice ax to drop in. We picked up the Maggie gulch road (still snow covered) and cruised back to the TH. 

Route: Sterling Gulch via Stony Pass Road
Posted On: 8/25/2020, By: supranihilest
Info: I parked at the bottom of Stony Pass Road, not wanting to drive my van up (again). The road is a reasonable hike and a crap drive, in my opinion. I took Sterling Gulch up from Gary Owen mine, which is left at the very orange-colored junction with the Stony Pass sign pointing right. I passed the mine and then just headed straight up the gulch on generally stable rock. At a junction higher up I accidentally went left thinking that was the direction of the summit and had to traverse back to the main drainage on very steep and loose dirt - not fun. Once back in the main drainage I made sure to stay going the right way. It should never be too steep. Eventually I intersected a trail that crossed lengthwise across the face, but taking it higher simply led farther and farther away from the summit. This trail is actually very helpful but only if you take it from where it starts at a creek crossing on the road, which is well above and away from the mine. Still, following the road to the trail (if I knew it existed; it's not marked on maps) would have been faster than going up from the mine. The upper slopes are mostly grass at a reasonable angle. The summit is a bit difficult to determine until you're basically on it but if you're scrambling on crumbly black rock you're in the wrong spot - the summit is to your right and requires no scrambling anywhere on the route. Descend back down the drainage to the trail and unless you're parked at the mine itself (there's one or two spots max) take the trail; it's very nice and fast. My descent time from summit to the bottom of the road was only 45 minutes due to the speed of running on the trail instead of fighting gravity and loose rock in the drainage. Because I sucked big time at route finding on this otherwise very simple peak I've included a map to save you the trouble I encountered.