Bear Mountain is one of the peaks around here that I wondered if I'd ever get up. The first time I tried to climb it I reached a high steep ridge in blowing snow with visibility around 50 feet, and I turned back from the exposed ridge. I returned another day and just climbed in the trees, unable to see more than 30 feet. Finally I returned on a clear day. I fought and cursed through ridiculously thick steep brush, alders poking my nose and mouth and ears, and throwing my glasses to the ground. Nothing but prickly briars to hold onto on steep slopes, and dense small trees near treeline. My pack snagged on the last of the trees high on the mountain, and when I pulled it free the hose on my water bag popped off and my four liters of water dribbled down my legs into my boots.

I spent a windy night on a four-foot-wide ridge with a half-moon in the sky, and woke to another gorgeous day. I reached an overhanging chossy section near the peak, but crossed the snowfield here and found a gentle backside tot he summit. It was a breathtaking summit, as most Baranof summits are, with an impossibly sharp ridge heading south to Bear Lake and snowfields sweeping down to the north.