A long, non-technical but strenuous approach to Montana's third-highest peak, climbing steep forested and talus slopes above Mystic Lake to Mount Wood's south ridge.
The route shares its first several miles with the standard Granite Peak approach: from the West Rosebud Trailhead, follow the trail along Mystic Lake's south shore to its western end, where a log-jam crossing over the outlet to Island Lake leads to flat camping areas at the far end of the lake. From camp, the route leaves the trail entirely and heads north through open forest with little undergrowth toward the drainage between Mount Wood and Mount Hague, then turns and climbs a steep, sustained slope of several thousand feet directly to the plateau rim below the summit. The final section is an off-trail talus and rock-hop traverse across the summit plateau to Mount Wood's high point.