It was back in high school while working for the U.S. Forest Service that Bill Samson realized he had an affinity for adventure and the great outdoors.

Of course, that was back in the 1940s when he was still considered a strapping young man full of vigor and vitality. But while Samson is pushing 79 these days, he could still give the younger version of himself a run for his money.

The ageless family man, whose father homesteaded the Seeley Lake area, has bagged more than 60 peaks in Glacier National Park, attempted Granite Peak five times and rambled his way up various pinnacles across Montana.

And he's still going strong.

"I think it's the desire - it's a lifestyle," Samson said on a recent hike around Mount Helena. "I walk a minimum of 100 miles a month, just back and forth or around town. I'm already over 1,200 miles this year and I've still got two months to go."

Samson admits to healthy eating. While heading up the trail, he also confesses his fondness for Miller Genuine Draft. He's been to the top of Mount Helena more times than he can count and has spotted the occasional elk roaming the Ridgeline trail. Once, he says with a grin, he saw a man hiking in nothing but boots.

Playing around Mount Helena is good exercise - a place to go for a splendid view. But Samson's top adventures have taken him elsewhere, including the 12,799-foot spire of Granite Peak and the windswept slopes of Glacier's most majestic mountains.

"I'll always remember Granite Peak - the highest peak in Montana," Samson said. "I tried it five times and four times we either ran out of time or someone got hurt. But the fifth time we made it."

Samson's successful summit of Granite took place in 1975 while he was living in Billings. He camped on Froze to Death Plateau at 12,000 feet. He bagged Granite the next morning and hasn't forgotten the exhilaration he felt after his successful climb.

"I didn't think the snow bridge was an awful lot of fun to go over," he said. "There were some steep couloirs we had to go up, and there was one chimney near the top we had to squeeze through. But to be in the highest spot in Montana is really relevant to me."

Samson doesn't refer to himself as a technical climber. He prefers to scramble up scree-ridden slopes while navigating his way to the top of a mountain just for the sake of getting there.

Amid the trees on Mount Helena, Samson paused and reflected upon his adventures. He's stood upon Holland Peak and Swan Peak - the two highest points in the Swan Range. He's climbed both McDonald Peak and West McDonald Peak - the two highest points in the Mission Range.

"I've been on the highest peak on the Continental Divide in Montana, which is Eighteen Mile Peak west of Lima on the Idaho border," he said. "That was fun, too. Those are some of the ones I remember."

Granite was a challenge, he admits, but every mountain is in its own unique way. Going to the Sun Peak in Glacier Park - a place where he now spends much of his time - offered its own challenges. The mountain stands 9,642 feet near Logan Pass.

"It was snowing at the time," he recalled. "It was in the middle of July. The wind was blowing so hard that the snow was coming in sideways."

These days, Samson said, he takes his family along on most of his outings. He and his son, Dave, climbed Trapper Peak together in the Bitterroot Range. The entire family, grandchildren and all, recently climbed Bearhat Mountain (8,684 feet) in Glacier.

"I've been hiking with him for years," said Dave, who manages the Holliday station in Helena. "He's pretty driven. He's a pretty laid-back guy. He just wants to stay in shape. For being 78 years old, he amazes me."

Samson, who was born in 1929, spends half the year with his wife near Swan Lake in the Seeley Swan Valley. The couple owns a cabin in the deep shade of the lake-strewn basin, not far from where his grandfather established his homestead.

In fact, Samson said, the town of Seeley Lake was named after his grandfather, Jasper Seeley, who once ran a wagon company up the valley from Drummond. As his grandfather surely did over the course of his life, Samson has seen his own changes unfold over the years.

"I think the lightweight and flexible boots have helped, compared to the heavy logging-style boots we wore in the old days," he said, sporting holes in his well-worn boots. "I think the new stuff they have nowadays is so much better. A pair of boots lasts me two years if I'm lucky. The rocks tear them up in Glacier Park."

Reporter Martin Kidston: 447-4086 or mkidston@helenair.com