Find Nearby Peaks

This peak is not in the book. Published December 2024

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Peak 5588 sits above the convergence of Hat Creek and Little Hat Creek in the Eastern Salmon River Mountains. It is overshadowed by Nipple Benchmark (7,058 feet) to its southeast. Peak 5588 is a ranked summit that is separated from the northwest ridge of Nipple Benchmark by a narrow, steep-sided canyon. USGS Hat Creek

Access

From US-93 at Ellis, drive 0.8 miles north on US-93 to a signed junction for Deer Creek. Turn left/west off US-93 and drive across the bridge over the Salmon River to a “T” junction. Reset your odometer here. Go right/north here onto [unsigned] Hat Creek Road and stay left at an immediate junction (a BLM campground road goes to the right). Follow this narrow, but maintained, BLM road northward as it follows the west side of the Salmon River.

Upon reaching Dry Gulch (in open terrain), the road bends left/west (then northwest) to head up Dry Gulch. The road heads up over a ridge saddle then drops north into the Little Hat Creek drainage. At 5.9 miles, reach a a sharp right/northeast bend in the road at the Little Hat Ranch (left). Drive northeast then east then northeast on Hat Creek Road to a sharp bend in the road at 7.3 miles. This bend sits below the west face of Peak 5588. Park here in a decent pullout (5,240 feet and 44⁰47’03”N, 114⁰03’09”W).

West Face/Northwest Ridge, Class 2

The Climb

From the road bend, scramble east up a steep grass/scrub slope (with a rocky talus base) to approach an imposing, rocky headwall. Angle diagonally left/northeast skirt underneath the headwall and reach the easier rock-and-brush of the northwest ridge. Once on the ridge crest, follow it right/southeast to the cairned high point. The ridge crest is a combination of rocky outcrops and mountain mahogany but it goes reasonably well.