Find Nearby Peaks

This peak is not in the book. Published November 2019

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Fall Creek Hill is a handsome, steep hill that overlooks the lower reaches of Fall Creek, near its convergence with Trapper Creek. The west face is wickedly steep and thickly forested. It has probably never been climbed. The north ridge is a fun scramble from FSR-533 but it does require a fording of Fall Creek. Thankfully, Fall Creek is a piker when compared to nearby Trapper Creek. USGS Ibex Peak

North Ridge, Class 2

Access

Park at a large shade tree along FSR-533 just after the road turns south and crosses Trapper Creek. There is a small meadow here and a pullout area to park. The elevation here is 5,340 feet.

The Climb

Hike very briefly southward on FSR-533 to an open grassy area where you can easily access Fall Creek and ford it with minimal brush. FSR-533 makes a sharp right/west turn here. Make your way through the field grass (cattle graze here) and ford the relatively shallow Fall Creek. Once on the south side of the creek, bushwhack southeast up through a short section of not-too-difficult forest to reach open sagebrush terrain and a cattle fence above the forest line.

Continue scrambling southeast up the sagebrush slope to reach the now-obvious north ridge of Peak 6390. Once on the easy, rounded ridge, grind your way south up the steepening ridge in open scrub, staying just left/east of the thick forest on the west face. The open scrub to the left/east of the ridge crest is too angled to navigate quickly so work your way through scattered mountain mahogany and junipers on the ridge crest proper. The ridge soon bends right/southwest and the forest gives way to open terrain. The final ridge section is a rockier scramble (gravel and embedded talus/scree) but is a cruise thanks to the short scrub. The footing is reasonably firm as the slope has eased significantly by now.

The ridge does a final jog left/southeast to reach the high point. The high point has a few large boulders positioned closely together. There were no signs of previous ascent so I built a modest cairn atop the highest ground boulder. While there are many other nearby peaks/humps of higher altitude, Peak 6390 is a legitimate, ranked summit and is a worthy endeavor. It is quite a fun climb!