Find Nearby Peaks

This peak is not in the book. Published December 2024

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Peak 9461 and its two neighbors (Peak 9621 and Peak 9477) sit atop a high ridgeline that separates Greylock Creek from Eightmile Creek in the Eastern Salmon River Mountains. It is most easily climbed from Yankee Fork Road/FSR-070 to its southeast. Peak 9461 is seldom climbed. USGS Custer

Access

From ID-75 at Sunbeam, drive north up [signed] Yankee Fork Road/FSR-070. At 8.3 miles, reach a signed junction with Loon Creek Road/FSR-172. Continue northeast on Yankee Fork Road. Reset your odometer at this junction. At 2.9 miles, reach the signed junction with Fourth of July Creek Road/FSR-073. At 3.2 miles, reach the Custer Campground (left). At 4.0 miles, reach the [signed] Fivemile Creek trailhead (FST-161).

At 4.6 miles, cross to the west side of the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River on a bridge. At 4.9 miles, cross Greylock Creek on a bridge. Park in a small pullout on the north side of Greylock Creek. This pullout is at 6,805 feet and 44⁰24’45”N, 114⁰38’27”W. This is the first leg of a 3-peak adventure that includes Peak 9461, Peak 9621, and Peak 9477. It covers 9.0 miles with 4,150 feet of elevation gain round trip.

Southeast Ridge, Class 2

The Climb

There is no trail heading up Greylock Creek. The drainage is thick with forest, brush, and blowdown and is not a good idea for climbing up Peak 9461. Instead, avoid the Greylock Creek drainage and climb the southeast ridge. From the parking pullout, bushwhack north-northwest up through a thick pine forest to quickly reach an open, grassy, flat area on the right/north side of Greylock Creek. Head right-ish/north up a forested shoulder that soon bends left-ish/north-northwest and reaches an open hump at 8280+ on a short east-west spur ridge.

From here, head northwest back into the thick pine forest and bash through lots of blowdown (initially). Climb northwest in semi-open forest to a merger with a ridge that heads right/northeast. Go left/west here and battle with ridge pines/blowdown, with thick forest below the ridge crest and to the left/south. Stay on the right/north side of the ridge crest in angled gravel/sand to skirt the many downed trees on the ridge. There is a minor 25-foot drop along the way into an easy gully to skirt a patch of narrow, thickly-forested ridge crest and reach a final saddle. The ridge curls right-ish/northeast to reach the mostly-open summit of Peak 9461. There were no signs of previous ascent, so I built a modest cairn on the high point.

Northwest Ridge, Class 2

The Descent

From the summit, head north along the open ridge crest of white gravel/sand and ascend 30-40 vertical feet to skirt Point 9400+ (the lower, north summit hump). Descend white gravel/sand in open terrain to an open saddle with forest nearby to the west. This is the 9,180-foot connecting saddle with Peak 9621. It concludes the first leg of today’s 3-peak journey. Peak 9621 is up next.