Elevation: 5,858 ft
Prominence: 268
This peak is not in the book. Published November 2021
The Watchman is located at the south end of the developed part of the Craters of the Moon National Monument. It is a double-humped summit that is positioned across from, and northeast of, The Sentinel. It is a much more impressive summit than The Sentinel and is almost 50 vertical feet higher. Its northeast summit is the high point. USGS The Watchman
The Watchman as viewed from the southwest. The summit is the right hump. Livingston Douglas Photo
Access
Same as for The Sentinel. The Watchman is the second peak of a 5-peak adventure in the south half of CMNM that includes The Sentinel (5,812 feet), The Watchman (5,858 feet), Echo Crater (5,847 feet), Coyote Butte (5,909 feet) and Crescent Butte (5,990 feet). It covers 14.5 miles with 2,050 feet of elevation gain round trip.
South Face/Southwest Ridge, Class 2
The Climb
From the 5,590-foot connecting saddle with The Sentinel, bash your way north up through somewhat thick sagebrush to reach a point just east of the [lower] southwest summit then descend 30 vertical feet to a minor saddle. Scramble east-northeast then north on mostly loose lava scree to reach the true/northeast summit of The Watchman. The summit has no summit cairn. Return back to the connecting saddle with The Sentinel. This concludes the second leg of today’s 5-peak journey. Echo Crater is up next.
The summit hump of The Watchman as seen from the saddle between the two summit humps. Livingston Douglas Photo
Looking northwest from the summit of The Watchman. Echo Crater is left of center and Crescent Butte is the highest hump (just right of center in the distance). Livingston Douglas Photo
Additional Resources