November 26, 2015. A big thanks to Dan Saxton of Missoula, Montana who has become a contributor to the site. He has provided many great updates on Lemhi, Bitterroot and Clearwater peaks including the following: Moose Creek Buttes, Shale Mountain, Long Mountain, Big Rocky Point and Grave Peak. Search for Dan Saxton in the “Search Peaks” box to see all of Dan’s reports.
Grave Peak as viewed from Colt Lake. Dan Saxton Photo
October 23, 2015. The October weather has been spectacular. Here are a few links to new additions that offer information on great climbing:
Red Peak in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness
Stack Rock. Technical climbing close to Boise
Six Lakes Peak in the White Clouds
Buffalo Hump by Victor Zhou. A Clearwater peak with lots of prominence.
September 12, 2015. Judi Steciak and Carl Hamke provided route information for a nice peak in the Sawtooths (Peak 9997) and a new route on Mount McDonald as well as an important access update for approaching Peak 9997.
I have started to add access pages to the site. So far I have added pages for the Lemhi Range, the White Cloud Mountains and the Sawtooth Range. You can find the links to the update pages on each of these pages.
If you are thinking of climbing Castle Peak, Tom Cox prepared an excellent article on the shortcut to Chamberlain Basin which is the quickest (but not an easy) way to reach the South Side of the peak.
Finally, I have been climbing in seldom-visited areas out of Boise recently. Check out the following 2 peaks if you want to get off the beaten path: Peak 8220 in the Salmon River Mountains and Peak 9165 in the Trinity Mountains.
August 21, 2015. Ray Brooks provided a great trip report on climbing the standard Three Cracks route on Slick Rock which is well worth a view even if you never climb the route.
Ray also provided us with updated information on access to remote Washington Basin, a place few have ever visited. Ray’s submission encouraged me to start to add updated access information separate from the peak pages. Check out the Spring Mountain Canyon Road System entry if you are interested in visiting the Lemhi Crest.
Finally, I climbed The Riddler recently. Check The Riddlers peak’s page and do not forget to visit John Platt and Larry Prescott’s trip reports which are linked on that page.
August 5, 2015. I took a trip to climb Sleeping Deer Mountain in the Eastern Salmon River Mountains last weekend. The trip in follows Idaho’s version of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It’s not an easy trip and there are no services. There are lots of things that could impact a drive along that road but it is an impressive drive into the middle of the Frank Church River Of No Return Wilderness.
Ray Brooks provided us with a close up look at the remote White Knob Towers which could be a rock climbing Mecca. See his report.
July 15, 2015. After a brutally hot June, July has been uncharacteristically wetter and cooler than normal. Check out peaks listed under the Salmon River Mountains’ Lick Creek Range. John Platt continues to climb the many peaks in that range and there are links to his trip reports for those peaks. Check out the Diamond Ridge Traverse for starters. I recently ascended Bull Trout Point, Copper Mountain and Roundup Peak which I highly recommend as out of the way summits well worth the effort. Upper Fall Creek in the Boulder Mountains is surrounded by 4 peaks worthy of your attention. Check out Peak 10356 for starters.
June 4, 2015. I was out of the country for the past 3 weeks. While I was gone, John Platt continued to add to our knowledge of the Lick Creek Range of the Salmon River Mountains. Check out Peak 7642 (Brush Peak), Green Mountain and Peak 8270, all courtesy of John’s endless exploring. It’s a low snow year, so expect a lot of new content and links in the next few weeks.
April 30, 2015. Added a lot of new photos by Larry Prescott. See the announcement on the home page for links. Margo and Steve Mandella have become contributors and provided photos, route beta and GPS tracks for Eastern Idaho peaks including Old Tom Mountain. Margo is also now the Eastern Idaho editor for the web site.
March 15, 2015. Spring is here, unfortunately. We may have an early fire season unless the weather pattern changes. Bogus Basin closed for the season yesterday after suffering through a warm, dry February. The hill was hit by lots of warm rain.
The Danskin Mountains melted out early as did the South End of the Boise Mountains. If you are looking for peaks to climb in the Boise area, check out the Grand Slam Peaks page, Grape Mountain, Hutton Peak and Plan B Peak as well as the rest of the Danskin Mountains.
Dan Paulson recently climbed the Super Gully on Lost River Mountain and others have climbed Dickey Peak in the Lost Rivers. The unusual weather may make many peaks accessible earlier than most years. Remember that avalanche danger may still exist and it must be assessed before proceeding into the high country.
Earlier Notes
I added a Peak Lists page which has links to a number of list to whet your appetite. This page includes 2 new additions provided by Tim Worth. The first has a list of Idaho’s steepest peaks (ranked and unranked) and the second lists the steepest peak in each Idaho County.
Rick Baugher has provided many trip reports and photos on Southeast Idaho peaks since mid-December. Rick’s contributions have filled in a lot of gaps for the Mountain Ranges in that area. Check the peak pages out. I guarantee that you will want to add Southeast Idaho to your 2015 trip plans.
In an ongoing effort to make information on this site easily accessible, I revised the Peak Index page and added a Mountain Range page. The quickest ways to access information on a specific peak discussed on this site is to use the search feature above if you know the peak’s name.
The table of contents on the Mountain Range page can be used to find updates by region and range. The number in parentheses identifies the number of updates under each range. All of the peaks on this website can also be viewed in sortable tables by using the numeric and alphabetical designations on the peak index page. The initial table shows the 12,000-foot peaks. You can sort by any elevation or name by clicking on the appropriate elevation or alphabetic designations and the table will generate down the page.
December 12, 2014. The big news is the addition of Pat McGrane’s Wildhorse Classics Climbing Guide which can be found at the following link: