selects

I’m hesitant to even attempt to write a section like this, but I suppose I should pick out a few. In most cases, a good scramble is what I’m looking for.

Freeman Peak 10,278′ & “South Freeman Peak” 10,009′
I had come into a stride where I assumed everything outside of the Sawtooth Range was easy-pickings. I know I had been to Salmon before, but I forgot how impressive the Beaverheads were there. They rise 6500’ from the valley below—that’s as much as Borah! I showed up with the plan of cruising through the ten 10ers there in three days of climbing. My first link-up started with Freeman. As I approached it was clear that I would have to read the peak to find a practical route up this intimidating-looking mountain. After my time on the summit, I worked my way toward “South Freeman” and quickly encountered a dead-end. The connection, followed by the ascent up “South Freeman”, and the descent down the other side, all involved challenging route-finding and scrambling. I got all the 10ers there in 3 days as planned—it just wasn’t the “smooth cruise” I had anticipated.

*My first view of Freeman Peak. I opted to circle around the back…*

*Peering over at South Freeman, my next objective, from near the summit of Freeman Peak*

Copperhead Peak 10,070′
The link-up this day was the one time I drove around to the Montana side to access peaks on the Continental Divide. My last peak of the day was Copperhead. As it came into view it became apparent this was not a mountain you just walk up any place you’d like. The southeast face appeared to be the easiest way up, but the east ridge (which was also my most direct connection) was calling to me. It offered around 1000’ of excellent scrambling, including a tricky section near the bottom that was nearly vertical. It was a standout route.

*Copperhead Peak. My chosen route goes directly up the center ridge.*

*Looking up the east ridge of Copperhead Peak. There was some outstanding class-4 scrambling.*

*Looking down the east ridge of Copperhead Peak.*

Acropolis Peak 10,864′
This peak is generally approached from Montana. I couldn’t be bothered with that. I got up and over the divide—which was a little tricky. I then wrapped around to the side most people climb. The mountain is wildly shaped and seemed to transform as my perspective changed. The final stretch isn’t exactly exposed, but feels very open and the grippy slabs make for interesting travel.

*Acropolis Peak from just below the divide.*

May Mountain 10,974′
I’m generally not expecting to do much scrambling when I visit the Lemhis, so the south ridge of May was a pleasant surprise! I continued down the north ridge which was interesting too.

*Heading toward the south ridge of May Mountain on a beautiful October day.*

Honorable Mention: Mount Underhill 10,180′
This peak is not on the 10ers lists…yet. It’s mapped with 280’ of prominence but our phone GPSs (usually good within 10′ or so when compared to LiDAR) gave us around a 325’ rise. I climbed this peak solo with some other peaks while I was backpacking out that way. Then the very next day, after Taylor Amato and I climbed Packrat Peak, I climbed Underhill again with him via a mostly different route. The scrambling and route-finding were challenging, and at the end comes the hardest part which leads to an airy summit perch. It’s perhaps my favorite climb in the Sawtooths.

*It’s pretty rare to get a proper selfie out of me, but that’s all there was room for on Mt. Underhill’s summit perch.*

Rhino Perch 10,014′
This one popped up out of nowhere with the LiDAR updates—the mapped elevations were wildly inaccurate. I knew Sean Duffy had successfully climbed it, but that’s all. I found my way up to the summit ridge, and after some exposed scrambling encountered a dead-end with the highpoint a ways out. Even with a rope, I didn’t see a possible way to continue past the crumbling slabs. I had this awful feeling that I wasn’t going to finish the 10ers because of it. I retreated a bit, then tried a different path to the summit that appeared much harder but that was not the case. Regardless, the final moves are airy and this is the most intimidating class-4 peak on the 10ers list.

*Kaden Platt on the summit of “Rhino Perch”. I had been up there two years prior, but figured we should “stop by while we were in the area”*.

East Thompson 10,315′
This collection of impressive towers is often photographed by visitors to the lake below Thompson Peak, the tallest in the Sawtooth Range. Oddly enough, no one had ever reported climbing it—and guidebook author Tom Lopez has done his due diligence in interviewing multiple generations of climbers. I wanted this one so bad. I made a solo attempt and pushed through many challenging and intimidating sections. After one of them, I topped out on a shelf, looked up at the last 150’, and just quit. I was mentally exhausted from fear and problem-solving. A couple years later I returned with Daniel Todd and some gear. We ended up soloing the peak, and I learned that on the previous visit I had finished all the hard parts and the last stretch was way easier than it looked. Oh, well—I got to share the experience with a friend. We didn’t find any slings or evidence of anyone visiting the summit.

*East Thompson, as viewed from the south face of Williams Peak.*

*Daniel Todd on the meandering route that got us to the top of East Thompson. We found a more direct line for the descent.*

*Looking down at Daniel Todd as we neared the top of East Thompson.*

*Daniel Todd enjoying the summit of East Thompson. Mickeys Spire, Thompson Peak, and Williams Peak in view*

Warbonnet Peak 10,220′
This thing haunted me. I knew that of all the technical climbs, Warbonnet was the most involved and had the most exposure. Heights…aren’t really my thing—but I knew if I wanted to finish the 10ers list I’d have to take on Warbonnet. After a couple years of worrying about it, I finally told myself, “When the time comes, you will rise to the occasion. You can climb it just like everyone else who has done it before you.”
Wildfires had closed off the Sawtooths for much of the summer. When fall arrived, I really didn’t want to wait 10 more months for Warbonnet—and I especially didn’t want to start planning on finishing the 10ers without it. Taylor and I made the plan for a weekend ascent, but he couldn’t catch the Friday shuttle across Redfish Lake. We discussed camping somewhere near the peak and making it a 2-day trip (instead of the usual 3). Then the idea came up to forego the heavy packs and do it all in one day. We took the first Saturday shuttle (8am in fall), dropped duffle bags of camping gear at the inlet CG, then hustled out and made it to the saddle/pitch one in 4 hours. The climb and descent took several hours, and afterwards we quickly tagged Cirque Lake Peak just before the sunset. I was pumped…for a bit. I progressed into a zombie as we marched back to Redfish with headlamps. I don’t think I’ve ever been so exhausted. 16.5 hours round trip.