Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Robbery Peak Climb

After some debate, Dan and I agreed to climb Peak 10255' in the Smoky Mountains on Sunday the 22nd. This peak is located near the headwaters of the Salmon River and believed to be unclimbed, so we were both looking forward to the trip. The headwaters area was very beautiful and quite green for August, providing great scenery as we approached the trailhead. As the road (marked "jeep trail" on the map) got narrower we parked, however in hindsight we could have driven a little bit further.
The hiking was great, starting on a road which eventually becomes a motorcycle trail and then a single-track trail. Part of the route actually follows the Idaho Centennial Trail. After passing through a gorgeous meadow, we headed uphill on steep terrain to the summit. Once atop the peak, we saw no sign of prior summit visitation so we believe it is indeed the first ascent of the peak - the first first ascent for me. The weather was quite pleasant, although somewhat cool for mid-August. Could it be Fall in the air? After building a cairn and Dan naming the peak "Robbery Peak" (Robbins + Vickery, get it??), we started to head down. Before descending too far we decided to add some distance to the day and climb the adjacent Camas County Highpoint, a peak which both of us had already climbed from a different route and on which Dan registered a first ascent back in 2001. Unsurprisingly, the peak looked the same but it did have a few more names in the summit register. Clearly, these peaks aren't climbed very often!
From there, we descended directly down to the road and back to the vehicle. On our way home we stopped and ate at the Burger Grill in Ketchum - a favorite stop from years before.
Trip statistics: 7.4 miles, 6:31 hours, 3255' elevation gain
Robbery Peak Pictures!
GPS Track
Dan's Trip Report

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