HYNDMAN PEAK
05/02/08-05/04/08
Friday afternoon, Nate and Jacob picked me up from work and we headed for Hyndman Peak near Sun Valley, Idaho. This was one of my favorite trips to date. Everything about it was adventurous, including myself getting Nate’s truck stuck in the snow (we had to dig for almost one hour)!
We began hiking Friday evening shortly after Nate’s pickup over-heated due to all the snow his bumper was pushing. His 4WD Dodge did great and put us within one mile of the trailhead. After hiking 2,000+ vertical ft, we setup camp near 9K ft elevation around 11PM (it was 23 degrees!) The next morning at 4:30AM, we welcomed the alarm going off and began preparing for our ascent. We reached the 12,009 ft summit (Idaho’s 9th highest) at 11:20AM and were welcomed with pristine weather and nauseating views. The Lost River Range, Boulders, and White Cloud mountains were completely laid out in front of us (including CASTLE_PEAK and Idaho’s tallest, Mt Borah). When returning to Nate’s truck Saturday afternoon I was wiped out. Under difficult conditions and in less than 24 hours, we hiked 5,200 vert ft over 14 miles roundtrip.
Saturday evening, we had dinner in Ketchum and rented a room in Stanley after soaking in a local hot spring. Before returning home on Sunday, we enjoyed views of the Sawtooth Mountains and relaxed in Kirkham Hot Spring.
