Pahsimeroi Mountains

McGowan Benchmark on the left. Somewhere to the right is an 11000 foot peak where a climber named Darcy fell and died in 2012. I skipped that one.

Dickey Peak

Christian Gulch South Fork

Christian Lake

 This range is a subrange of the Lost River Range. It's drier and that makes for less brush and it's not surrounded by farms. US 93 runs along the west side then to Ellis where Custer Rd goes south along the east side.  Doublespring Rd leaves US 93 at mp 131.2 and cuts over to the east side to form the northern boundary. That road is maintained but bumpy and has the best camps north of the pass. Christian Gulch  has shady camps too. Challis is the main supply point with a supermarket and Family Dollar. Ellis has nothing. Posted 2018.

• DICKEY PEAK el 11141 is the high point of the Pahsimeroi Mountains. An easy 4wd road goes to el 7850 on the NW ridge. Take US 93 to mp 135.9 and turn at the sign for Arentson Gulch. Go east nearly half a mile then go north on the main road for 2 miles along a fence to a 4-way reading N44 13994, W113 55847 el 7150. Mtn bikes are practical that far. Go right at the 4-way for nearly a mile to an aqueduct where the road tops out on the NW ridge reading 14337, 54973 el 7850. Some shade and a small camp spot are there. Go up the easy ridge to treeline el 9200 then scree sets in. I zigzagged up on goat trails with hardly any backsliding. The summit is at 13758, 53011. On the descent I could see the mega spring el 8600 that feeds the aqueduct. Not one to pass up an ice cold spring, I followed a goat trail down the gully that leads to it. Then I went down the stream 600 feet to a huge dead tree on the right bank. I was reading 14191, 54061 el 8550. At that point I climbed out on the left using elk trails to get back on the ridge then it was less than a mile back to the start. That took me 4 hours, 9 minutes with 3300 gain plus a little to get up from the spring. Skipping the spring would bring the hike well under 4 hours. I thought it would be a longer hike than that. The ascent ridge has what looks like earthquake damage near the start. Now it's an ATV blocker. Posted, August 2018.
• PETROS PEAK el 11040 is what hikers call the next 11000 footer north of Dickey Peak. A steep route goes up the west side, but there's an old coot route up the Christian Gulch South Fork. Take the Doublespring Rd for 14.5 miles NE from US 93 to the turnoff for the Gulch. It's about half a mile outside the forest boundary reading N44 18722, W113 47840. Go 2 miles up that high clearance road then go left on FR 272 for a mile and a half to a meadow at the end reading 17841, 51348 el 7700. There is shady camping there. Go up canyon for 700 feet on an elk trail then it goes on the right bank a short way then comes back down. At 17213, 51766 el 8000 it goes up the right bank again. I had no trouble following it, but here's the waypoint sequence just in case. It crosses to the left bank at 17030, 51961 then climbs up 100 feet or so above the creekbed. It goes on to 16738, 52362 then 16633, 52538. It gets spotty after that but not needed. It's easy to walk the drainage to a grassy bowl at 16030, 53732 el 9495 where springs gush earlier in the season. Just keep following the smooth ground along the drainage up to the summit at 16879, 54477. 6 hours, 3400 gain. This is the most enjoyable hike I did in the Lost River Range. No brush, no bugs, no loose scree and what little is steep can be zigzagged. Snow near the summit was the only water I had, but there will be an intermittent stream if your timing is right. Posted August 11, 2018.
• CHRISTIAN LAKE el 9500 is what I call the one in the north fork of Christian Gulch and it's easy. Drive the same as Petros Peak, but don't turn on FR 272. Stay in the main canyon another 1.7 miles and go right on 4wd or keep going another half mile and go right on FR 426 which might be 2wd.  Both roads converge at a meadow where the canyon forks reading N44 19083, W113 52882 el 8000. The left fork has the lake, but it's better to walk up the right fork. Stay on elk trails along the creekbed. There was still a stream for the first half mile. Exit up to the left at 19505, 53458 el 8400 and go up to 19762, 55456 el 8700. Now you're on the north rim of the left fork so just stroll on up to the lake at 19722, 55397. I could look up to the 11000 footer north of the lake and saw no obstacles on the ridge to it. For a loop back, retrace the rim and drop to a spring at 19531, 53905 el 8700 on the  floor of the left fork. I didn't filter that. Then walk to an elk trail at 19490, 53679 el 8550 that goes down that fork. The trail fades on the flat bottom then stay left of the creekbed to walk down the little ridge between the forks that drops to the meadow at the start. That took me 3 hours, 15 minutes with 1500 gain, hardly any steep. This is one to do in July when the lake is bigger.  Posted August 12, 2017.
• MCGOWAN PEAK el 10700+ is fairly easy because trails go up McGowan Creek. Take US 93 to mp 147.1 and turn on a high clearance road that goes 2.3 miles to the mouth el 7000. It's mtn bikeable. An old constructed trail goes left around a thicket at the mouth and follows along a scree slope then comes back down to the creekbed in a fifth mile. It goes up canyon for .75 air mile as measured from the TH where a small stream was flowing. A tenth mile beyond that it enters a meadow and then it's elk trails along the meadow to a spring on the right bank at N44  21039, W113 59362 el 7750. I stayed on the right bank on elk trails to the first main fork el 8100. I went up the right fork to an elk trail at 21436, 59315 el 8150. I decided to use that trail to go up onto the south rim of that fork and it was an easy forest up to 21116, 58828 el 9150 where the rim gets steep and rough. At that spot, I used a game trail going up to the left to get back in the drainage and then it was obvious up that to the west ridge at 20922, 58554 el 9950. The ridge is class 2 and the McGowan benchmark is at 20934, 58204. A good view into the endless Grouse Creek can be had by walking to a point 450 feet east of the BM. I retraced to el 8400 then took a shortcut down a ridge at 21350, 59299 el 8250. 6 hours, 3700 gain. No loose scree. Long pants are advised because some patches of tall grass and other soft plants are in the main canyon as far as the spring el 7750. Shorts work beyond there. Doing this before August might mean dealing with boggy meadows. The stream was only running for half a mile. Posted August 14, 2018.
• PEAK 10620 is an easy one at the north end of the mountains. A 4wd road goes to el 8900 on the north ridge. Take US 93 to mp 152.1 and turn at the sign for Lime Creek. Go 7 miles on easy 4wd to the chicken TH el 8000 where there is shady camping. Walk a tenth mile up the road to the worst spot at N44 24069, W113 59456 el 8100 and decide if it's worth tackling that. It's just a speed bump for jeeps. I rode on past it for a mile to el 8900 on the crest then walked to an elk trail at 23877, 58844 el 9100 and followed that around the east side of point 9182 to the saddle el 9100 behind it. The trail goes up out of the saddle then bends right into the trees and fades. I just kept angling up thru the trees to the NW ridge then it was a simple walk along the crest to the summit at 22118, 58212. There is a minor dip a quarter mile before the summit that some rate as class 3, but it's more like class 2 to me. I saw no danger there. Some hikers go up the steep ridge from the chicken TH, but I would walk the road and use the ridge on the descent. Posted August, 2018.
• GROUSE CREEK MOUNTAIN el 11085 has a 4wd road up the NE ridge to el 8350. Use the graded West Double Spring Rd on the east side and drive to N44 24386, W113 47593. Turn there on easy 4wd and stay on the main road to a grassy road on the left at 23701, 51269 el 7400. The grassy road appears to be open according to the online MVUM. The road goes up to a fork at 23156, 51547 el 8150. Stay right for a quarter mile to the end el 8350. Then just go up the ridge thru the trees to 22207, 53356 el 10250 where the rest is in view. The summit is at 21966, 54497. 4 and a half hours, 2700 gain. There's no brush but mosquitoes converged on me at el 10400 and nowhere else. Some biting flies are lower. I saw no water except for snow even in canyons below. Posted July, 2018.
• MILL CREEK, on the north side of Grouse Creek Mtn, has a 4wd road. It's a good ride for cycles and mtn bikes. Turn off the main east side road at mp 19.8, across from Livestock Rd. Follow the road for 5 and a half miles to aspen with camps and a stream el 6450. OHVs go beyond there. No recent grazing. Posted 2018.
• GROUSE PEAK el 8464, at the north end of the Lost River Range, has an easy 4wd road to lookout ruins on top. The road goes on down to Challis. Turn off the main east side road at mp 8.1 and go 2/3 mile and cross Lawson Creek . The correct road, #111, runs on the north bank and there is just one main road to follow 9 miles to the crest. Grouse Peak is half a mile north. A mile and a half south on the crest is where #111 drops down to Challis. This dirt road is nearly 20 miles long and good for dual sport cycles. No gates except the side road to the peak. Posted 2018.
• LONE PINE PEAK el 9658 sits on the west side of US 93. A 4wd road goes to el 8600 out of Bradshaw Basin. Take US 93 to the sign for Spar Canyon Rd at mp 144.2. Go 7 miles on that good road to power lines then take the far right fork for .8 mile to another fork at N44 17335, W114 10267 el 7000. Go right on 4wd with some minor erosion and there's just one main road to follow to el 8600 where it shrinks to a rubbly ATV trail. Shady camps are off to the left. I walked the ATV trail for a fifth mile then cut left to 19487, 09686 el 8950 and walked faint game trails along the base of talus. I topped out at el 9200 then dropped to the only saddle at 20045, 09816 el 8950. For the summit ridge, I stayed left of a crag to 20596, 10165 el 9600 then walked north on a natural pathway for a tenth mile to the BM. That took me nearly 3 hours with 1500 gain, 250 of it is on the return. Nice forest. I could wear shorts in that thin sagebrush. Horses and cattle are here but they don't go above 8600. They don't have ATVs. Posted 2018.