John contacted me early in the week to see if I was interested in a hike. He was wanting some cardio and elevation before doing the Mountaineer's route on Mount Whitney in California. He also mentioned that his wife Tam and dog Shadow might be interested as well. I was camping in the area, but game. I provided John a list of peaks to choose from and he picked High Peak near Rock Roll Peak in the Boulder Mountains, just east of Sun Valley.

High Peak has low prominence, barely being considered a "real" peak. However, it is a spectacular area and the routes were relatively unknown.

So early on the 4th of July, we found the High Ridge trail and headed out. Immediately we had to cross the creek... nothing like having to take boots off 5 minutes into the hike. Just after the crossing, we were on a nice trail heading through the trees up Cold Canyon.

At around 8400', we started getting great views of the Cold Canyon cirque below our target peak. It was a very pretty area. We eventually crossed the basin and proceeded up to the divide between Cold Canyon and Basin Gulch (below Rock Roll Peak). The trail continued to be very nice to the saddle.

After a long break, now it was time to go cross country and climb the east ridge of High Peak. We had spied it earlier and thought it should go, but a large notch a few hundred feet below the summit had our attention.

As soon as we started up the ridge, we encountered some tricky rocky points. We would side swipe them on the right or left depending on terrain. However, eventually the ridge steepened and we had to do some climbing. The rock was somewhat loose, but there were good enough holds to make the climbing was fun and safe. We would conquer one section, peek over the other side and see we had another tower or knife edge ridge to cross... then another... then another.

The going was slow, but the day was nice and the climbing was fun. We soon were at the notch we'd seen from the other side. From this vantage point, it was awesome looking, but the terrain climber's left of it was smooth and easy. We could now see the top as well.

The last 50 feet below the summit were easy class 3. Then we arrived to a small rock cairn and a note in a film canister (classic Rick Baugher) identifying the peak and recording his climb in August 2012.

With the time it had taken us to get this far, John decided a run over to Rock Roll Peak wasn't in the cards today. We decided we'd head north on the ridge and make a loop out of the trip.

So after soaking in the great views, we were off. The terrain on the north ridge was a bit loose, but goat trails could be found here and there. Then we got close to Point 10313, which had a ridge dropping off it that we wanted to descend. Problem was, the cornice was too tall and steep to cross here. So we backtracked a little and found a spot where the cornice was at it's smallest and downclimbed it.

We then worked our way down the steep talus, then steep forested slopes back down to Cold Creek and the trail.

It turned out to be a great day in the mountains. We really hadn't known what to expect, but what we got pushed us and provided lots of fun and challenges!

To reach the trailhead, head to Trail Creek Summit. .9 miles from the summit, turn left onto Park Creek Road. Follow this good quality road for 1.25 miles to the trailhead, which is on the left and signed (High Ridge trail). The trail starts a couple of hundred feet from Park Creek Road.

We followed High Ridge trail up Cold Canyon and to the divide between Cold Canyon and Basin Gulch. Once on the divide, we climbed the East Ridge of High Peak. After summiting, we walked north to point 10313, then dropped back into Cold Canyon and eventually met the trail again.