I have had my eye on a remote peak in the Smoky Range in Idaho for several years (Peak 10158, suggested name of Shadow Peak). Shadow Peak is un-named on maps and un-climbed on listsofjohn.com. I got into discussions with a few friends about potential peaks and mentioned Shadow Peak as an idea. They accepted the challenge and the trip was planned.

Unlike most peaks, we had no beta on how to ascend Shadow Peak. We perused maps and came up with a plan of attack. It's always a lot more challenging finding your own route. Plus we didn't have so much as a photo to understand what the terrain actually looked like.

Tom L., Tamara, John, and I met up to leave Boise at 6:15am and were at the trailhead 3 hours later when Steve came roaring up to the trailhead to meet us accompanied by Tom C.

Our plan was to follow the trail about 3.5 miles, then turn west and climb up to the ridge and follow it north to the summit.

At around 3 miles and at 8060' of elevation, we decided to start our bushwhack. We climbed up, not really knowing exactly where we were. We eventually reached a small basin at 9000' where we could spy what we thought was the final summit ridge. Getting to it required us to ascend a gully or climb up a rock rib. Lopez suggested the rib, so that's where I headed.

The rib was a bit loose to start, but the rock eventually got better. We climbed over class 2 and 3 terrain until we finally met the ridge at around 10,000 feet. From here we headed north on the ridge as it wound around. There were several potential highpoints on the ridge and we touched them all, eventually sitting down on what we thought was the highest.

There was no sign of previous human occupation on the summit... no cairns, mining digs, summit registers, beer cans, or the like. Views were tremendous. We could see numerous lakes, had great views into the Boise Mountains, Sawtooths, Boulders, and Pioneers.

As we sat on top we decided that our route might not have been the exact one we discussed on the trail, but it was likely the best route possible!

After a long break on the summit we eventually pushed north on the ridge planning to descend easier slopes. When faced with a up-climb, we decided down was the best and Tom led us down a pretty tricky gully toward Lake 9011. We kicked rocks at one another, down climbed tricky sections of rock, and had some fun testing our nerve before finally reaching the lake and easier slopes.

It was a long and tiring descent, but the beers at the trailhead helped out a bunch. Then a stop at Wiseguy's Pizza in Hailey helped even more.

It turned out to be a great day in the mountains. Great company, with a challenging and fun new route in a neat area.

Tom's trip report.

Prairie Creek road leaves ID 75 about 18 miles north of Ketchum. You will turn left (west). Follow this improved road for 2.5 to the trailhead.

We followed the Prairie Creek trail to 8060'. We then bushwhacked up to a 9000' just northeast of Point 9670. From the small basin, we climbed the southeast rib and joined the main ridge at 10000'. We then followed the ridge north to the summit.

On descent, we headed north from the summit and dropped to the saddle above Lake 9011. We then dropped down that gully to the lake. This is doable, but has some steep down climbing and loose rock.