Tom and I headed out to climb Swanholm Peak in the Boise Mountains. I had picked out a route, but we found a locked gate at the start. Swanholm looked a long ways away. We hiked a bit down the road and it seemed like the road was going to meander for miles before getting close to Swanholm. Then we looked to our west and saw Granite Mountain right there. Tom suggested we go hike it instead. I was fine with that idea, so we returned to the vehicle and drove about 1/2 a mile to the summit dividing Swanholm Creek and Trail Creek.

We were going to hike the northeast ridge that we could see leading to Granite Mountain. It was fun hiking blind and not really knowing what we would find when we crested the ridge. All we really knew was that Granite Mountain was further east than Grand Mountain and on the same ridge. So up we headed without a map. We went straight up the northeast ridge and to a highpoint of everything nearby (later identified as Peak 7424). The ridge to the peak was brushy in spots, but we found game trails for long periods of time (especially going down). The upper slopes were more open, with some snow to contend with. With 1800' of prominence, this peak has spectacular views! Swanholm and West Warrior to our east, Goat and Silver Peak to the northeast, we could see all the way to the Salmon River Range to the north, Heinen and Shafer Butte to our west, Trinity and Steel Mountain dominated the views to our south.

We found evidence from an older forest service map indicating that Peak 7424 was once labeled as Granite Peak. In addition, the point labeled Granite Peak on the topo map is not a real peak (only 64 feet of prominence) and is part of Peak 7424. Based on all that, we are fixing the USGS error and calling Peak 7424 "Granite Peak". Confused yet?

The day was mid-summer warm, but up high the wind was blowing enough to make it pleasant. We decided to keep the day moving and go get Grand Mountain. We dropped off the saddle, then found the trail that most people use to ascend Grand Mountain on and cruised over. Grand Mountain has a summit register and benchmark. Sean Duffy placed the register in June of 2010... Tom and I were the first to sign it. Sean's register was full of homework papers of his son similar to Jumbo Mountain.

Tom and I then chose to follow the trail to the shoulder of Peak 7424 to see if it would keep us from having to re-ascend Peak 7424. However, the trail went too far north and our ridge was to the south, so we re-climbed the peak and descended the same ridge we came up. Had we possessed a map, we could have run over and tagged the top of fake Granite Mountain.

Changing peak plans, a crappy burrito at the Prairie Store, a flat tire, and selecting a longer than necessary drive back did nothing to dissuade us from still having a great day in the mountains!

Take the Middle Fork Boise River Road east toward Atlanta. Follow the road like 50 miles. Just past the Dutch Creek Forest Service Station, look for Swanholm Creek and the road to your left. Follow this road 4.7 miles to the saddle dividing Swanholm Creek and Trail Creek.

We took the northeast ridge leaving from the 5620 foot saddle. From the top of the real Granite Mountain, we headed west and a little south to Grand Mountain. It's pretty obvious which is Grand Mountain, as it is the only other point of significance to the west.

The trail route starts just north of the saddle and follows are circuitous route around the hills to the fake Granite Mountain, then Grand Mountain.