Rock Roll Peak

Click on the picture below to see the full-size version.

Trip Report (11/01/2003):
On Mount Hood in June, I realized a couple of things. One, I really enjoyed being on snow; and two, I did not have the right equipment. So since that Mount Hood trip, I spent quite of bit of time this summer buying better clothing and gear. With the first cold snap and snow of the year in the mountains, it was time to head out and test that gear out. I contacted Rick from Filer, as we were a pretty good team on a hike a few weeks back. He was in, so we threw around a couple of peak ideas and both decided that Rock Roll Peak near Sun Valley sounded pretty cool.

Rock Roll Peak is on the high divide northeast of Sun Valley that separates the Lake Creek and Trail Creek divides. There are several approaches, but we chose the northern approach from Lake Creek. So Rick and I met up near Bellevue and headed to the trailhead together.

From the summit, you have an excellent view of the Trail Creek Road all the way to the Lost River Valley. You can see the Pahsimeroi Mountains and the crest of the Lost Rivers from Borah all the way south to Lost River Mountain. The view is so good that you can identify each of the 12ers in the range. To your south you can see the Pioneer crest from Cobb Peak all the way to the Devil's Bedstead. In the Boulders, you can make out Mystery Peak, Kent, Ryan, Boulder Peak, etc… Baldy Mountain and the city of Ketchum can be seen looking back to the southwest. This was my 130th Idaho peak, and I must say that the view from its summit rivals or exceeds the view from Idaho's most popular peaks!

On top, the temperature was about 20 degrees according to Rick's thermometer. We estimated the wind at 15 mph. My equipment seemed to hold up well, and I never even deployed my fleece layer. More importantly, none of my wicking layers were soaked when I got back to the vehicle. So mission accomplished gear wise.

Trip stats:
Time: 5 hours 45 minutes
Length: 9 miles
Elevation Gain: 3500 feet
Class (difficulty): 2

Drive:
From Ketchum, head north on ID-75 for about 5 miles and make a right onto Lake Creek Road. Follow the well-maintained road to Lake Creek Lake. At the lake, the road becomes a bit more rough, but is still accessible by car. From the lake the trailhead is 1.5 miles. There are several parking areas near the trailhead. There is a sign indicating the trailhead as well.

Route:
From the trailhead, we followed an old (and closed) mine access road that did some large switchbacks as it climbed out of the Lake Creek drainage. Just before the road entered some trees at about 8,200 feet (and below the saddle marked 9008 on the quad), there was a well-made trail that switch backed up the hillside and got us to the saddle. This section of the hike was easy, with the excellent condition of the trail and old road. The saddle was a flat-area surrounded by trees and pretty cool looking with the dusting of snow it had.

From the saddle we headed up the northwest ridge of Rock Roll Peak. After a few minutes on the ridge, you break out of the trees and are given an incredible view of the Pioneers on your right and the Boulders on your left. Also from this vantage, you can see the pyramid shaped peak about 700 feet above you. Keep on this ridge, which narrows a bit before becoming more of a face as it nears the summit (it also has some talus in this section as well, but it is easy to navigate). The first summit is just a falsie, so climb another 200 feet on gentle sloping terrain to the actual summit that sports a large cairn.

Pictures: Click on the pictures below to see the full-size version.


Baldy Mountain and Sun Valley.	The Boulder Mountains.	Looking down Rock Roll's north face.

Devil's Bedstead from the summit.	Hyndman and Cobb Peaks.	The Lost River Mountains.

Dan on the summit.	Rick on the summit.	Looking down at the trailhead from the top.

Trail Creek summit and Copper Basin.