Sturgill Peak

Sturgill Peak - 7,589 and Hitt Mountain - 7,410

This is a view of Sturgill Peak from a saddle between it and Hitt Mountain.

Trip Report (November 18, 2001):

Stugill Peak, while not as commanding as its neighbor Cuddy Mountain, is a much more pointed and aesthetically pleasing mountain. Like Cuddy, Sturgill is also one of Idaho's 50 finest. Sturgill is also the highpoint of the Hitt Mountain Range.

We climbed from Tool Cache saddle. Coming from Cambridge, ID, take SR 71 north about 5 miles. Turn onto West Pine Creek Road. We followed this 2-wheel drive road past the defunct Hitt Mountain ski area to Tool Cache Summit in about 13 miles.

The path we chose was about 8.5 miles and 3000 feet in elevation gain (roundtrip). From the summit, we followed a road that ran west for about 1/2 a mile until a signed junction for Sturgill Peak lookout directed us south. We followed the road, which turned into a trail until it met up with another road on the ridge between Sturgill and Hitt. We hiked this road south and hiked cross country to the top of Hitt. We then descended Hitt and hiked down the road towards Sturgill again. Once the road quit heading for Sturgill, we climbed up onto a plateau and met up with a road that ran to Sturgill's summit.

Sturgill's two summits are covered with radio towers and lookouts. We found benchmarks on the higher northern summit. The view of the Wallowa Range in Oregon from the top is nothing short of stunning. The view of the valleys to the southeast will not disappoint either.

Trip stats:
Time: 5 hours
Length: 8.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 3,000 feet

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


Hitt Mountain.	Zach on top of Sturgill Peak.

Looking over the Snake River at the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon.	The view of Sturgill from the ridge between it and Hitt.

Looking back at Hitt from Sturgill, fog moving in.	The view of Sturgill from Hitt.

Me trying to place a phone call from the top of Sturgill Peak.