Carrie and I had worked in our Hailey office all week and wanted to bookend the trip with a peak above 10k. All sorts of peak ideas were swimming in my head, but a snowstorm the night before led me to decide on a smaller, less technical peak.

The peak we chose was Bailey Peak (Peak 10014 on the Phi Kappa Mountain USGS quad) which sits on the ridge between Kane and Wildhorse creeks. I had read there was a decent trail that would get us to the ridge line just south of the peak at 9500'.

We found the Burnt Aspen trail easily and were off under a beautiful blue sky. The trail blew away all expectations, as it was well maintained and very scenic. The trail is near waterfalls is some areas, nice meadows in others.

Eventually we neared the treeline and took a break at the saddle, as the trail started its descent into the Kane Creek drainage. We were heading north on the ridge.

The ridge turned out to have a few rock fins to navigate. These could be avoided and thus make the climb class 2, but who wants to lose hard-earned elevation?!

Eventually the terrain eased and we found ourselves on the barren summit of Bailey Peak with an incredible 360 view of the Boulder, Pioneer, White Knob, and Lost River ranges. Very surprising view from this smallish peak!

On our way out on the trail, we rounded a corner and saw a cow and calf elk right off the trail. The cow ran off, but the calf simply laid down in the grass motionless. What a cool sighting!

From Trail Creek Road, turn onto Copper Basin Loop Road. After 2.25 miles, turn south on Wildhorse Canyon Road. Follow that road 2 miles and park at the signed Burnt Aspen Trailhead.

A sedan can make this drive.

See the GPS tracks. Basically follow the Burnt Aspen trail to the 9480' saddle, then turn north and climb Bailey Peak. There are several false summits, we chose to cut across them on the right (east) side.