Traveling in Northern Idaho Wilderness. Scotchman Peak Challenge (4000 ft gain in 4 miles).

Idaho is considered to be one of the highest density wilderness states of the continental US. There are plenty of camping, hiking, climbing, fishing, and hunting spots there.

Going up Scotchman Peak is an intense hike. I did it as a preparation for Mt. Adams climb (see my previous post on that climb). Scotchman Peak is only about a 4-mile one way trip which may not seem like much, but the elevation gain is around 4000ft. So at about 1000 vertical feet per mile- this hike is intense even for experienced hikers (depending on the speed you do it at of course). At the same time it is doable for an average person as well especially if it is done over 2 days instead of one (we did spend a night there and camped out).

Pictures don't do it justice. The views were breathtaking. The air was crisp and clean. The greenery was very dense and bright.

We took the trip in the end of June 2017, it was in the upper 80's °F but as soon as we started climbing- the temperature was dropping pretty fast. After ~3 miles and 3000ft of elevation gain we started to see patches of snow, so we turned back for about 1/3 of a mile to look for a campground to spend the night.

(Getting the campfire going- one of my favorite things to do)

(View from my tent at night)

I put my tent a little too close to the fire so it burned a few small holes in it. Oh well, at least I was semi-warm as it got close to 35°F outside and raining on and off.

Next morning we got up early, packed, and started climbing further up the mountain.

(Views of lake Pend Oreille from just above our campground)

(Passing rain showers as we head up above the clouds)

By the time we got back up to the snowline we were pretty tired (mostly from yesterday's hike). Some people in our group were less fit than others so my friend and I decided to split up from the rest of the group and hike up further in the snow while the rest of the group waited for us. After about 30min of crawling through snow which was about 3-4ft deep in places- we decided to head back and hike back down with the rest of our group since we practically made it all the way to the top (just a couple of hundred feet short).

(This picture is from istockphoto.com)

Unfortunately, we did not get to see any mountain goats which Scotchman Peak is famous for. But we sure got one amazing hiking experience. Had a lot of fun camping and enjoyed the breathtaking views of the area.

So if you're planning a good hiking trip I would highly recommend it!