Blaine County High Point Trip Report
Hyndman Peak
Date: July 13, 2000
Author: Ken Jones
Note: in local usage, "Hynd" rhymes with "mind", not "wind"
From Idaho state route 75 between Hailey and Ketchum, at logical mile post 122.7, turn east onto the
paved, signed East Fork Road. Follow this 6.9 miles until you turn left onto the unsigned Hyndman Creek
gravel road. This point is just short of the end of the pavement on East Fork Road. Enter the Sawtooth
National Forest at 7.8 miles and reach a fork at 9.2. The right fork has a locked gate for a private
residence (rustic mansion? - there's a tennis court below) while the left is signed "National Forest Access"
and becomes rougher. Go left. At 10.2 bear left (the right goes back to the private residence, or its tennis
court) and pass a sign stating "Road Closed 1 Miles Ahead." Actually, you can drive another 1.4 miles
before the old road is gated, just before crossing the North Fork of Hyndman Creek. Two trails start from
the parking area here. As of this writing, this area requires a trailhead parking pass for the Sawtooth
National Recreation Area and the Ketchum Ranger District of the Sawtooth NF, available at ranger
stations for $5 for 3 days or $15 for a year.
Hike east on trail number 166, crossing a plank bridge over the North Fork, and continue up the main fork
of Hyndman Creek. The first two miles is an old road bed. Despite what you would expect from the topo
and the USFS map, this trail DOES NOT head into the basin south of Cobb Peak. Instead, at about 7800'
it heads north up the ridge and passes between point 8724' and the little pond nearby. Just beyond it turns
right and crosses a branch of the creek before continuing up and finally petering out in meadows above
9400'. Until this point you've been on a real trail; from here to the saddle SE of Hyndman Peak there is an
erratic boot path, which I could not follow consistently in either direction. Generally, it crosses the outlet
of the lake just under 9800', passes above the lake just under 10200', and keeps right of the talus from
there to the saddle at 10800+'. From here it is a steep talus scramble to the summit, staying on top or to
the left of the ridge. The benchmark is obvious on top, but I did not find or leave a register.
Total hike is 12 to 14 miles round trip with 5100+' of gain. I took about 11 hours round trip.