Boundary County High Point Trip Report

Date: August 17, 2000
Author: Bob Packard

Drove to Bonners Ferry, ID, then N on narrow paved (except for section in middle) West Side Rd which goes W of Kootenai River. Drove W on FR 634 to camp passing Fisher Peak Trail on the way, no good place to camp at that spot. Next day (Aug 17) went up that trail. You'll have to have the Pyramid Peak, ID Quad to appreciate what I'm going to say next. The trail starts at marked elevation 4413 and switchbacks up and STAYS to the SW of the SE ridge going up to UN 7680+. The map doesn't show this. Each time the switchback went E I expected it to head for Fisher Peak, but each time it swung back W. What luck. The trail didn't take off for Fisher Peak until the 7400 ft level! By then I could see and almost reach up and touch UN 7680+. Went up there. It's lower than the unnamed point at 7709 (checked both ways). Went over to UN 7709. Built cairn, left glass jar register on the obvious (to me) HP. Further S on the ridge I found a big cairn and a plastic container register left by a worker of some type who had been there in both 98 and 99. No other signers. Bushwhacked off UN 7709 SE and finally picked up logging roads which took me back to the trail. I should add that logging roads (FR 2426, 2428, 2428B) are gated and locked at FR 634 level, so you can't use them to get higher on the Fisher Peak Tr.

Statistics: 6.5 hours, 10 miles, 3800 feet elevation gain.