Date: October 23, 2020.
Objective: Gallagher Peak 6,100ft.
Stats: 6.8 miles w/ 3,100ft ascent. 4:40 round trip. Strava.
Link: Gallagher Peak on Idaho: A Climbing Guide.
Gallagher Peak sits just off the Banks to Lowman Highway. While access is pretty good, there is not much shade on the route so it would be best done in the spring or fall. Due to the low elevation, it is also quite warm. A spring ascent with a couple feet of snow might be the best option, as that would get you above some of the brush.
I parked at the wildlife viewing area on the south side of the highway, but there is a dirt pullout parking area on the north where the route begins. I say route and not trail because the "trail" is not signed, but is pretty obvious. I started up the valley that holds Little Gallagher Creek and walked past an old building, following the path up the valley.
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| Road at the beginning of the route. |
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| Looking down the valley at the old building. |
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| Looking up the valley. |
There was some brush to contend with, as well as some ups and downs. I was aiming for the saddle and following some game trails and shooting for the "less brushy" areas seemed to work just fine. Just stick to the north side (hikers left) of the valley.
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| Looking up the valley with some of the better parts of the trail shown. |
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Looking down the valley.
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Once I got the the saddle, I turned left/north to follow the ridge. I worked along the ridge, moving in and around the brush. There were a few steep hills/false summits and overall the terrain was fairly straight forward and pretty fun.
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Looking south from just above the saddle.
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Looking north up the ridge.
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Gallagher Peak in the distance.
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From the time that the peak is visible on the ridge, there is still some ground to cover. I came expecting some brush and I was not disappointed. There were also some fun rocky sections but nothing even close to class 3. Just stick to the ridge and keep an eye on the map.
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Peak 7,460 from the summit of Gallagher.
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Shafer Butte and Mores Mountain.
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Looking south from the summit.
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Benchmark.
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The summit is approached from the south. Time to hunt for the benchmark! I skirted the large patch of brush on hikers right to the northern end of the highest contour line in search of the highest highpoint. It was there that I found the benchmark.
I retraced my route along the ridge to point 5578. There I turned hikers right and followed the ridge past points 5089 and 4836, instead of going down the valley. The terrain was pretty much more of the same, but better views.
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| Looking down the ridge from just south of the summit. |
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| Point 5089 is just past the trees. |
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| Looking over the saddle and south ridge from point 5089. |
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Looking up to point 5089.
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Note the dirt area just in front of the highway to park. My car is in the pullout on the highway.
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| Looking down the ridge at point 4836. |
There was actually a fairly defined path heading down. Most of this ridge is not too steep, but a lot of elevation change is right at the end, or start, depending on which way you're going.
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Looking down the ridge.
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Looking back up the ridge.
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Steep, brushy slope right at the end.
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Looking up from the base of the southwest ridge.
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I would say that it is worth doing to full loop on this peak. However, I would recommend going up the southwest ridge (the way I went down) and go down the valley (the way I went up).
