Danskin Mountains

Date:  Friday, March 18, 2022.

Objective:  Explore the Danskin's.  Tagged Hutton and Fiddler BM.

Stats: 17.5 miles and 5500ft of elevation gain in 7:30 round trip.  Lots of rugged trail and off trail travel, plus the creek rally and bushwhack at the end.  Strava.

Due to the very dry winter here, I figured I would head out and see what the Danskins were like.  I've been in the area a few times and love how remote they feel even though they are very close to Boise.  I wanted to try the connecting ridge from Hutton Peak to Little Fiddler, and had loose plans of trying a bigger loop if conditions and time allowed. 

The trails are ATV/ OHV/ dirt bike trails and are very rutted, but at least they are well defined.  The snow got to be a hindrance the closer I got to Little Fiddler.  Pedestrian travel is rough out here, but I never saw another person and the weather was dang near perfect.  From where I decided to turn around, about 2-3 miles round trip short of Little Fiddler, I knew there would be a bunch of vert to regain, and at least 8-9 miles back to the car from here if I turned around now.  There was another trail that I was considering that stayed above Willow Creek that would get me back to the trailhead.  Instead of going back up and over Fiddler BM, I cut down toward it and started following my escape route.  After about 5 miles of following this route, I decided that maybe I should just go ahead and take a dip in Willow Creek.  The temps were warm, the day was getting late, and this option would surely save several miles and at least it would be flat.

It wasn't the worst life decision I've ever made, but it wasn't without its challenges.  The creek was waist deep in places and crossing it was unavoidable.  There were a few areas where the best option was to basically class 3 bushwhack- combo- log cross with my fingers crossed.  I probably ended up crossing the creek 8-10 times.  The last two of which were actually not needed, but I was on a roll and the cold water was quite invigorating.  It was a long and tough day but the adventure and route finding were top notch.  

Pictures   

Trail just above Willow Creek and heading towards Hutton Peak,

Looking towards the trailhead.

Early morning rays.

Looking east.

Looking south over north facing slopes.

Hutton Peak.

Summit of Hutton.

Flat BM and Bender Peak.

North side of the ridge that I followed.

Looking north.

Hutton Peak from Fiddler BM.

Fiddler BM.

Little Fiddler is a long ways away.

Heading towards Little Fiddler.

False summits on the way to Little Fiddler.

Rocks.

Zoomed in on the summit of Little Fiddler.

Green grassy fields above Willow Creek.

ATV track leading into the creek bottom.

Wild turkeys.

The last stretch of dry trail before the creek rally began.