Find Nearby Peaks

This peak is not in the book. Published November 2019

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Peak 7882 is the highest point on a LONG ridge (unofficially called Snowslide Ridge) that extends from US-89 (to the south) to Snowslide Canyoon (to the north). The ridge spans a whopping 4-1/2 miles! The ridge crosses Telephone Draw on the way and has multiple ridge points. The final ridge point is Snowslide Point (7,782 feet), which lies at the north end of the long, high ridge crest. Snowslide Ridge towers over Montpelier Reservoir to the west. It is most easily reached via its western aspects north of the reservoir. USGS Meade Peak 

West Gully/West Shoulder, Class 2

Access

From its junction with US-89 in Montpelier Canyon, drive north up FSR-111/Crow Creek Road for 2.0 miles to the crossing of the inlet stream at the north end of Montpelier Reservoir. Park in a pullout area on the south side of Crow Creek Road where the road makes a sharp turn left/north. The elevation here is 6,520 feet.

Note: The USGS Montpelier Canyon quadrangle shows a large body of water on the north and west sides of Crow Creek Road here. That is no longer the case. There is a large dispersed camping area on the west side of Crow Creek Road just north of the aforementioned parking pullout.

The Climb

From the bridge crossing of the inlet creek (Montpelier Creek), hike north up Crow Creek Road for 0.2 mile to a dry gully that separates two large shoulders on the west face of Peak 7882. The left/north shoulder leads to the correct high point of Peak 7882. Leave the road and scramble east up the gully through easy sagebrush, cross a cattle fence, and continue a short distance farther up the gully to reach the toe of the west shoulder.

Leave the gully and scramble up steep but relatively easy scrub/sagebrush, aiming for a lone pine tree at the top of the shoulder. Stay to the right/south of a steep face section of loose gravel. Continue upward on the ill-defined, rounded shoulder and aim for that solo pine tree. Once you reach the pine tree (or just right/south of it), scramble northeast to the summit area. From the pine tree, you have another 150 vertical feet to reach the high point of Peak 7882. The high point is a bit ill-defined but there is a small cairn on top. It is in a small open area with sage/scrub nearby.

North Shoulder/North Face, Class 2

Access

Same as for the west gully/west shoulder

The Descent

Follow the easy, open ridge crest north for about 0.8 mile to reach a small saddle. Scramble about 40 vertical feet to the top of Snowslide Point (7,782 feet). Snowslide Point has a smattering of scattered mountain mahogany and some ground talus/boulders and the ever-present sagebrush/scrub. There is yet another point at the north end of the flat summit ridge which is a bald scrub area with no saddle or rise to it. This final point sits at the top of the steep northern aspects of this mountain.

Move to the right/east side of the summit plateau to begin a descent of a reasonably-defined shoulder that heads northeast then north down the steep north face of Snowslide Ridge. The shoulder initially is forested on its left/west side and open scrub on its right/east side. Follow the shoulder’s crest down toward Snowslide Canyon and FSR-111/Crow Creek Road. The view here is rather frightening because the face is so steep. The shoulder bends left/north and then just disappears, turning into a steep face descent through a pine forest.

The pine forest is rather thick with a fair amount of blowdown but it goes quickly. As you near Snowslide Canyon and its rushing creek, you emerge from the forest into an open sagebrush strip that borders the willow-clogged wet drainage at the base of Snowslide Canyon. FSR-111/Crow Creek Road is on the far side of this mess. Follow a cattle trail left/west on the near side of the willows until you find a relatively easy, willow-free crossing of the creek. Jump the creek and do some minimal willow-bashing to reach the [blessed] road. Hike west then south down FSR-111/Crow Creek Road to return to the north end of Montpelier Reservoir and your parking spot.