Find Nearby Peaks

This peak is not in the book. Published December 2019

---

Peak 9331 sits just above Firebox Summit (9,018 feet) and Firebox Meadows. This peak is hidden in the pine forest on a flat hill. It is a navigational challenge to find it. The easiest ascent route is via FST-082 at Firebox Summit and the northeast face. It barely qualifies as a ranked summit. Peak 9331 is, in reality, a forested hump on the west ridge of Gilmore Peak (10,748 feet). USGS Gilmore

West Spur/South Ridge, Class 2

Access

Sawmill Canyon Road/FSR-101 is located 36.6 miles north of Howe on the Little Lost River Highway. Turn right/east onto [signed] Sawmill Canyon Road at a fork in the highway. At 6.7 miles, reach the Challis National Forest boundary. At 13.2 miles, reach a road junction near the Timber Creek Campground. Go straight here to stay on FSR-101. At 13.3 miles, reach a junction with Quigley Creek Road/FSR-523. Park here (7,320 feet). This climb is part of a loop route that includes an ascent of Peak 9331, Peak 9137, and Peak 9660. It begins and ends along Sawmill Canyon Road.

The Climb

From the road junction, hike up Quigley Creek Road/FSR-523 for about 0.7 mile to a right/south switchback at 7,720 feet. Continue a short distance farther up the road and leave it at 7,750 feet to climb the obvious ridge to the east. Bushwhack east up through a dense pine forest with lots of brush to bash through. Move left/north to the ridge crest for easier going. The brush and trees are thinner here and the blowdown is more moderate.

Work your way up the ridge through an open pine forest with embedded talus, short scrub, and minimal rocky outcrops. At just under 9,000 feet, intercept an old jeep road (not shown on the USGS topo) and follow it left/northeast up on to the south ridge. The south ridge is very wide and ill-defined here. And it is, of course, forested. Continue on this good jeep road as it bends left/north and goes over Point 9185 and then descends slightly to an open saddle.

There is a major road junction in this saddle (also not shown on the USGS topo map). There is a good jeep road coming up a gully from the east here. Ignore it. Continue straight/north past a Forest Service sign that prohibits ATVs and MCs. The road seems to end here, but it doesn’t. You will almost immediately pick up the old road again, albeit in poorer shape than it was previously. Follow the old road north then northeast up the amorphous ridge, with some minor meandering and switchbacking, to a high point area. There is no more uphill from here.

Leave the road and bushwhack through reasonably easy forest to the right/east to a nearby forest-and-rock ridge crest. Here you will find the summit cairn of dinner-plate shale in the semi-open forest. This point is about 100 horizontal feet east of the jeep road and 20-25 vertical feet higher.

North Face, Class 2

Access

Same as for the west spur/south ridge. This is the first leg of a ridge traverse from Peak 9331 to Peak 9137.

The Descent

From the summit, return west to the jeep road. Follow it briefly but, since it is heading northeast then east, leave it to scramble north directly down the north face of Peak 9331. You will soon reach an open area of talus and scree with great views of the Moonshine Creek drainage and the next peak on today’s agenda: Peak 9137. There is a small, open meadow among the pine trees in the saddle at the head of Moonshine Creek. Your objective is to reach that meadow.

Descend a slope of loose shale talus/scree to the awaiting forest. Bash your way through this dense forest, battling lots of downed timber. Maintain a dead north trajectory to reach the elusive meadow. When you pop out of the forest into the meadow, you will be relieved that you found it. But you will be dismayed when you discover that it’s a MARSH. A very wet one. This is the terminus of the north face of Peak 9331.