Find Nearby Peaks

This peak is not in the book. The elevation and prominence figures are based on recent LiDAR updates. The USGS quad shows an elevation of 9,957 feet. Published October 2025

---

Peak 9960 is a rugged, rocky peak that is overlooked by climbers. It is a challenging, Class 3 ridge traverse from U Mountain and a steep, challenging forest bushwhack down to the Middle Fork Little Timber Creek Trail. USGS Yellow Peak

Access

Same as for U Mountain. This is the second leg of a 2-peak adventure that includes U Mountain (10,542 feet) and Peak 9960. It covers 9.0 miles with 3,700 feet of elevation gain round trip.

Southwest Ridge, Class 3

The Climb

From the small, 9,620-foot connecting saddle with U Mountain, begin an arduous (over an hour), rock-and-pine ridge traverse to get underneath Peak 9960 in an open, grassy field. Follow the rugged ridge northeast up to about 9,800 feet. While the USGS topo map makes it look like contouring at 9,800 feet from here is feasible, it is not. The ridge has several unavoidable ups and downs and a massive block of rock to skirt on its right/south side.

Climb up over a final massive block of rock (Point 9911) to its north side then descend just over 200 vertical feet (Class 3) to a saddle area of open pine forest. From here, angle left/north to get around (and over) a headwall. Once on its east side, climb a Class 3 chute to get atop the headwall. From the headwall, descend a rocky ridge (Class 2+) down to a magnificent, open grassy field at the base of the rocky summit area.

Cross the field and scramble east up an easy, forested face to reach the narrow notch between the [lower] north summit hump and the true/south summit hump. From the notch, scramble right/south up boulders then easy talus/scree to the rocky summit perch. There were no signs of previous ascent. I built a nice cairn atop the tilted, protruding boulder that is the high point.​

South Face, Class 3

The Descent

From the summit, return north to the ridge notch. From the notch, descend a game trail east down to a magnificent open, grassy field. Head right/south then southeast across the field to enter the pine forest. Follow a game trail down through reasonable, but steep, pine forest with a loose scree/gravel base (Class 3 at times). Lower down, the face steepens and ends in a narrow drainage. No game trails here. Bash east then southeast through a mess of downed trees and brush in this wet drainage to eventually reach the Middle Fork Little Timber Creek Trail/FST-187. Follow the trail for ¾ mile back to the trailhead.