Kong and Us by Bob Boyles

[This article was first published in Idaho Magazine, July 2022.] The Peak That Got Away Lady and I gotten along just fine for about half of the five-day horseback trip up the South Fork of the Payette River, until she bolted off the trail into Lodgepole pines. She was at full gallop and I had to lie flat on the … Continue reading

T.M. Bannon by Rick Baugher

T.M. Bannon. USGS Photo

Thomas M. Bannon was also a self-taught mountaineer. Although his name is not widely known in mountaineering circles, during his surveying career from 1889 to 1917 he climbed nearly one thousand summits in the American West. More than two hundred of these summits were in Idaho. Bannon’s cryptic reports, supplemented by the rock Cairns, Wooden triangulation signals, chiseled cross-reference marks; … Continue reading

The First Ascent of Triple Peak

ARTICLE INDEX The second edition of the book discussed the then unnamed Triple Peak as follows: Peak 11280+                                                               11,280+ feet (Rating unknown)  This complicated tower, the southernmost summit on … Continue reading

Appendicitis Hill and T.M. Bannon

Appendicitis Hill as viewed from the south. Livingston Douglas Photo

On February 26th, 1926, the Sunday Idaho Statesman published the following report by E.S. Crawford describing the origin of the name Appendicitis Mountain, now Appendicitis Hill. Bannon’s extensive surveying contributions to Idaho Surveying are discussed on Pages 14 and 15 of the book. Appendicitis Case – Responsible for Mountain’s Name Answering a query of The Statesman several weeks ago as … Continue reading

Climbing the Slopes of Mount Borah—the Dean of Idaho Peaks

Editor’s note: This article from The Idaho Statesman (February 10, 1935) was written by Lyman Marden, one of the participants in the 1934 USGS mapping of the 15-minute Mount Borah quadrangle.  The Idaho Statesman (February 10, 1935). By Lyman Marden  During the season of 1934, the United States Geological Survey began the mapping of the Borah Peak quadrangle that includes … Continue reading