Cache Peak, ID

I had a fun hike this last weekend, Friday, October 16, 2009. I climbed Cache Peak, located in Southern Idaho. It is the tallest peak south of the Snake River in Idaho, standing at 10,339 ft. I have wanted to climb this mountain for a long time. I decided to do a solo climb. Honestly, I was pretty apprehensive about going by myself........getting stuck, mountain lions, turning an ankle, etc. To my luck, everything turned out okay. It was a very nice fall day.....sunny as ever, hardly any breeze. I decided to take the southwest route, following the description given at http://www.idahosummits.com/cache/cache.htm . Most people try to climb Mt Independence on the same day as Cache. Due to time constraints, I decided to just do Cache. I plan to return to climb Independence....in fact, I would like to approach it via the Independence Lakes trail to the north.

Trailhead was easy to find. The roads getting to the trailhead were very muddy, due to melting snow. I almost got stuck in a giant puddle. I hiked up this rangers trail to start. Very nice trail.

It wasnt long before I was hiking in snow.

This is a good picture of saddle between Independence (left) and Cache (right).

Another view of Cache

I loved this part of the hike. This is peering down into one of Independence lakes.

Once I got to the saddle area, the snow got deeper. I was wishing I would have packed my snowshoes.

It was awesome to finally see the cairn on top.

Getting closer.

In plain view now!

View from the summit. You can just see the tip of Independence.

Loved this view. City of Rocks to the south.

Mt Harrison/ Pomerelle area to the North

Looking directly east.

Summit shot by the cairn.

I really enjoyed the hike. It wasnt hard at all. The trail head is at roughly 8400 ft. The elevation gain is just under 2000 ft. From car to car, it took a little over 3 hours round trip.

It wasnt the same going by myself. It is so much more fun to share something like this with other people!!