W7I/SI-151 is located near Lava Hot Springs Idaho. The summit is on Idaho Public Land but accessed through posted private land. You MUST get permission from the land owner who is generally reasonable when permission is asked and he has no cultivated crops.
This is a two pointer just outside of Plains Montana. It's a 13 mile drive on forest service roads and then a difficullt scramble over steep, heavily wooded terrain. Add to that the Forest Service cut down hundreds of juvenile trees two years ago in an attempt to eliminate potential fuel for fire prevention. You have to step over many many logs to get to the summit. The scramble is just about two thirds a mile so it's very doable. The view from the top is worth it. Cell coverage is excellent. Carry bear spray as we spotted one on the drive up.
I thought I would update this summit. It has been 10 years since KG7E put up a blog.
if you are planning on doing this summit make sure you do it from Atomic City off of highway 26. If you use Goolgle maps it will suggest you take highway 20 if you are heading from Arco Idaho or Idaho Falls/ Pocatello. if You take Highway 20 you will be going through the Idaho National Energy Laboratory which is closed to the public.
Depending on how much you like the paint on your vehicle, Quilcene Ridge might be a drive-up. Even so, where the slide alder starts significantly encroaching on the road it's only a quarter mile to the summit. So walking is an option.
Second attempt to get Calispell Peak. The approach and drive up make this a difficult hike to access with most vehicles. Even with a 4WD truck, you can do damage to your vehicle attempting to drive to the top. The smart move is to park on Calispel Peak Rd and hike from the 3.5 mi point to the summit, unless you'd like to do an alignment on your car.
This summit is located approximately 16 miles North of Soda Springs Idaho. Take State Highway 34 north to Blackfoot Reservoir. You will need to turn to your left off of highway 34 when you see the Blackfoot North access road. This road is accessible to passenger cars. Travel west approximately 2.25 miles on this road. Watch for a fence line going up a ridge on your right. There is a place to park at
This is the fourth summit I activated with my Dad while visiting Lemolo Lake KOA.
From the KOA, we drove across the dam on NF-2610 and right onto NF-2612. Then left onto NF-700 and again left onto NF-920.
This summit is located 6 miles East of Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. Take Highway 30 East towards Fish Creek Summit and turn South approximately 1 mile from Lava Hot Springs onto Baldy Mtn Road. Stay on the main paved road which heads South and the turns into gravel/dirt road. Watch for a sign on your left that says State access 1.5 miles. You will come to a junction near 42.547° -111.900°.
Follow other blog entries for accurate directions to the access road. The first gate at FS60 road is gone, at least destroyed. A second gate about a mile in was also open but might be locked later in the season.
Normally, from FS60, this is a 3.3 mi/ 1600 ft elev gain hike but I was able to drive to with 1/2 mi of the summit where I hit snow drifts covering the road. I would expect these to melt out over the next 3-4 weeks or so, making the summit potentially a drive-up where parking would be available.
Fair warning, this one is a bit of a tricky one. This summit doesn't have a trail to the top at all. You could possibly access it from the Mountain lakes loop trail but it would be a very steep scramble over loose rock, it looked a bit too dicy to me when I did my scouting hike around the loop a few months earlier. I elected, instead, to use part of the old moss creek trail which was abandonded by the forest service but is still maintained by individuals. The old moss creek trailhead is located on land owned by green diamond and is only open to vehicle traffic