LRR 8'ers

LRR 8'ers This is not a farce. Before talking about little peaks in a big mountain range, for perspective, know that there are 36 states in the US with highpoints under 8000 feet in elevation. By an impromptu count there are 18+ eight thousand foot peaks in Idaho's Lost River Range, and while they've now all been climbed, only four have names you can find on a map. Here's a sampling. Robbery Hill el 8937' is the highest LRR 8'er. It is located in the Spring Hill segment of the range, and overlooks Doublespring Road. Here's the story on the name. The 1935 advance sheet of the Borah Peak 30' quad has the ranch at the base of this mountain identified as 'Yribar'. This name was later deleted on the official edition of 1938. My take is that Yribar was a poorly spelled anagram for robbery. In the lawless 1880's this section of Pahsimeroi Valley was a known hide out for horse thieves and cattle rustlers. Mahogany Hill el 8441' is officially named, and even has a USGS quad named for it. Yet on 5/30/07 I could find no sign of prior summit visitation. For anyone wishing to climb the LRR 8'ers, encounters with mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus) are almost unavoidable. The namesake spiny shrub/tree forms a dense thicket around this mountain. On the peak's SW side a maze-like opening can be found leading to the top.

Collapse Point el 8791' overlooks the fork of Long Lost Creek (L), and Dry Creek (R) on the backside of the Lost River Range. Peaks L to R include: Ferguson, Lost River, Breitenbach, Cleft, snowy Apex, and Corruption. Summit photo 4/29/07. In 1956 the Dry Creek dam collapsed, killing one person. From here you get a good view of the collapsed dam and crumbly country rock.

Here's the summit of Little Haw (Hee Haw), composed of cliff forming limestone, Douglas fir, and... mountain mahogany. A 3' cairn was placed on this spot. View NE to Lemhi Range on 4/22/09. Peaks L to R: Amy's, Lexi's, Brow, Diamond, Riddler, Big Boy, Shoshone John, and Nicholson on extreme right.