Two Morse Peaks
Fishook Peak. Rick Baugher photo.
View SE near Fishhook Peak. Rick Baugher photo, 6/26/08
View NE to Buffalo Skull Peak. Rick Baugher photo, 6/26/08.
Many Tops. Rick Baugher photo, 6/26/08.
Summit of Many Tops. Rick Baugher photo, 6/26/08.
Two Morse Peaks Only two more peaks to go! Of the 9 summits that encircle Morse Creek drainage in the wild north central Lemhi Range, I was down to the last two. I knew the long rock hop to Fishhook Peak el 10225' would be a nice catch, and I was ready to nibble at the bait.
View E across the Morse Lake cirque to Fishhook Peak el 10225'. The hooked ridge line to this mountain top has a couple of barbs.
Smoking gun. Joe Umpleby, Oscar Meinzer, and other early day USGS geologists would have marveled at such a glacial aftermath. This upper reach of Falls Creek shows a classic U-shaped trough. The noticeable 'bathtub ring' supports the hypothesis that ice here was once 500' thick. View SE from near Fishhook Peak.
From the undisturbed summit of Fishhook Peak (prominence 405') the view is NE to parent Buffalo Skull Peak el 10735'. To its left is rounded Mill Mountain el 10793'. The Salmon National Forest map of 1918 pegged Mill at 11000'.
Now, onward to that 9th and final Morse Creek summit. View SE to Many Tops el 9442', with its 1100' prominence.
You decide. Was Many Tops a pristine summit? Is this a random stone placement or the work of some horse packer, miner, or forest fire fighter? View N to The Forgottens from the 9442' highest top.
All photos 6/26/08
Rick Baugher, 6/29/08