Peak 10,740 aka The Clapper

It was the middle of May, and a few of us local mountaineers hadn't been above 10,000 feet in 2020.  Michael figured it was time we solved this problem, and he had an easy peak in mind - The Clapper.

After a bit of back and forth, we decided to drive over together and wear masks, to follow CDC guidelines.  After a four hour drive, we arrived at our destination - the base of the peak's southwest ridge, north of Deep Creek.

It was a beautiful morning, mid 40's and no wind.  Based on the lack of snow, we left the snowshoes in the rig, but carried ice axes and crampons just in case we encountered any snow.  From Larry Prescott's trip report  http://larryprescott.blogspot.com/2016/09/trip-report-clapper-10740-lemhi-range.html, we knew that the route would be relatively easy, but wanted to be prepared.

Bell Mountain

Though we were climbing, The Clapper, Bell Mountain at 11,612 feet, would be the theme of the day.  It was staring us in the face all day!

The route starts at roughly 6900 feet and follows the southwest ridge through sage brush until about 8400 feet.  Nice low sage brush too.

Entering the forest section

Though hiking through the sage brush was nice, the forested section was even better.  Wide open trees with a nice carpet of pine needles made for soft hiking.

Bell in the background

We kept a steady pace and didn't encounter any snow until we thought about going around point 10,095.  So rather than walk around and through the snow to save a 100 feet of gain, we just went over the top.  Once again Bell Mountain was right there!

Bell Mountain from Point 10,095

We could finally see The Clapper at this point.  All we had left was a walk across a smooth ridge and a climb up some Lemhi talus.

Michael with the Clapper straight ahead.

Looking back at Point 10,095

We were on top a short while later enjoying the views.  There was barely a breath of wind and not a cloud in the sky.  What a day to be in the mountains!

Summit shot with (what else) Bell Mountain.

After a leisurely lunch, we packed up and retraced our steps back to Michael's rig.  We definitely violated the windshield rule - 3 hours to summit, 2 hours to get down vs. 8 hours driving - but it was more than worth it!

Stats:
7 miles
4200 feet elevation gain
5 hours car-car