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View N to Stump Peak and its slumping soils, 10/4/01.
Photo by Rick Baugher.
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Caribou Range
On the map of Idaho Jesse "Caribou Jack" Fairchild has a greater legacy than George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or Abraham Lincoln. Yes, all four men have Idaho counties named for them. But, it's only Caribou Jack, the 1869 discoverer of gold in eastern Idaho, who has a mountain, a mountain range, a national forest, and a (ghost) town named for him.
Come with me and explore some out of the way 8000' summits amid delightful montane country in the Caribou Range.
Stump Peak el 8603' anchors the southeastern end of the Caribou Range. In 1858 the federally funded Lander Emigrant Road passed near here. Today there are no roads, nor even trails, on this mountain. View N to Stump Peak and its slumping soils, 10/4/01.
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View SE to Star Valley and Salt River Range. Photo by
Rick Baugher, 4/18/99.
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From the summit of Tincup Mountain el 8200'+ the view is SE to Star Valley and Salt River Range (I affectionately call the Salts 'the Lemhi Range of Wyoming'). Coming up the draw of Tincup Creek is Idaho Highway 34, which permits four season access to this part of Caribou Range. Photo 4/18/99.
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Little Elk Mountain el 8760'. Photo Rick Baugher.
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Another mountain without a road is Little Elk Mountain el 8760'. Shown here is the summit snowfield on 5/7/01.
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Golden Gate Peak el 8393'. Photo Rick Baugher.
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Golden Gate Peak el 8393' is the only Caribou Range summit I have found that appeared to be free of prior human imprint. Nevertheless, most of this range is heavily hunted in Autumn, and judging from obsidian projectile points and petroglyphs found in the area, this has been the case for thousands of years. From Golden Gate's summit this view is N to Snake River Range on 11/12/01. The yellow gold colored cairn rocks are an iron carbonate called limonite.
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