North face of Little Regret Peak , photo by Rick Baugher, 10/18/05.

Little Regret Peak el 11090'

Little Regret Peak, unchecked spot elevation 11090', is a comparatively small mountain on the backside of the Lost River Range. Located at the end of a connecting ridge 1.5 miles north of 11972' No Regret Peak, it is overshadowed by a passel of bigger, more important neighbors. With a prominence of 310' most mountaineers would only begrudgingly confer peak status on Little Regret. In other words, for someone on a quest to find that last unclimbed mountain in Idaho, Little Regret loomed as a big fat gem.
Little Regret Peak comes into full focus at the end of the road (some call it that), where East Fork Pahsimeroi River splits into a left hand and right hand branch. My hope was to find an easy way up. For that, I'd have to go and ask Helen. Yes, I'd have to go to Helen Hunt for it. Pardon my Pennsylvania Dutch humor.
Head south up the primeval right branch that drains Leatherman, Bad Rock, and Church. Make a half turn of the mountain, 180 degrees, to a kettle rim at 10000'. Now on the peak's south side, look NE just before this drainage depression. There is a zig zag scree route with short steps through the persistent cliff bands. This is the easiest route on the mountain.

View S to the north face of Little Regret Peak from the branches of
East Fork Pahsimeroi River.

North face of Mt Breitenbach, photo by Rick Baugher, 10/18/05.

Near the summit of Little Regret this view is south to the 10780'~
connecting saddle, then on to the north face of Mount Breitenbach. If
there's anything more arcane than the quest for unclimbed peaks, it's
the discovery of natural bridges. Finding the arch pictured here was
icing on the cake.

View North from the summit of Little Regret Peak, photo by Rick Baugher, 10/18/05.

From the untouched summit of Little Regret Peak this view looks past limestone strata to Upper Pahsimeroi. Mountaineer Peak el 11828' is on the far left. Tell Helen I found what I was looking for.

All photos 10/18/05

Article by Rick Baugher

June 16, 2008