Idaho is where we reside, and Idaho is home to the “12er” challenge.
A 12er is a 12,000-foot mountain, and Idaho has nine 12ers in total. Hyndman Peak is the “smallest” 12er, coming in at 12,009 feet.
Hyndman is considered the easiest 12er in terms of how to get to the trailhead and how to get to the peak.
The trail itself is very defined, all the way until the base of the mountain. You can’t get lost on Hyndman and if you do it on a weekend during the summer climbing season, there will be plenty of other people around.
The first 2 1/2 miles of the trail are fairly flat. It’s a nice hike in the trees and runs several times near a creek. Some people take their bikes for these first few miles but understand that it’s not a “nice” trail. There are plenty of rocks, holes, and other things to look out for.
Once the first few miles are over, it’s a steep climb right away with a few flat areas here and there.
Toward the base of the mountain, there is a basin where a number of people will camp for the evening. There is plenty of flat area and sleeping the night before is easy to do.
We did not stay the night, and instead ate lunch at the basin and then headed to the saddle. Once you are at the saddle, head up to your left and up to the top. Some individuals will scramble up the scree before the saddle but we went to the saddle where there are more boulders to climb on, rather than dealing with the scree.
This was Bear Tooth, Little Wolf, and the cameraman’s first time on a 12er, and we weren’t sure how our bodies would react to the elevation. Camerman didn’t have any issues, but toward the top of the mountain, both Bear Tooth and Little Wolf started to get altitude sickness.
Despite the long hike to the top (about 7 miles), everyone made it safely!
However, once we were done at the top of the mountain, Bear Tooth and Little Wolf became more ill. Little Wolf began throwing up on the way down, followed by Bear Tooth.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a fast way down the mountain from the top. We went pretty slow, which took up precious time getting back to the vehicle.
Both the cameraman’s phone and our friend Tatyana’s phones died after we got down to the base of the mountain. We had no backup communication available.
For the last few miles of the hike, we did it in the dark. Thankfully, the trail is very defined and we had no issues getting back to our vehicle.
However, once we arrived at Tatyana’s van, the county sheriff showed up to greet us. Lol.
Apparently, family members had become concerned because of the lateness of our hike and they couldn’t get a hold of us. They had contacted authorities to go and search for us.
We spent a total of 14 hours of our day on the hike. It was long and by far the hardest hike we have ever done but we are proud of Bear Tooth and Little Wolf for this incredible accomplishment.