The locals call it Elkhorn Peak

Given the fact that little snow had fallen yet, John and I decided to go climb Idaho's 7th highest peak (12,065 ft). We drove over early Saturday and started about 9am. Mt. Idaho sits just south of Borah and north of Leatherman Peak. We followed Elkhorn Creek through patchy snow and left the trees at about 9200 feet where we headed up a steep ridge and skirted under point 11060. We were now on the west ridge of the mountain and we encountered our first tricky snow area. We had to cross a knife-edged ridge, then down climb a small almost vertical chute, through unknown snow conditions. We then did several slippery snow traverses on the south side of the thin ridge. We primarily used the south side because it was easier to kick steps and the snow was in better condition. Just past this area the climbing steepened as we gained 1000 feet in about 0.3 miles. The climbing in this area was mixed and we joined up with the SW gully as we kicked steps right to the summit. It was a good feeling to have climbed this high in December. The views were great, the sky was clear, and the weather was warm for December. We signed the summit log and made our way out to the car by 4:30p. We drove home that night.