Page Type Page Type: Mountain/Rock
Location Lat/Lon: 44.13750°N / 115.0106°W
Additional Information Elevation: 10680 ft / 3255 m
Sign the Climber's Log

Overview

Located in the north-central part of the Sawtooths, on the eastern edge, Mickey's Spire is the 4th highest peak in the Sawtooth Range, yet it receives little attention.  It sits just 0.3 miles south of the range's highest Peak, Thompson Peak.  First climbed in 1934 by the Underhills of the Iowa Mountaineers Group, they initially referred to Mickey's Spire as Thompson South Summit.  In 1948 they dubbed it with it's current name and also named the nearby Anna's Pinnacle.  In 1965, Lyman Dye, Arthur Barnes, and Wayne Boyer pioneered the 5.5 East Ridge route. Mickey's summit ridge is a long line of complicated towers.  It's easy to quickly get onto Class 4-5 terrain, although with careful route-finding it can be accomplished as Class 3.  A circuit of close proximity scrambles can be linked in one trip: Williams Peak, Thompson Peak, Mt. Carter, Mickey's Spire, and Mt. Limbert can all be done in one day. 

There are many interesting routes on Mickey's Spire.

1)  Summit Ridge (Class 3-4)

2)  South Thompson Peak Cirque (Easy Class 5)

3)  East Ridge (II 5.5)-

4)  South Ridge Headwall (II 5.4)-

The routes are covered in more detail on the Summit Ridge Routes Page.

Getting There

Road Approach

From Stanley, Idaho take ID-75 south for 5 miles and turn west (right) onto the Redfish Lake Road. Take this road 2 miles to the backpacker parking lot.

Hike / Scramble Approach

From the trailhead follow the Fishhook Creek trail until it branches right and take that branch toward Marshall Lake. You'll follow a prominent lateral moraine and soon you have some of the best views of nearby Horstmann Peak and Heyburn Mountain. To access Mickey's Spire (also Williams or Thompson Peak) leave the trail at the top of the moraine at about 8050 and enter the prominent valley south of Williams.  Continue to follow this alpine meadow where you'll see this.  At the head of the valley you'll need to ascend a small headwall of Class 3 terrain. Keep right to get up this (can be snow covered).  Once above this small headwall, go left (south) and boulder hop until you can see the prominent saddle between Thompson and Mickey's Spire.  Class 2-3 rock hop up to this saddle.



Red Tape

No permits of any kind are required. No fees or passes are required. There are campfire restrictions in the backcountry.

When To Climb

Standard climbing season is June through October. Conditions vary greatly.  The Sawtooth Valley can be one of the coldest areas in the nation during the winter. Negative readings are often common.  Snowfall can vary and occur at any time. Summer days can still be hot, but you'll probably never experience 90 or above, especially once you get up higher.

Nearby Stanley, Idaho Climate Data:

Jan Feb  Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual
Average Max. Temperature (F)  27.0 33.7  42.5 50.3 59.9 68.4 78.7  78.4 68.6 56.6 38.1  26.0 52.4
Average Min. Temperature (F) -0.5  0.3 9.7 20.3 28.3  33.9  36.0 34.0  27.2  20.6 12.0  -0.8 18.4
Average Total Precipitation (in.) 1.64 1.33 1.02 1.02 1.17 1.16 0.59  0.59 0.78 0.92  1.46   1.55  13.24
Average Total SnowFall (in.) 16.9 13.2  10.2 3.4 0.9  0.2  0.0  0.0 0.4  1.7  10.4  14.6  71.9
Average Snow Depth (in.)  18  20 15 0  0 0 0  2  8  6

   

Mountain Conditions

Sawtooth Web Cam can give you a good idea of the conditions in the area:

http://www.ruralnetwork.net/~dpinney/

Sawtooth National Recreation Area

http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/sawtooth/recreation/recreport.htm


SNOTEL site gives latest snow depth readings:

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snotel/snotel.pl?sitenum=845&state=id

Camping

Camping

  • There are many drive-in camp sites near Redfish Lake (near the trailhead)
  • Depending on your route- good bivy spots can be found at Lake 9425, the unnamed Lake Below Williams, or above the headwall on the west slopes of Thompson.


    External Links



Children

Children

Children refers to the set of objects that logically fall under a given object. For example, the Aconcagua mountain page is a child of the 'Aconcagua Group' and the 'Seven Summits.' The Aconcagua mountain itself has many routes, photos, and trip reports as children.

Parents 

Parents

Parents refers to a larger category under which an object falls. For example, theAconcagua mountain page has the 'Aconcagua Group' and the 'Seven Summits' asparents and is a parent itself to many routes, photos, and Trip Reports.

Sawtooth RangeMountains & Rocks