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North Leatherman Peak & Leatherman Peak
Leatherman Peak is the second tallest mountain in Idaho. It’s a towering peak located in eastern Idaho’s Lost River Range. Leatherman could be considered one of the easiest, or one of the hardest twelvers to climb, depending on which route is chosen. The easier of the two primary routes utilizes a steep gully on the west side of the north ridge. It's highly scenic and is quickly becoming the standard route in spite of a long and bumpy drive to the West Fork Pahsimeroi trailhead. From this approach, it is also possible to reach the summit of North Leatherman Peak, via the connecting ridge between the two peaks.
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Zach and I had enjoyed a good climb of Merriam Lake Peak the prior day, and were now all set to tackle North Leatherman, Leatherman, and maybe even Badrock Peak. Our day started at the West Fork Pahsimeroi trailhead, and gave access to our peaks via the Leatherman Pass trail.
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After just a couple miles of hiking, Leatherman Pass came into view. Leatherman Peak just to the left of the pass, and North Leatherman further to the left.
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Beautiful country near the headwaters of the of the West Fork Pahsimeroi River. Our target is the saddle on the left, between North Leatherman and Leatherman.
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Leaving the trail and heading up the screen and talus slopes. Some loose rock to deal with in places on the way up, and maybe a little low 3rd class, but pretty just a straightforward grind overall.
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Once at the saddle, we hung a left and headed to North Leatherman. No issues along the ridge, just cheated to the west side in a couple places.
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North Leatherman summit view of Mount Corruption and Cleft Peak, with Lemhi giants Bell and Diamond visible in the distance.
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View from North Leatherman of Badrock Peak and Leatherman. Zach was moving well, so I encouraged him to go on ahead so he'd have time to tackle Badrock Peak. An so off he went like a gazelle along the ridge!
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Once back at the saddle, the climb up Leatherman was straightforward, with a climbers trail to follow up the ridge.
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From the summit of Leatherman, here’s a view southeast toward Badrock Peak, with Mount Church towering in the background. Gotta love those rock layers. Zach is down there somewhere!
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Like the other Idaho 12ers, Leatherman is a popular on a nice autumn Saturday. At least 12 people reached the summit today!
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I relaxed on the summit for a bit, enjoying the scenery, conversation, and of course a PB&J! Eventually I spotted Zach reach the summit of Badrock. Well done!
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After seeing Zach safely descent back to the saddle, I snapped this one last photo of Mount Borah from the summit of Leatherman. What a beautiful day!
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I made quick work of the scree descent back down to the valley, and then the hike back to the trailhead. I still only beat Zach back by ~25 minutes. What a great day in the mountains, and now all that was left was the slow bone jarring drive back to the highway.
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Map of my route. Around 10 miles and 4500' elevation gain round trip, in 8 hours of hiking. Great day!
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