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Pavlos Peak & Petros Peak
Pavlos Peak and Petros Peak are two 11,000’ mountains located in the Pahsimeroi Mountain sub-range of eastern Idaho’s Lost River Range. Named after saints Paul and Peter, these two big peaks rise above the remote Christian Gulch area. Many different routes have been used to climb these two peaks, both individually and together.
Petros Peak became a milestone to celebrate, marking my final Idaho 11er. A 21+ year project! I’m been super blessed all these years to have awesome support from family and friends, good health, and a love for Idaho mountains. God is good!
I saved Petros Peak for my final Idaho 11er in dedication to my friend John Platt. John was a great mentor and adventure partner. We had summited 106 different peaks together before his passing in 2022. John and I, along with Sean Duffy had attempted Petros back in April 2011, but stopped ~1200’ short of the summit after getting engulfed in a snow squall during the ascent. So standing on the summit of Petros wrapped up some unfinished business for me dating back over 15 years. This one’s for you John!
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After a fun group camp the night before, including nutter butters and lots of campfire stories, I was privileged to have Brett, Haylee, and Derek all join me for the climb. We started hiking at ~7700’ at the end of an unmapped section of road leading up the South Fork Christian Gulch.
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We headed uphill shortly after the trailhead. After some steep climbing up lightly forested slopes, we emerged on the ridge around 9000'. The summit of Pavlos Peak visible above us, our first objective for the day.
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The ridge climb was easy, and we made our way up Pavlos without issue, enjoying the conversation as we went. Here’s a summit view from Pavlos, looking over at Petros Peak.
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It was a little breezy, so we didn't stay on Pavlos long before ascending, and headed for the plateau between the two peaks.
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Soon we neared the based of the northeast face of Petros Peak.
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It was looking a little cliffy as we approached the summit block.
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But we worked our way up, and the challenge was fun. Derek took this shot of me climbing a little gully.
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After a series of short class 3 chutes and ledges, we made our way up the final notch that led to the ridge just below the summit.
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Me on the summit of Petros Peak, my final Idaho 11er!
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Summit view from Petros looking back on Pavlos Peak.
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View north including Christian Gulch and the peaks in the northern Pahsimeroi's.
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After a PB&J, we took a group shot to celebrate the occasion. Many thanks to Derek for sharing several photos of the day.
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Note I left on the summit. This one's for you John!
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After all the celebrating was done, it was time to head down. We would descend the south slopes back to the valley. Mount Borah visible in the distance.
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The upper part of the valley was super scenic, including some impressive cliffs.
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The valley included some talus, light bushwhacking, an annoying section of deadfall, but also some pleasant meadows. Rare to see these 3 athletes hiking at a leisurely pace.
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Map of the route. 9 miles and 4000' elevation gain round trip in a fairly leisurely 6.5 hours of hiking. We went counterclockwise. A great day in the mountains! My sincere thanks to Brett, Haylee, and Derek for joining me on this milestone outing.
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