The southern end of the Sawtooths, where they start to blend in with the neighboring Smoky and Boise Mountains, is a great place for winter exploring. With the highway being closer to the base of the mountains, you can reach a number of peaks in winter without having to endure miles of flat hiking across the valley to reach the peaks. One great winter option is “The Frenchman Peaks”, which are a couple of mountains along the ridge that divides Frenchman Creek from the headwaters of the Salmon River.

I was craving a winter snowshoe climb out amongst some snowy trees, and Splattski was nice enough to join me. But when we were greeted in Stanley by a temperature reading of -33’F, we were thinking it was more of an adventure that we’d bargained for. Thankfully, by the time we got to the trailhead, it has warmed up to a balmy -24’F for the start of our hike.

It was plenty cold as we started across the flat on a snowmobile track. To me the most noticeable sign of the cold was that my eyes were having a hard time blinking as the steam from my breath was frosting my eyelashes. But after about a mile, we started climbing up through the lodgepole forest, and the exertion was enough that we actually had to shed a few layers of clothing.

The second mile was an obstacle course, winding in and out of trees. But higher up we were treated with some better views and open hillsides to traverse. As we headed south, the views were amazing and especially crisp due to the clear skies and cold air. Conditions for photography were excellent. To the west was the rugged Peak 9367’ (our nemesis) and to the east was Titus Ridge in the Smoky’s.

Our first summit of the day was “North Frenchman Peak” (Peak 9139’), where we stopped for a lunch. There was no wind, which made it bearable to sit and enjoy the views and a bite to eat. John said he wasn’t feeling strong, so I offered to break trail to entice him to head further along the ridge to our next peak. I suspected it was a lack of breakfast that was hurting him. Sure enough, after lunch he was back to himself.

We had to descend about 300’ before making the 500’ climb to our second summit “Frenchman Peak” (Peak 9345’). There were some cool early season cornices on the ridge along the way, and the views just got better and better the higher we went. We were treated to some spectacular panoramic views from Frenchman Peak. It was a great vantage point to check out peaks we knew and others we didn’t. The Sawtooth Valley looked far below, with Castle Peak and the White Clouds lurking in the background.

The sun was sinking fast, and even though the cold was bearable in the sun with no wind, we knew we needed to be back to the car before dark, when the temperature would drop quickly. We had some discussion about alternate routes back to the car that might be faster, but ultimately decided to retrace our steps on the way down. Turns out, heading downhill in a broken trail is much easier than grinding our way uphill through fresh powder. Needless to say, we made pretty good time. The only thing that slowed us down was breaks to check out the amazing scenery all around us.

We made it back to the car by 4:15pm, and it had warmed all the way up to -4’F. Round trip was just over 7 hours to cover nearly 9 miles and 3000’ of elevation gain. What a great way to start the New Year!

Map of our route, almost 9 miles and 3000' elevation gain round trip.	A little chilly at the trailhead.	Winding our way up through lodgepole forest.	First view of North Frenchman Peak.	Looking west across the valley at the impressive Peak 9367'.
Traversing open hillside.	Making our way up the ridge.	View back of Castle Peak in the White Clouds.	Small ridge to cross before re-entering the trees.	Beautiful winter scene.
Pretty surroundings to hike through.	Summit shot from North Frenchman Peak.	Frenchman Peak as we descended to the saddle.	Heading up the north ridge of Frenchman Peak.	Splattski nearing the summit of Frenchman Peak.
View east of Vienna Peak and Abes Armchair.	Looking back down at our route from North Frenchman, with the Sawtooth Valley in the background.	Titus Ridge and the Smoky Mountains to the east.	The sun starting to sink behind the snowy trees. Gorgeous.	Hiking across the flats, almost back to the car.