W7U/TO-066 Rishel Peak

 This unactivated peak is on the Utah side of the border, and is an interesting hike. The dirt road that drives around the base of the mountains is well maintained, and my sedan had no trouble getting to the start point. I hiked up from south east of the peak, where a lower quality dirt road starts going up the slope. 

Starting up the road. Rishel on the left.

I walked up the dirt road. If you had a jeep or similar you could drive much closer to the base. After passing the small peak on the right, I took the road to the right. Around the spot where the road ends on the map I stepped off and started heading to the north col. This starts out relatively easy and flat, but gets steeper as you get closer.

Looking towards the salt flats.

I had to sidehill across some small spurs. At the base I found a chute filled with scree that lead up to the col on the ridge. I hiked up this. It was steep and unpleasant, but not too difficult. On the ridge the wind really picked up, so I didn't slow down too much. The first part of the ridge climb is the steepest, from the col up to the sub-peak. I generally stayed to the left (south) of the ridge crest, since this seemed like there were fewer cliffs to navigate there. As a bonus, since it was south facing it had less snow. I don't know if it actually was better, but I made it up and down on this side.

Just below the summit.

The final climb up to the peak was significantly easier than the first part. Here I stayed on the ridge, to try and avoid the snow. The summit has a reasonably sized flat area. I was worried I'd get blown away, but it was surprisingly calm on top. I set up on the lee side nonetheless. There was great cell service. Like on the other peaks in the area, I just used the whip antenna for easy setup. The bands were in great shape, and I had no problem getting contacts. It was still cold, though, so I didn't spend too long on top. 

Summit ridge with view.

I retraced my steps to get back down. Going down was much quicker, though some of the steeper sections were a bit unpleasant. Back at the car some of the snow that had been on the road had melted, but the road was still easy to drive back out to the freeway.

Trailhead: Silver Island Road and Lower Rishel Peak Road junction. Google has a "Rishel Peak Campground" marker here.

Website: SOTA Site.

Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.

Route: Hike up to the north col, then follow the north ridge to the summit.

Red Tape: None, all BLM land.

Video: Coming soon!