The Bear Valley Lakes are located in the Lemhi Range of eastern Idaho. The lakes are very scenic and popular with the locals. The area is also home to the northernmost ten-thousand foot peaks in the Lemhi Range, so the lakes make an excellent basecamp for some mountain climbing adventures.

Bear Valley Lakes would be the third objective in a multi-day peak bagging trip with Michael and John. After a great climb of Cleft Peak the day before, we had camped by the Salmon River near Challis Sunday night, had a good breakfast in Salmon, then made our way to the trailhead and were hiking by just before 10am.

Day 1 – Bear Valley Lakes, Tendoy Peak, McNutt Peak, Fellfield Mountain
The trail up Bear Valley Creek is well used and easy to follow. We made good time hiking through the forest, and covered the 5.5 miles to the largest lake in just over 3 hours. The lake was very pretty, and we had it to ourselves on this fine Monday.

After eating lunch and setting up camp, we headed out for some peak bagging. The first objective was Tendoy Peak, just northwest of our campsite at Lake 9135’. We did the steep climb up from the lake to gain the east ridge, traversed a bit, and then clamored up the talus and boulders toward the summit. There was a bit of route-finding involved, but not too bad. After a snack and gawking at the views, it was time to head down.

After Tendoy, I decided to try for another peak (or two) while John and Michael headed back to the lake. My next objective was McNutt Peak, northernmost 10er in the Lehmis. From Tendoy, it was mostly a ridgewalk, with just a couple steeper sections along the way. Views from McNutt were great, but I couldn’t linger long if I hoped to get back to camp before dark.

After descending from NcNutt, I decided to tackle a side trip to Fellfield Mountain. The terrain wasn’t too challenging, but there was some tedious talus to deal with in places. Fellfield had a broad summit plateau, with a small rocky crest forming the highpoint on the far east side. Despite the late hour, I couldn’t help taking an extended break on the summit of Fellfield, enjoying the views highlighted by the orange-ish sunset light.

I was indecisive about the best way to descend from Fellfield down into the lake basin. After some deliberation, I ended up taking a steep and direct route down the southwest face. The talus was loose and tedious. I had a definite sense of relief when I finally made it to the base of the peak.

Once back in the lake basin, I still had some ground to cover. After wandering through the forest for a while, I found the trail, then later happened upon a game trail that let me efficiently traverse across the basin at ~9000’ to avoid too much elevation loss/gain. Other than the thrill of getting startled by deer in a couple places, I made it back to camp without incident, just before dark.

Day 2 – Lem Peak, North Lem Peak, back to the trailhead, drive home.
We awoke Tuesday morning to an amazing alpenglow sunrise at Bear Valley Lake. I soaked in the scenery for a quite a while before having breakfast and then packing up camp. Having racked up a few miles over the prior three days, I think we did pretty good to be packed up and on the move before 9am.

The main objective for this area was Lem Peak, and that was our next target. The map showed a trail heading south not far from the lake, but it was mostly bushwhacking until we found the ancient and overgrown “Allison Trail”. We dropped our big packs and started heading up the trail toward Lem Peak. But the trail faded and it was mostly bushwhacking until we popped out in a nice big meadow area below the peak. It was very pretty, and we spotted a trail climbing up through the rocks to the saddle north of Lem Peak.

I don’t think any of us had really researched the route up from the saddle. From below, it looked like it could be challenging. But up we went. There was some boulder hopping, fun scrambling, one sketchy section. All and all, pretty fun and we arrived on the summit without incident. The summit views were great, and we spent some time trying to identify peaks in an area we weren’t very familiar with. But soon enough it was time to head down.

It took some route-finding to get back down Lem Peak. But were made it and were even able to bypass the sketchy section encountered on the way up. I decided to try for one more peak. John and Michael were satisfied with the day’s adventures, so they dropped down into the basin when I hiked up North Lem Peak.

North Lem involved some ridge walking and a bit of scrambling, but only took about 20 minutes from the saddle. I could just barely see the others lounging in the sun in the basin below me. I enjoyed the views while having a snack, then made a careful descent down the east face to meet my cohorts.

We wandered through down the scenic meadow area, into the trees, found the old trail and our big packs, and then made the long hot descent back to the cars. We did our best to conjure up memories of old sitcoms to pass the time, and were briefly entertained by some cranky youngsters in huge packs. It was around 3pm when we made it back to the trailhead.

It had been a great two day trip into the northern Lemhi’s. Bear Valley Lakes were well worth the visit, and I was able to tag 5 10ers in the process. Round trip was about 24 miles and 7700’ of elevation gain. Next up was a long drive home for me, with Michael and John headed north to Montana for some more peaks.

Map of the route, 24 miles and 7700' gain round trip.	Early in the hike along Bear Valley Creek.	Nearing Bear Valley Lake.	Midday at Bear Valley Lake.	Climbing toward Tendoy Peak, Bear Valley Lake and Lem Peak in the background.
East side of Tendoy Peak.	Climbing the talus and boulders on Tendoy Peak.	Nearing the summit of Tendoy Peak.	Tendoy Peak summit cairn.	View northeast toward McNutt Peak.
McNutt Peak summit view, Lem Peak and Tendoy Peak in the distance.	Fellfield Mountain summit plateau.	Fellfield Mountain summit shot, Lem Peak in the background.	View from the base of Fellfield Mountain after descending.	The Bear Valley Lake sunrise was spectacular.
North face of Lem Peak.	Heading up the northwest ridge of Lem Peak.	Jumbled rock on the northwest ridge of Lem Peak.	Scramble section on the northwest ridge of Lem Peak.	Making our way the northwest ridge of Lem Peak.
Nearing the summit of Lem Peak.	Lem Peak summit view looking north. Tendoy, McNutt, and Fellfield in the distance.	Victory shot on the summit of Lem Peak.	Heading up the south ridge of North Lem Peak.	View of Lem Peak from the summit of North Lem Peak.
Map of the route, 24 miles and 7700' gain round trip.Early in the hike along Bear Valley Creek.Nearing Bear Valley Lake.Midday at Bear Valley Lake.Climbing toward Tendoy Peak, Bear Valley Lake and Lem Peak in the background.East side of Tendoy Peak.Climbing the talus and boulders on Tendoy Peak.Nearing the summit of Tendoy Peak.Tendoy Peak summit cairn.View northeast toward McNutt Peak.McNutt Peak summit view, Lem Peak and Tendoy Peak in the distance.Fellfield Mountain summit plateau.Fellfield Mountain summit shot, Lem Peak in the background.View from the base of Fellfield Mountain after descending.The Bear Valley Lake sunrise was spectacular.North face of Lem Peak.Heading up the northwest ridge of Lem Peak.Jumbled rock on the northwest ridge of Lem Peak.Scramble section on the northwest ridge of Lem Peak.Making our way the northwest ridge of Lem Peak.Nearing the summit of Lem Peak.Lem Peak summit view looking north. Tendoy, McNutt, and Fellfield in the distance.Victory shot on the summit of Lem Peak.Heading up the south ridge of North Lem Peak.View of Lem Peak from the summit of North Lem Peak.