I labored to the top on Labor Day. Very nice hike and we had great weather. We traversed around the last bump on the ridge but if you don't mind about 150 feet of extra gain, it looks easy to go over the bump.
ericnoel - Sep 3, 2024 5:13 am Date Climbed: Sep 1, 2024
Jefferson
East ridge standard route
MTfred19 - Aug 31, 2023 12:12 pm Date Climbed: Jul 13, 2023
Very Nice
Backpacking. I started at Red Rock Pass, got on the CDT, hiked up the Cole Creek basin, and had an amazing campsite at 9500 on the north side of the mountain. Next day crossed Rock Creek Basin, dropped pack, and climbed the peak by the standard route. Excellent summit, of course. Got back to my pack and followed the trail out of the basin, then left the trail again to drop down into the headwaters of the Missouri River at Hell Roaring Creek. There was a large, unexpected cairn there, marking the official headwaters, and several notebooks inside an ammo can. Hiked down Hell Roaring, which actually has a decent trail, found another camp after awhile. Next day continued down until meeting the CDT again and took that back to the truck. Met some super cool CDT hikers from Poland. It was a really fun hike with no difficulties.
Run up from sawtelle peak road. Left the trail roughly halfway to the summit to just stay on the ridge while traversing around to minimize unnecessary climbing and descending. Perfect weather. Saw a few deer. Trail is in good shape. One other hiker.
Kyle Van Vleet - Sep 28, 2019 11:26 am Date Climbed: Jul 17, 2019
Fun on the Ridge
Climbed the ridge from Sawtell with my dog late one evening after driving from helena after work. Good warm-up for the days to come!
PowderRock60 - Jun 20, 2019 12:08 am Date Climbed: May 5, 2019
Ski Tour on Mount Jefferson
My second attempt at climbing Mount Jefferson in early May after snowmobile season (aesthetic killer) from the North/Duck Creek Drainage. 2016 was my first attempt and I fell short when the snow in the upper cirque felt too unstable and prone to wet slides. This attempt had much better snow conditions and more snow than 2016 allowing me to skin much sooner. I made it to the West summit and was traversing to the true (East) summit but was confronted with a steep wall of rock and snow on the summit ridge that would have been dicey without crampons and axes so I stopped 60 vertical feet short of the true summit. I skied some great corn especially from the steep West summit in the upper cirque. GPS measured 10 miles round trip traveled and 3300 vertical feet of climbing to the West Summit. Video can be found on my YT channel "PowderRock60" https://youtu.be/cJcrtskKlRY
Super Dave - Oct 6, 2018 7:16 pm Date Climbed: Aug 11, 2018
Jefferson
Nice hike a good views. Crux was finding a campsite in the dark after midnight the night before. Final adventure of an 8 day climbing road trip. Trip Report
jdarr67 - Sep 24, 2015 11:06 am Date Climbed: Aug 30, 2015
Windy!
Climbed with my wife from Sawtelle Road. Wind about blew us over, but we made it. Oddly, the summit wasn't quite as windy.
Hiked from the Sawtell Road TH. Beautiful hike through the meadows and wild flowers. Once gaining the ridge it is a pretty cool thing to know you are hiking in Montana and Idaho at the same time. Really enjoyed this hike.
Peaker - Jul 20, 2015 10:46 am Date Climbed: Jul 19, 2015
From Red Rock Pass
First hiked up Red Rock Mountain from Red Rock Pass and then crossed the basin and went up to the east ridge. It was very scenic for most of the route, which was mostly pleasant walking on grass. This mountain makes for a fun hike with excellent views.
Living in Island Park, Idaho this mountain is a natural destination for a hiker. The trail to access this area is easy and the views of this entire region are practically unparalleled. Just carry bear spray and make plenty of noise because grizzlies are known to frequent this area!
jdarr67 - May 2, 2014 6:11 pm Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2012
Sawtelle Road
Solo. Easy hike. Wonderful weather.
jdarr67 - May 2, 2014 6:10 pm Date Climbed: Jul 15, 2013
From Sawtelle Road
With Dave, Michelle and Dillon. Easy short hike. Great day.
mtybumpo - May 26, 2013 2:59 pm Date Climbed: May 24, 2013
Awesome Peak!
Awesome day with mfox79. Lots of snow still left so we were on snowshoes from car to car. The day was incredibly windy which probably never dropped below 30 mph. Wind at the top were probably in the 60-70 mph range. It was difficult to walk and our jackets were noisily flapping like flags. The blowing snow was quite abrasive as well. Regardless, it was still an awesome adventure with an awesome view!
mfox79 - May 26, 2013 1:38 am Date Climbed: May 24, 2013
long day on snowshoes
Climbed this with Mtybmpo on a trail free 4' snow depth day. there was everything from firm perfect snow to 70mph winds to fresh bear tracks and many incredible views to be had. this was a tough 4 mile slog in to be sure, not regretted though. but there was no summit register to be found, it might have blown away in the wind though. some of the best country I have seen in a while
From the description I expected this to be much easier then it turned out to be. Once you leave the Sawtelle Mountain Road, it is about 4.5 miles to the summit, across 30% grades with unstable footing and no trails to speak of.
Great views, cold on top. Make sure to sign the register!
Also hiked from the Sawtell Rd. Would like to go back in the winter or spring for some snowboarding. It was a fun day with lots of laughs, thanks Alex!
mrh - Jul 18, 2009 9:03 pm Date Climbed: Jun 28, 2009
East Ridge
Hiked from the trailhead on the Sawtell Mt. road. About an 9 to 10 mile round trip, but not a lot of vertical. A very scenic, not too difficult day.
Dundeel - Sep 3, 2024 5:40 pm Date Climbed: Sep 1, 2024
Mount Jefferson ID MTI labored to the top on Labor Day. Very nice hike and we had great weather. We traversed around the last bump on the ridge but if you don't mind about 150 feet of extra gain, it looks easy to go over the bump.
ericnoel - Sep 3, 2024 5:13 am Date Climbed: Sep 1, 2024
JeffersonEast ridge standard route
MTfred19 - Aug 31, 2023 12:12 pm Date Climbed: Jul 13, 2023
Very NiceBackpacking. I started at Red Rock Pass, got on the CDT, hiked up the Cole Creek basin, and had an amazing campsite at 9500 on the north side of the mountain. Next day crossed Rock Creek Basin, dropped pack, and climbed the peak by the standard route. Excellent summit, of course. Got back to my pack and followed the trail out of the basin, then left the trail again to drop down into the headwaters of the Missouri River at Hell Roaring Creek. There was a large, unexpected cairn there, marking the official headwaters, and several notebooks inside an ammo can. Hiked down Hell Roaring, which actually has a decent trail, found another camp after awhile. Next day continued down until meeting the CDT again and took that back to the truck. Met some super cool CDT hikers from Poland. It was a really fun hike with no difficulties.
sparkyslug - Jul 18, 2022 3:13 pm Date Climbed: Jul 18, 2022
Mount Jefferson RunRun up from sawtelle peak road. Left the trail roughly halfway to the summit to just stay on the ridge while traversing around to minimize unnecessary climbing and descending. Perfect weather. Saw a few deer. Trail is in good shape. One other hiker.
Kyle Van Vleet - Sep 28, 2019 11:26 am Date Climbed: Jul 17, 2019
Fun on the RidgeClimbed the ridge from Sawtell with my dog late one evening after driving from helena after work. Good warm-up for the days to come!
PowderRock60 - Jun 20, 2019 12:08 am Date Climbed: May 5, 2019
Ski Tour on Mount JeffersonMy second attempt at climbing Mount Jefferson in early May after snowmobile season (aesthetic killer) from the North/Duck Creek Drainage. 2016 was my first attempt and I fell short when the snow in the upper cirque felt too unstable and prone to wet slides. This attempt had much better snow conditions and more snow than 2016 allowing me to skin much sooner. I made it to the West summit and was traversing to the true (East) summit but was confronted with a steep wall of rock and snow on the summit ridge that would have been dicey without crampons and axes so I stopped 60 vertical feet short of the true summit. I skied some great corn especially from the steep West summit in the upper cirque. GPS measured 10 miles round trip traveled and 3300 vertical feet of climbing to the West Summit. Video can be found on my YT channel "PowderRock60" https://youtu.be/cJcrtskKlRY
Super Dave - Oct 6, 2018 7:16 pm Date Climbed: Aug 11, 2018
JeffersonNice hike a good views. Crux was finding a campsite in the dark after midnight the night before. Final adventure of an 8 day climbing road trip. Trip Report
jdarr67 - Sep 24, 2015 11:06 am Date Climbed: Aug 30, 2015
Windy!Climbed with my wife from Sawtelle Road. Wind about blew us over, but we made it. Oddly, the summit wasn't quite as windy.
scgrant - Sep 14, 2015 11:47 pm Date Climbed: Jul 7, 2015
Mount JeffersonHiked from the Sawtell Road TH. Beautiful hike through the meadows and wild flowers. Once gaining the ridge it is a pretty cool thing to know you are hiking in Montana and Idaho at the same time. Really enjoyed this hike.
Peaker - Jul 20, 2015 10:46 am Date Climbed: Jul 19, 2015
From Red Rock PassFirst hiked up Red Rock Mountain from Red Rock Pass and then crossed the basin and went up to the east ridge. It was very scenic for most of the route, which was mostly pleasant walking on grass. This mountain makes for a fun hike with excellent views.
dino61111 - Feb 7, 2015 2:37 pm
Hometown mountainLiving in Island Park, Idaho this mountain is a natural destination for a hiker. The trail to access this area is easy and the views of this entire region are practically unparalleled. Just carry bear spray and make plenty of noise because grizzlies are known to frequent this area!
jdarr67 - May 2, 2014 6:11 pm Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2012
Sawtelle RoadSolo. Easy hike. Wonderful weather.
jdarr67 - May 2, 2014 6:10 pm Date Climbed: Jul 15, 2013
From Sawtelle RoadWith Dave, Michelle and Dillon. Easy short hike. Great day.
mtybumpo - May 26, 2013 2:59 pm Date Climbed: May 24, 2013
Awesome Peak!Awesome day with mfox79. Lots of snow still left so we were on snowshoes from car to car. The day was incredibly windy which probably never dropped below 30 mph. Wind at the top were probably in the 60-70 mph range. It was difficult to walk and our jackets were noisily flapping like flags. The blowing snow was quite abrasive as well. Regardless, it was still an awesome adventure with an awesome view!
mfox79 - May 26, 2013 1:38 am Date Climbed: May 24, 2013
long day on snowshoesClimbed this with Mtybmpo on a trail free 4' snow depth day. there was everything from firm perfect snow to 70mph winds to fresh bear tracks and many incredible views to be had. this was a tough 4 mile slog in to be sure, not regretted though. but there was no summit register to be found, it might have blown away in the wind though. some of the best country I have seen in a while
bradj - Sep 28, 2009 5:14 pm Date Climbed: Sep 26, 2009
Tough ClimbFrom the description I expected this to be much easier then it turned out to be. Once you leave the Sawtelle Mountain Road, it is about 4.5 miles to the summit, across 30% grades with unstable footing and no trails to speak of.
Great views, cold on top. Make sure to sign the register!
Brad
wyomtman - Jul 18, 2009 9:25 pm Date Climbed: Jul 15, 2007
3 State viewAlso hiked from the Sawtell Rd. Would like to go back in the winter or spring for some snowboarding. It was a fun day with lots of laughs, thanks Alex!
mrh - Jul 18, 2009 9:03 pm Date Climbed: Jun 28, 2009
East RidgeHiked from the trailhead on the Sawtell Mt. road. About an 9 to 10 mile round trip, but not a lot of vertical. A very scenic, not too difficult day.