Cache Peak is a 10,339 foot peak towering south of the Snake River near the Idaho/Utah boundary. Cache Peak is located in the Albion Mountains and is the highest peak south of the Snake River in Idaho. Being a ten thousand foot plus peak and the highest in the local region it was a climb we have talked about from time to time, and the time ended up begin the night of August 25th, 2007.

The climb of this mountain was done near the full moon. After a slow day getting moving we finally made it to the trail head around 8pm and started the climb. We started on the trail to the Independence Lakes which are at the base of Cache Peak. We followed the trail to the first of the four Independence Lakes. We made it to the lake about the time the last bit of sunlight was disappearing far to the west. At this point we left the trail and scrambled up to the ridge.

By the time we hit the ridge only the moon was lighting our path. We followed the nice sloped ridge up to the top of Mount Independence (9950'). At this point we took a nice break and enjoyed the beauty of the lights from the Snake River valley below us and the star light above us.

From mount independence we continued on along the ridge and dropped down to the saddle between the two peaks. From the saddle we began the nice climb to the top of Cache Peak. The climb at this point moved in and out of the forest. We tried to stay in the clearings as much as possible to give us the best view of our footing, but the area was nice and the moon was bright and we were able to see our footing and make it to the top of Cache Peak.

After enjoying the view and beauty of the moment atop Cache Peak we began the decent back to the trail head. We cut cross country down the edge of cache peak making our way towards where we knew the Independence Lakes to be. This was the most difficult part of the climb, it was steep and we were in the shadow of Cache Peak from the moon most the decent. After slowly making it down we made it back to the lowest of the Independence Lakes and found the trail again. We then followed the trail back to its head around 2:30am.

On a side note, upon getting to the trial head and more so beginning the drive back home, we had little to no gas left in the tank. We were cautious and curious if the the amount of gas would make us to the nearest gas station or if our nights adventure was far from over. In the end everything worked out and we made it to the gas station with out having to walk.

All in all it was a great climb. I am a fan of the moonlit climbs on these class 2 mountains where you get a great view but have easy climbing and enjoyable company. Below I have provided a cutout of the topo for the area we were and put in our path if others wish to follow.