Diamond Peak is the 4th-highest peak in the State of Idaho and is the only 12er in the Lemhi Range. It is 12,197-12,202 feet high depending on who you ask. This is the first 12er I have done so far this year, and the 5th now of 9 12,000 foot+ mountains in Idaho. I'll probably do at least one more this year, possibly 2, so I might get all 9 taken care of by next year.
This peak is also very far away. From my house, it took 3 hours to get to the dirt road that goes to the trailhead. From there it is another hour. Basically my day started at 4am and I got back home about 16 hours later, 8 driving, and 8 hiking for a total of just under 7 miles. Luckily the other 4 peaks left are all a little closer and all together in the same range as Borah, Leatherman, and Lost River.
The actual hike was very interesting. It's basically steep the whole way up and down. My brother came up to my house for a week and went on this one with me. It took us about 5 hours up and 3 down. It has some steep sections that most of the other peaks haven't really had, although even though I had read up and those and was a little worried, I never felt like I was really in any danger at any point. The rock was very stable and there were always lots of handholds to push yourself up with. The trip down was even easier than the trip up since it was a little easier to see the trail in some parts. The higher thousand feet or so is basically described as Borah's 'chicken out ridge', just longer and higher. As usual, the pictures don't really give anybody a good sense of what the climb actually looks like when you are there looking up at what you have to do. It turned out to be ok though. We both got huge sunburns but this was a great hike, all in all.
