| The Lions Head Mountain/Rock |
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| Page Type: Mountain/Rock Location: Idaho, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 48.78580°N / 116.7195°W Activities: Mountaineering, Trad Climbing, Scrambling Elevation: 7288 ft / 2221 m | Page By: Fred Spicker, Moni Created/Edited: Sep 9, 2004 / Jul 30, 2008 Object ID: 153052 Hits: 4235 Loading... Page Score: 90.24% - 23 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
 West(L)and East(R) Lions Head from the south Overview
The Lions Head is comprised of 2 massive granite summits, known as West and East Peaks. The elevation of the lower but more difficult West Peak is 7226 feet, while the East Peak is 7266 feet high. It lies one drainage west of Pyramid Peak and is composed of the same fine granite as Chimney Rock, which lies about 15 miles south of The Lions Head. There are great opportunities for technical routes at all difficulties, and it is remote. According to Tom Lopez, Neil McAvoy first climbed East Peak in 1964. However, in Thaddeus Laird's guide explains that the West Peak was supposedly climbed in 1938. John Roskelly and Bob Christianson bivouaced on the West Peak's north face during his first ascent of it in 1969.Getting ThereTo reach the area, drive to Priest River, Idaho, which lies on US highway 2, 30 miles west of Sandpoint, ID, 10 miles east of Newport, WA, and about 50 miles north of Rathdrum. In Priest River, turn north onto Idaho highway 57. After about 30 miles, turn east to Coolin, Idaho. Continue on the road that follows the east shore of Priest Lake towards the Lionhead Unit of Priest Lake State Park.
Now you have 2 choices: the Abandon Creek approach or the Lion Creek approach.
Abandon Creek Approach:
WARNING The last 6 miles of road to the trail head is very rough. A vehicle with good clearance is recommended and depending on conditions, 4WD would help. We made it with my Subaru Impreza Outback, but I did scrape the bumper and skid plates through a few of the water dips on the way. They recently (July 2008) let some Yayhoo with a cat "improve" the water dips, but at this point the work made things worse. Hopefully more improvements are coming.
Continue past Lionshead Campground for about 4 miles. Turn right onto Idaho State Forest Road #44. After 2.4 miles, you will pass the intersection with ISFR #43 (the way to Lookout Mountain). Continue on 44 for another 3.5 miles. You will cross Abandon Creek and come to a T-junction. Turn right and lurch for another 0.3 miles to a big switchback and park. If you come to a locked gate, you went too far. Follow the ATV trail to a trail that takes you right up east of Abandon Creek and to the north side of The Lions Head — no bushwacking. Once you reach the rock slope, the trail ends. Follow the rock cairns up to the East Peak summit. If accessing the West Peak, traverse around peak to the west to the saddle between the East and West Peaks. Total mileage is about 3.5 miles and only 2000 feet rise to the saddle.
Lions Creek approach:
This one will work, if your car cannot make it up the Abandon Creek road. It is 45 minutes driving time less, the same mileage in, but all bushwhack and 1000 feet elevation gain more. My guess, the time works out about the same.
Before reaching the unit, about 23 miles north of Coolin, turn east onto Lion Creek Road (State Forest Road #42) just after crossing the Lion Creek Bridge. There are several low angle forks - always take the left one, but ignore any sharp lefts. The trailhead is marked with some large boulders and is about 4 miles from the main road. There is a sharp switchback left and numerous very large granite slabs on both sides of the valley here. This is also the trailhead for the Slippery Rocks, a popular area where Lion and Kent Creeks go over granite slabs to form a natural water slide.
The road is generally is good shape and passable by passenger car, but has numerous water dips and potholes. There is ample parking at the TH.
Hike along the old road east. The real trick is finding the correct drainage up which to bushwhack. You will cross 3 streams (there are more crossings, where the culverts were removed, but it's easy to tell the difference). Along the way you will pass by the remains of a building. The correct drainage can be identified by the old clearcut or burn up on a knoll just NW of the creek. About 20 yards east of the draw there is a trail going down to Lion Creek. It's about 25 minutes walk from the car. If using GPS, on NAD27, the coordinates of the creek crossing are 48.7644°N, 116.7159°W or UTM Zone 11, 520879E 5401080N.
We went up the drainage, staying west of the creek. There are several cliff bands to navigate around, but stay within earshot of the creek. You will come into a cliff/talus area at the base of a ridge buttress. Mark your way through this area - it may be hard to find your way back down. Work your way east to the creek and cross it. You are now in the cirque at the head of which is The Lions Head. We found the bushwhacking tedious, but not really too bad. It's about 1.25 miles and 2500 vertical feet to reach the cirque and it took us 3 hours. Once in the cirque, walk the granite slabs and talus towards the notch between West and East Lions Head. You will pass a small pond that is the head of the creek along the way. It's the only feasible camping spot in this cirque. About 45 minutes to the pond. Total distance from the car to summit is a little over 3 miles and 3200 feet vertical rise.
It looks like following the east side of this drainage would be feasible, but with many more rock outcrops. The tendency of these outcrops is to drop off very steeply, so although this side appears more open, it may actually be harder to navigate.
RoutesEast Lions Head -WestRidge/NW Flank (Regular) Route- Class 3
Tom Lopez's guidebook Idaho, A Climbing Guide is completely wrong in describing this route. We ended up wasting nearly 1.5 hours trying to follow his description, which sends you to the wrong side of the peak!
 The saddle from the south  Looking back at the saddle before the slabs
 Looking back at the saddle from across the slabs.
Here's a more correct description:
After reaching the head of the cirque south of The Lions Head (about 1/2 hour from the pond), find your way through some steep gullies to a grassy ledge that crosses under the SE face of the West Lions Head to the notch between the peaks (.i.e., west of the East peak NOT NORTH). Once in the notch, walk along the crest towards the west ridge of East Lions Head. To the N, NE you will see a huge, very low angle granite slab area. You cross this to the ridge with talus and trees on the other side. Although this crossing is very easy, it is exposed and care should be taken, especially if the rock is wet or icy. Now follow the ridge to the summit (about 10 minutes). There is a summit cairn. A plastic bottle as register is hidden inside it, but needs paper and pencil. From the pond to the summit, it's less than 1 hour.
I question the Class 3 rating - I would rate it more like Class 2.
The descent follows the same route.
West Lions Head - SW Flank - Class 4
Once back across the ledge from the notch, you continue around the base of West Lions Head to its SW flank. Lopez's guidebook gives no useable description of this route. This climb is rated Class 4. We ran out of time, so I cannot give more details about the route. It appears that the Class 4 (if there is any) is probably near the beginning of the climb. What I could see of the top of West Lions Head, it appeared gentle and had trees growing on it.
Climber's Guide to North Idaho and the Cabinet Wilderness by Thaddeus Laird describes numerous technical routes on both peaks. He does not list a Class 4 route on the West Peak, but describes the South Slabs route as the regular and easiest route of 3 short pitches with a rating of 5.4. Red TapeNo permits or other BS required.
When To ClimbSummer and early fall, depending on snow conditions.
CampingCoolin, Idaho has some bed and breakfasts, a hotel and several cafes. There are several USFS and Idaho State Park maintained campgrounds along the east shore of Priest Lake. This is a very popular area and reservations are advised.
Camping along the old road towards the start of the bushwhack is feasible. The pond in the cirque would be great base camp for an extended stay.
This is black bear, moose and cougar country: be aware and use appropriate precautions, especially when camping.
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