Beehive Five (Selkirk Traverse), Selkirk Crest, ID | Scramble, Traverse, Bushwack, 5.6 - 3 pitches
On a whim, we decided to seize the two-day weekend and make a quick trip down to Idaho’s panhandle. On Saturday we checked out the Schweitzer bike park and the town of Sandpoint (along with its disc golf course). On Sunday we took on the Beehive Five (aka the Selkirk Traverse).
The traverse allegedly traverses 5 granite peaks in the Selkirk Range. However, we would argue it’s closer to 7 or 8? Some peaks may be considered sub-peaks but perhaps should be included in the count. Most guides say that the traverse is 6-8 miles, however, we tracked it as about 10-11 miles.
The first peak was the distinct Beehive Dome (seen from the Harrison Lake parking area). I didn’t get a clear side profile photo of this peak but it is a beautiful curved slab granite wave.
The approach (and the rest of the day) was a bit of a bushwack and included a marshy creek crossing.
Once we walked up the initial approach to Beehive, we circumnavigated the dome by walking to the far left until the slab terrain went from 5th class to 3rd class.
And we walked up the slab!
From the top of peak 1, you could see the top of peak 2 and the surrounding granite mecca.
To get to the top of peak 2, you could take a class 4/5 scramble or walk around on class 3 terrain. We took some class 3 and some class 4.
Down from peak 2 required some low class 5 scrambling. That was a bit beyond what we wanted to do (especially with some rain rolling in) so we walked down the col to drop down to class 3 scrambling and snow sliding over to the base of peak 3 (aka “the fin” and the 3 pitch 5.6 climb).
When we reached the bottom of the climb, we ran into a party of 3 and had the chance to rest for a bit.
After the first pitch, we had some rain roll in so we sheltered for 15 minutes while it passed. It was raining upward! The alpine is wild.
Then we climbed the rest of the way!
From the top of peak 3/ the fin, we were back to bushwacking.
Peaks 4 and 5 (or 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 - we lost count of sub-peaks) went by in a blur. Once we could see Harrison Lake, we booked it along the traverse and made our way down to the lake and the final trail down.
