Over the Hump in Gospel wilderness

The Gospel Hump Wilderness is up and down, sideways and crossways. At least that’s the way your feet feel.

Some of the terrain in this 206,000-acre wilderness northeast of Riggins drops thousands of feet in less than a mile.

Elevations vary from 1,970 feet at the Wind River Pack Bridge along the Salmon River to 8,940 feet at the summit of Buffalo Hump.

And there is an 8,818-foot mountaintop called North Pole.

The landscape ranges from heavily forested in the north to dry, sparsely vegetated mountainsides in the south.

From gray-granite alpine ridges you can see emerald-colored mountain lakes sprinkled throughout the wilderness and high peaks in the distance. Put on a pair of stout hiking boots because you’re in for a good day’s trek to get to them.

That’s why you’ll find solitude in the Gospel Hump. Not many people use the area except for dedicated horseback riders, packers and hunters.

It’s not like the Sawtooth Wilderness near Stanley, where you can drive a few miles off a paved highway to get to a trailhead.

In the Gospel Hump you may have to drive 22 miles from the pavement on some of the roughest roads in Idaho to get to a trailhead.

Sometimes you can’t even get to the trailheads in July because of snow.

Even backcountry veterans say it’s rough country.

“It’s tough to get there and people hardly know it’s there,” said Jonathan Oppenheimer, a senior conservation associate with the Idaho Conservation League.

But don’t write it off. Just plan ahead.

The rewards are many.

“I like hiking to the lakes and fishing the lakes,” said Laura Smith with the public affairs office at the Nez Perce National Forest in Grangeville.

“Most of the time there are not many people up there,” she said. “It’s pretty secluded.”