Alice Schenk’s Arduous Five-Year Quest Takes Her to the High Points of Idaho’s 44 Counties
By Dianna Troyer
For ultra-athlete Alice Schenk, reaching the tantalizing and taunting summit of Bare Peak Northwest was akin to prankster Lucy pulling the football away from earnest Charlie Brown, thwarting his hope to achieve his goal.
The peak along the Idaho/Montana border was the last on Schenk’s quest to stand atop the high point in each of Idaho’s 44 counties and disappointed her for several years.
Last fall, while bouldering and bushwhacking for hours, she envisioned a metal vertical pipe somewhere above her, sticking out of a rock on the summit.
Would reaching it elude her again on a sunny autumn afternoon? Or would her fourth attempt reward her with becoming the second woman and 10th person to summit the highest point in each of Idaho’s 44 counties?
“It was a beast, a brutal mountain with tons of side-hilling and bouldering,” said the Rupert resident and retired health and fitness professor for the College of Southern Idaho.
Schenk jokes that she holds the record on Peakbagger.com for most attempts at an Idaho County High Point.
“It was my last high point and the hardest of all.”
For decades, Schenk, 67, was familiar with achieving physical feats and rarely feeling defeated. A distance runner since high school, she has logged more than 54,000 miles, finished 39 marathons including the Boston Marathon five times, completed ultras, and finished six Ironman triathlons.
“On that mountain, I had tasted defeat and did not like the flavor.”
Starting in 2021, Bare Peak Northwest, the high point in Idaho County, had frustrated her three times in three years. She had been forced to turn back when confronted with a thunderstorm, a wildfire, and a ravine that looked impassable.
“I was weary and had all but given up.”
Through hiking groups on social media, Schenk learned of Jason Lee Nipper, an experienced hiker and climber who has summited all 115 of Idaho’s 11,000-foot-high mountains. She contacted him and was grateful he agreed to guide her and her daughter, Sarah Day. They rendezvoused at the saddle before the final push to the top.
“At the last stretch, there’s no trail and a maze of steep pinnacles, ravines, and ridges to navigate. His assistance there was incredible.”
Finally, after 6 hours and 15 minutes of hiking and climbing—with an elevation gain of 2,842 feet—Schenk stood on the 9,436-foot-high summit on September 26, 2024.
“I will never forget touching the pipe on top. I spent so much time on Bare Peak Northwest in agony, defeat, and finally triumphant victory. I wanted a summit photo of me standing tall and brave against the sky in my T-shirt that said, ‘Vini, Vidi, Vici.’ ‘I came, I saw, I conquered.’ Instead, I am slightly bent over or sitting on the rock at the top, thrilled but exhausted. Regardless, I am 100 shades of happy and 1,000 shades of grateful. It was finished.”
Their grueling 7.7-mile trek from their camp on the ridgeline to the high point and back to camp had taken 15 hours and 18 minutes.
After five years, Schenk had finally tagged all 44 high points.
“I’m thankful that God gave me these moments, memories, and opportunities to be in His mountains. I will remember all the time, love, energy, and encouragement from my husband, Wayne, and our daughter Sarah who went with me many times. Wayne went to keep me safe, and although he has two more peaks to finish the 44 counties, it’s not his passion.”
While hiking out, Schenk reminisced about launching her alpine adventures in 2010. She vowed to climb Idaho’s nine peaks above 12,000 feet, a five-year odyssey she chronicled on Peakbagger.com
In 2019, she happened to read an article about Terri Rowe, the first woman and ninth person to summit Idaho counties’ high points.
“I love a challenge and thought, ‘I can do that. What a great way to see Idaho!”
Three of the 12ers that Schenk had already summited were county high points: Mount Borah, Diamond Peak, and Hyndman Peak.
Starting in September 2019, she tagged six more high points and added 20 summits in 2020. More than halfway to her goal by 2021, she emailed Rowe, asking for advice about the north Idaho high points.
“It can be tricky because some highpoints have no names or trails and are simply GPS points described on Peakbagger.com.”
Rowe invited Schenk to her home in Meridian.
“What a blessing to sit down and chat with her,” Schenk said. “My mind and heart had a renewed focus.”
In hindsight, Schenk said she doesn’t have a favorite peak.
“I loved them all. This adventure allowed me to see stunning mountain landscapes in remote locations. In Northern Idaho, the 27-mile road to the Clearwater County High Point, Rhodes Peak, was a scary drive for me with its steep drop-offs and my fear of heights. The day trip hike was 17 miles of stunning scenery and tough hiking.”
Valley County’s high point had a unique approach.
“We were the first to fly into Indian Creek on the Middle Fork of the Salmon and hike up the back way—an 18.5-mile round-trip to an abandoned fire lookout tower on top of Baldy with over 5,100 feet elevation gain in nine miles. The alternative route was a three-day 33-mile hike in the Frank Church Wilderness.”
Reflecting on her most difficult and last high point, Schenk said, “A decade from now, I doubt I’ll be able to hike to this high point, but I will never forget the rare extraordinary days of adventure this mountain gave me. I’ll remember seeing elk, deer, mountain sheep, and a bear.”
Schenk shares advice about transforming a dream into reality.
“Huge goals tend to up the ante. Goals keep you moving forward when you feel like giving up. They’re like magnets pulling you onward and giving you hope.” ISI
