Borah Peak, Idaho (12,662') August 7, 2014

Matt Powell was my climbing partner for a trip to the high points of Idaho and Utah.  We flew into and out of the Salt Lake City Airport because it's reasonably close to both mountains. But, we chose to tackle Borah Peak in Idaho's Lost River Range first.

View of Lost River Range from Mackay, ID

It's an austere range, part of the Rocky Mountains, with seven peaks over 12,000 feet tall and another three just above 11,900.  It lies in an area of Idaho very near the Craters of the Moon National Park. We used our first day in Idaho to visit the Craters of the Moon Park and learn about the local geology.  It turns out that "Craters" is in the Snake River Valley.  That area is known as the Great Rift.  The rift runs along that valley to Yellowstone National Park and contains some of the most intense volcanic activity in the lower 48 states.  Because the earth's crust is thin there it produced volcanic activity and a the resulting unique geology of "Crater". The most intense activity has now migrated to produce the geothermal activity so familiar to those who visit Yellowstone

At Craters of the Moon National Park

Matt and I had settled in to the Wagon Wheel Motel in Mackay, Idaho as our base for a few days and eventually adopted Ken's Club as our go to restaurant in Mackay, not that there was a big choice. It was a spot with a lot of local character including a stuffed cougar diorama on the wall!

Our Base Camp

Ken's Club for some grub

We woke at 4:30 am on August 7th knowing an early start would be crucial to avoiding afternoon storms.  We had scouted out the trailhead the night before.  We arrived before sunrise and quickly met the trail with our headlamps and daypacks.  Borah Peak has an elevation gain of 5,262' over 3.5 miles.  It started UP and stayed UP all the way to the summit, except for the brief and heart pounding traverse across Chicken Out Ridge.  All of the 12,000' plus peaks in the Lost River Range require at least class 3 climbing to reach their summits.

The climb started through a forest with a well defined trail and we were soon able to turn off our headlamps.  When the sun rose it was overcast.  There were clouds concealing the sun and low clouds and mist rising below us for most of the day.  The views were breath taking once we cleared the forest and began to follow a series of ridge lines up.  It was however a long and exhausting ascent to reach the access point to Chicken Out Ridge.

View of Borah Peak in the distance

Mt Idaho behind me

Upon negotiating the ridges it was fairly clear that we had reached the area where Chicken Out Ridge began, but it was not as clear where we should join the ridge.  Ultimately we chose a line on the approach that was too low and began a bit off course.  Not long into this we began to climb an area that was clearly class 4 and I shouted to Matt, "Are you sure this is Chicken Out Ridge?".  Matt shouted back, "Mark.....It Doesn't Matter Now".  A point well taken.  Once we were committed the only thing that mattered was concentrating on what we were doing and finding a climbable line.

Our brief off route climb to get up on Chicken Out Ridge

When we got higher it was clear that we were back on route, but there was a very small snowfield, much smaller that we expected from the route descriptions.  It posed a greater risk than anticipated because we had to negotiate a couloir with a mixture of scree and small talus before we reached a thin snowfield. There was some exposure on the snowfield before negotiating the other side and beginning a long and steep final approach to the summit.  We took a brief break for snacks on the other side of the snowfield before we began the last portion of the climb. From there it was one foot in front of the other with lots of concentration to keep a steady pace and good breathing.  I adopted the chant, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" and reached the summit, between 10:00 and 10:30.  I couldn't have been happier.  It was one of the more challenging peaks that I have done without a guide.  But, I must give a great deal of credit to Matt Powell who is more experienced than I in route finding situations, especially when the climb involves some rock scrambling.  I could not have done Borah without his expertise and encouragement.

Matt Powell on Borah Peak Summit

Successful Summit

Ready to descend

On the descent it was clear where we had gone wrong on Chicken Out Ridge.  This time we stayed right on top of a knife edge, at one point straddling it with my legs and scooching forward a few feet before resuming climbing with my hands and feet.  The final exit off the ridge was a bit tense as I let go and transitioned to a good hand hold from one opposing face to the other.  Then we just pounded our way down the same 5,000 plus feet we had ascended, pausing briefly for snack and Aleve.  We reached the car just as the afternoon thunderstorm began.  A challenging day in the mountains with a good friend, spectacular scenery and a tremendous feeling of accomplishment!

Finding our way down on top of the ridge

On Route Descending Chicken Out Ridge

Back to Mackay to tell our motel owner we were still alive and have a celebratory dinner at Ken's Club.  The next day we drove a circuit into Sun Valley, Idaho to enjoy Ketchum a nearby town and have some pizza and a beer.  We drove a big circle to see the area out of Ketcham along the Salmon River and enjoyed seeing the rafts floating on a beautiful sunny afternoon.  The following morning we were up early and into the nearby Pioneer Mountain Range where were reached the summit of two peaks over 10,000 feet, Phi Kappa (10,516) and Summit Creek (10,585') before descending a 2000 foot scree slope to rejoin our trail on the way out.

We spent our last night in Mackay.  The next morning we were on our way back to Salt Lake City in route to Kings Peak, the high point of Utah.  On the way out we met a remarkable couple at Pickles Place in Arco, Idaho.  They were from Eugene, Oregon and said that they got up early and drove straight to Pickles Place to have steak and eggs.  What could we do but order the steak and eggs and have a great conversation with them about retirement and hiking.  They left when the finished their breakfast and we did so shortly after.  But, when we asked for our check the waitress told us the woman had paid our bill and wished Matt a happy retirement.  We left Idaho with a great taste in our mouth!

Gannett Peak, Wyoming (13,804') July 14-18. 2014

The Wind River Range of Wyoming is spectacular! It's massive, it's filled with fast running water, wildlife and unfortunately sometimes teeming with mosquitos. The hike in to Gannett Peak is 16 miles from the closest trailhead and the mountain has some tricky technical sections that led me to hire a guide.  I chose Sam Magro who had been such a skilled guide on my successful trip to Granite Peak the previous summer.  These photos bear Sam's logo because he took them.  I am especially grateful for the photos since I lost most of them after my iPhone dropped out of my unzipped coat pocket on the Gooseneck Couloir.

Our hike to Gannett began in the town of Crowheart, Wyoming where we stopped to meet our Shoshone Tribal Guide from The Wind River Indian Reservation and pay for our permits to be on Tribal Land.  His role was just to drive us to and pick us up from the Cold Spring Trailhead.  While costly, this saves 16 miles of hiking round trip by crossing tribal land.  Even with this arrangement the hike would still be 32 miles round trip and the summit would require some glacier travel and climbing on snow.  Our party included Sam and his girlfriend Genevieve (our porter), and Woody Connette another client of Sam's that I had met in Bozeman a few days ago.  Woody and I travelled from Jackson Hole Wyoming where we spent two nights enjoying the view of the Tetons before meeting Sam for our drive to Crowheart. Woody had just finished a climb up Granite Peak guided by Sam less than a week before.

The first day was a six mile hike turning onto the Ink Wells Trail and crossing the Scenic Pass at about 11,000 feet. We were taking our time as we carried packs over 40 lbs.  A lightning storm threatened while we were still high on the Pass.  It provided just the motivation I needed to pick up the pace and get our tents set up before the rain began.  When we reached camp near Echo Lake Sam cooked.  I ate up quickly with my mosquito net hat on and went to bed.

The next day we hiked another 9 miles to settle along a river not far from the Dinwoody Glacier.  The hike was along verdant bogs, through a long beautiful canyon and involved several stream crossings.  Sam advised us to unbuckle our chest and waist belts when we crossed so we could quickly shed our pack if we fell into the fast running streams.  The weather again seemed iffy when we settled down for the night, but we set a 5:00 am wake up time.  When we woke we were ready to go.  We ate a hearty breakfast and shouldered our summit packs with headlamps lit.  The weather seemed to be holding off and the day dawned quickly.  It wasn't long before we reached a boulder field and then at the snowfield where we put our crampons on.  Traversing deep packed snow and staying away from giant lakes of snow melt we reached the base of the Gooseneck Couloir and began to kick steps.  The weather was still threatening so Sam set a 10:30 turnaround time and pushed our pace heading for the ridge above the Gooseneck Pinnacle.  This route requires about a 3000 foot gain from the beginning of the snowfields to the summit over about two miles.  I was struggling but feeling confident I would make it.  But, after climbing some time on the rocky ridge toward the summit ridge I suddenly had a spasm and cramped up tightly in both legs.  This had happened to me before, on the Franconia Ridge in New Hampshire.  I knew if I drank some electrolytes and ate something I'd recover and be able to summit, but the weather seemed to be closing in and Sam felt that a long pause was not possible or we would exceed our 10:30 turnaround time.  It took a few minutes for me to realize it would not be safe for me to proceed with the rest of the team.  The climb to the summit ridge involved another short steep snowfield with some significant exposure, cramping up there would not be good so I offered to sit it out on the rocky ridge high above the Gooseneck Pinnacle at about 13,300 feet and just short of reaching the summit ridge.  It was incredibly disappointing and this kind of failure always leads to some serious soul searching.  So I sat on my spectacular perch and watched my climbing partners as they plodded to the summit.  I tried to enjoy the ethereal beauty instead of beating myself up.  It was such spectacular scenery and I seldom had an hour to just sit on a ridge so high in the mountains.  I reached for the cell phone in my pocket.  It wasn't there?  It later became clear that I'd dropped it on our climb up the Couloir....Damn it was a disappointing morning.  As I waited for the team to summit and return the weather began to turn and some clouds began to drop in on us.  I was getting a little worried about what I would do if we had a white out and they couldn't find their way back to me, but as promise, I was not moving from my spot until they did.  Fortunately they weather held until they returned and we started down.  As it turned out Sam had made an excellent call.  Before we got down the mountain it had begun to snow on top and shortly after making camp the rain came down in buckets for several hours.  I was strong and well rested on the descent which was fortunate because I had to self arrest to stop the fall of one of my climbing partners on a critical section traversing back to the Gooseneck Couloir.

The final day of our trip dawned and was beautiful and sunny, we marched the full 16 miles back to the Cold Spring Trailhead and camped to meet up with our driver to take us out.

Summer Fun In Colorado (2014): Getting Ready For Some Big Mountains

View From South Arapaho Peak 

So far I have written very few posts that do not involve my highpointing goals.  I have decided to change that.  My Colorado summer with friends Paul Puhr and Ted Bieber was fun in it's own right, but it was also spectacular training for the three major highpoints I went to this past summer.  Paul was a tolerant and gracious host. I spent several weeks at his place.  I used the stays with him in Boulder to acclimatize and train while Paul was at work.  Bear Peak (8,461') was my favorite jaunt. I could walk from Paul's house an reach the top in about two and a half hours.  I climbed it four times during my stay with Paul.  It's elevation gain of just over 2700 vertical feet in a little over two and a half miles was a great training climb and being in Boulder meant I stayed above 5000 feet even when I was sleeping.  It was the perfect prelude to the other things I did in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho during the summer.

Summit Bear Peak

Paul and I climbed Mt Audubon (13,229 feet) on July 3rd. By July 5th I was in Bozeman MT getting ready to climb Gannett Peak the high point of Wyoming (see the post after this).  While I waited for my partner on this climb Woody Connette and guide Sam Magro, I spent time visiting Yellowstone National Park and climbing Mt Washburn (10,243') to acclimatize some.  After the attempt on Gannett Peak I returned to Boulder to meet up with Paul again, and later Ted.  Paul and I spent several days at the Bouldering Gym with Dawn, Chris and Davian.  I had not bouldered before.  It was challenging but rewarding.  The progress I made after three or four days there was encouraging and exhausting.

View From Mt Audubon

Selfie on Audubon

When Ted arrived we first hiked Herman's Gulch in the Arapaho National Forest July 22nd.  It was a beautiful area and a great training hike (6.5 miles round trip and about 1800' of elevation gain).  It tops out at 11,987'. Three days later on July 25, 2014 we climbed Gray's Peak (14,270') together.  This was my second summit of Grays.  It is a tough climb with 3000 vertical feet to gain over about the 8.35 mile round trip, but the weather was clear at the top and we had great views from atop the Continental Divide.  Two days later we climbed Mt Arapaho (13,397') in the Indian Peaks.  Following Arapaho Paul, Ted and I climbed Mt Stuart (13,983) in the La Garita Wilderness, a subsection of the San Juan Mountains.  We also got very high up on Horseshoe Mountain and Redcloud Peak but were turned around by building thunder storms.  Not a bad stretch in Colorado with successful summits of five mountains.  I was in great shape to move on to successes in Utah and Idaho with my climbing partner Matt Powell!

Herman's Gulch

Summit Gray's Peak

View of Torrey's Peak

Climbing South Arapaho

Below the summit ridge to South Arapaho

view from Stewart Peak

Summit Stewart Peak

In the San Juan Mountains Near Redcloud Peak