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.
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| 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
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| 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!
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| Our Base Camp |
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| 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.
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| View of Borah Peak in the distance |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Matt Powell on Borah Peak Summit |
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| Successful Summit |
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| 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!
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| Finding our way down on top of the ridge |
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| 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!
