33rd High Point Visited
12th Highest State Highpoint
6th Most Difficult
summitpost.org
wikipedia.org
2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 I've been on a roll summiting some of the toughest state highpoints including Maine, Texas, Utah, and New Mexico. Still the hardest 3 in the lower 48 (Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming) have illuded me all these years. Before I get too old to climb them, I thought it was time to make an effort to see if I could begin tackling these three.
I just started discovering Facebook groups for about everything under the sun and as luck would have it there exists a Facebook 50 State Highpoint Group. It's motivation every day to see people all over the country visiting state highpoints. The ones I've been bring back memories and the ones I haven't been I look forward to seeing first hand.
Kind of whim the last day of July I was looking at my busy calendar the remaining summer and warmer fall weekends and realized if I'm going to plan a trip I got to commit to a date and make it happen. Literally the only possible weekend I could travel would be August 22-25. That's a narrow window of time for such a great place to visit but it's all I could afford to be away from home so busted on a airline ticket and would see what unfolded.
Early in the year I saw a post from a guy that was planning a trip to multiple highpoints so joined his group chat to see if his dates might overlap with a weekend I could travel. There were too many uncertainty's of his trip so I decided to post my own trip plan.
I received a few replies to my post wishing me luck on the hike/climb and a few people offering advice and one user who said she would be there the same weekend so I reached out to see if coordinating plans to hike together would make any sense. She also had a friends in Boise that had done the climb multiple times and he was planning on hiking as well which sounded terrific to me as it never hurts to hike with someone that knows the route.
I thought I might have a two day window to climb, either Friday or Saturday, however I quickly learned that the trailhead is a 4 hour drive from Boise so it would make it very hard to hike the first full day so it looks like Saturday would be the day. Looking a week ahead at the upcoming weather it seemed like there was a cold front moving in and it was literally going to drop from 50-60's at night to 20-30's at night. I had to begin preparing for a possible frigid night under the stars and a likely really cold hike. To my surprise Boise had completely different weather, it was over 90 degrees when I landed so seemed hard to believe it could be that cold only a few hours away.
I sent out my plans to a few of my hiking friends including my friend Greg in Ohio who has been my travel partner for the past couple of highpoint adventures including Katahdin in 2019 and Wheeler Peak just last year in 2023. With an exposed ridgeline I didn't think it would be for him but he reminded one of our good friends from Ohio moved to Boise and gave me her number so I could look her up.
It ends up she had been in hospital for cancer treatment and recently returned home. I hoped I could cheer her up with a visit and talking about the old days. She welcomed a visitor from an old friend so first stop after landing in Boise was to visit. Her sister was visiting for several weeks and helping look over her so the three of us had a pleasant time reconnecting.
A grocery store was right next to her house so I stopped by for some food/snacks/drinks for the weekend. I hadn't even booked a hotel for the night because I wasn't sure where I was going to stay but found a last minute option close by for a reasonable rate so checked in for the night. The night was still young and I was a little bored so I thought it might be fun to see a little more of the city and check out what the city offered. A quick Google search and I found there was a historic district called Hyde Park that had a few pubs so I headed out to have a cold one.
I was hoping as close as Idaho is to Montana that I might find some Big Sky Brewery options on tap but no such luck. I did find a little microbrew that had their own selection so had one and done. The bartender had one recommendation downtown Boise that I might find some Moose Drool, but no such luck. I drove nearby to downtown Boise which especially for a Thursday night was happening. I briefly walked around but soon realized I needed to get some sleep.
As the climbing day drew closer the weather was looking less favorable each day with regular afternoon thunderstorms as well as a big drop in temperature. The forecast was poor enough that the group from Boise whom had climbed many previous times decided to forgo the plans to hike which left the final plan just to the hikers coming from Arizona. Borah Peak would be the first for all of us.
I had last visited Boise in 2008, my last time there for Ironman Boise 70.3. It was a quick trip I had arrived the day before the race and left the next day so really hadn't got to explore any of Idaho. I was looking forward to getting to see a little more what the state had to offer.
Since I flew in on a Thursday and my climbing day was Saturday, that gave me all day Friday to get to the trailhead where there were only 5 campsites. The drive was 4 hours and I had all day to get there so I wasn't in a big hurry other than with limited campsites an earlier arrival would increase the chances of getting a spot.
I had the entire day to explore Idaho and see what I could find along the way to camp. I found two routes to the trailhead, both about the same distance but different scenery along the way. I really had wished I took and extra hour and drive down to check out Twin Falls, but instead I noticed there was actually a National Monument and Preserve called Craters of the Moon right along the way so it seemed the perfect place to plan to visit/explore.
Boise is it at 2,700 feet and the drive to the trailhead would take me up to 7,400 feet. When I left Boise Friday morning the skies were blue with not a single cloud in the sky. As I drove a couple hours the blue skies started disappearing. At first there were spotty clouds and then soon they there were more clouds and darker ones rolling in as the day progressed. The entire drive was beautiful. I-84 was flat but most of the drive would be on Rte 20 which takes a northern turn and gets you closer to Sawtooth National Forest.
Eventually I came up on the Craters of the Moon. The lava rocks could be seen from the road and there were several spots I couldn't help stopping to check out the scenery. By the time I got to the park entrance the skies were becoming more ominous and I was beginning to think the weekend high point hike might be a bust with cold + rain (with snow at upper elevations). I had recently picked up a National Parks Pass and unfortunately didn't have it with me but I showed the park ranger a copy of my purchase receipt and sweet talked her into letting me in. The drive was a loop with several attractions to see.
While at the National Monument the skies grew dark and I could see lighting in the distance. There was one mound that was tempting to climb but with the storms looming I had to forgo that thought. I continued out of the park, realizing that I hadn't had lunch and was starting to get really hungry. After leaving Boise there had hardly been any place to stop. It looked like Mackay was going to be the only place to stop. On the way there the skies lit up and the rain came down and the wind was blowing fiercely. When I arrived in Mackay I learned they were without power. I had brought so little cash I didn't even have enough for a sandwich. There wasn't much in town but believe it or not they actually had a US Bank location and their side of the street had power, so I was able to get some cash and buy some lunch as well as pick up a sandwich, half which I would have for dinner and safe the other half for lunch on the trail Saturday.
My new friends from Arizona drove all the way and miraculously arrived in Mackay about the same time shortly after me. We said our hellos and headed off to the trailhead. There were large mountains on the east side of the road which somewhere nested within had to be Borah Peak. Their is a dirt road to the campground is about a 3.1 mile drive from the highway. Turning off on the dirt road I was thinking that we are going to have the campground and trail mostly to ourselves, however, later I would discover was not from the case. Expecting cold and windy conditions the first couple camp sites were a ways back from the road and offered some tree cover to shield our tents from the wind. Also a small creek ran right past the site so I pitched my tent next to it so I could hear the water flow all night.
I walked to the trailhead where I picked up some envelopes to register (and pay) for our campsites. I came from sea level so already above 7,000 feet I could feel the elevation. There were only 2 cars at the trailhead and must have been the Friday hikers. I sure hope they were someplace safe when the earlier storm blew through. As for the weather now, it wasn't that cold and the sky opened up a bit and gave us a couple of glimpses of the mountains towering above. Certainly as promised it's a short very steep hike. As we had dinner soon other hikers started rolling in and the other sites were quickly taken up. Still dozens of more cars shows up and ended up had to set up tents next to their cars in the parking area.
Our next door campers had been here before but turned around last time at Chicken Out Ridge. The did however know the route and pointed out the peak and the trail (what we could see of it) from the parking area. We've read various trip reports and total times for the hike varies greatly. Some discussion was had regarding starting time and unanimously it was agreed to depart camp at 4a.m. to hopefully avoid any afternoon storms that were still threatening in the forecasts. As soon as the sun set we all retired and still it wasn't as cold as promised and I slept like a baby. It was cloudy so couldn't see any stars.
Before the alarm went off I could already hear other hikers getting ready for their hike. We made our way to the trailhead and already there was one larger group, mostly younger hikers. We took turns passing each other. Surprisingly a couple of them were wearing sandals which seemed inappropriate for such a trial/hike.
More coming soon...
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| Borah Peak (12,662), Idaho - State Highpoint #33 |
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