Mt. Borah, Idaho: elevation 12,662 ft.

Yesterday, August 22, Brett and I finally got to hike to the peak of Mt. Borah. It is described on a website about the "50 Highpoints" with the following statement:

"Mount Borah is the tallest mountain in Idaho and ranked 6th hardest of the state's 50 highpoints. Although the hike to the summit is relatively short, 3.4 miles, it gains over a vertical mile in that distance. The trail is very steep and unrelenting. There is only about 1/10 of a mile of the trail that is flat or a grade less than 20%."

Our adventure started on Friday when we dropped the kids off in Blackfoot at Brett's parent's house. We headed out from there and camped in our Suburban pretty close to the trail head. There were so many people right at the trial head that we decided to just pull off into the sage brush, away from the crowd, and go to sleep.

This shows us on Saturday morning as we are eating and getting our packs ready for the day. Yes, we both look tired, I know. We got up at 5am and were on the trail around 5:45.
Here is a portion of the trail right after leaving the parking area. I just wanted to document that it didn't start off leisurely, but was steep from the get go (I thought this was steep until later when I learned what real steep is). We headed from the trail head into the trees where we hiked a steady climb for about 1000 feet elevation.

This is one of the first views we got to see since we started in the dark. You can see the shadow of the mountains, showing the sun coming up behind us.

No, I didn't tilt the camera in this picture. This is when the climb really started. Brett hiked up ahead of me so that I could get him in the photo, then I made him wait for me to catch up. You can see up at the top of the photo quite a few people up ahead of us, including a scout troop from Meridian.

Here is where the trail came up out of the trees. It was this steep for a long ways and we rested as often as we needed to. This photo really shows how busy the mountain was.

Here is that same section, you can see the treeline, but looking down on it. You can see in the background the parking area (kind of a light "C" shaped area still in the shadow) and really get an idea how far up we are all ready.

This photo is taken from the start of "Chicken out ridge", looking back at what we had just done. The red line is the trail and the prior shot was taken at the very start of the line. It may look level, but it isn't. The blue arrow is showing where the trail comes up and over, that white speck is someones shirt.

First off, I don't know that guy in the shot, he was patiently waiting for me to take my photo and get on with my climb so he could follow. OK - Now I have mentioned Chicken-out-Ridge (COR) but haven't really explained what it is. It is a section of the climb that literally scares people into "chickening out" and turning around. It is a ridge of rocks that is very steep and has pretty much a cliff on either side. There is a trail that people have made along the left side of the cliff face that prevents them from having to traverse the rocks, but it is pretty dangerous seeing that it is loose scree and snow and if you fall there is nothing to stop you. Now back to this shot - it is the beginning of COR, not too difficult, I am looking back at it from where the climbing gets more difficult.

I am really humiliated to post such a photo of myself on the Internet, but it is the only one that really shows some of what we were doing. The plaque at the base of the mountain said that the rock climbing portion was considered a "class 3 scramble" (1=easiest 5=hardest). I actually found the ridge to be the funnest part of the entire climb and found my spirits lifted quite a bit once we had finished it. It really was fun.

This is looking back at COR. The scariest part for me was that part on the left of the screen where the guy with the red pack is standing. You have to back-climb and I couldn't see where my feet needed to go, that was kinda creepy.

This is looking back at COR. This photo really gives you a feel for it, seeing the people scrambling across the top.

Now looking forward. After getting off of COR the peak was in sight. The last portion of the climb is tough. It is steep and through really loose rock (scree). After you go over the saddle (where those guys are) you have an 800 foot climb. Remember that by this point you are at over 11,800 feet elevation and the air is starting to get thin. We took it slow (probably slower than Brett would have done alone) and stopped often so that I could get enough oxygen into my system but eventually (about 12:20pm) we made it to the peak.

Someone had left this neat flag for photo opportunities so we took advantage of it. We shared the peak with about 30 other people but found a nice spot to sit down and eat our lunch. We took photos of the surrounding views and then headed back down. At this point in time I was tired, but I didn't really think that the trip down was going to be as strenuous as the trip up. The following shots are all views from the highest point in Idaho. Really amazing.

A couple lakes visible on the backside of Borah.

Brett, enjoying the view (probably thinking about which mountain we can climb next).

Can you believe we are higher than these amazing mountains? The closer of the mountains are Leatherman peak and Mt. Breitenbach.Right here is where I should tell you that the trip down was not as strenuous as the trip up, but it was way harder. On the way up it was just pushing yourself to keep going up, taking breaks and catching your breath, but always feeling like - yeah, I can do this. Well, anyone who has ever hiked downhill on scree can imagine what our downhill climb was like. It was awful. By the time we got to COR I thought, oh good a break from the pounding that my knees were getting. What I didn't realize is that rock climbing is a lot harder when your legs feel like jello. At one point I was climbing across this rock face where you really had to reach and there was nothing behind you and I just locked up - like I felt frozen to the rock. I about completely lost it. Thankfully I was able to snap out of it and tell myself (out loud in fact) "Katherine, you can do this". I think I had Brett a little worried at that point. Anyway, by the time we hit the tree line my knees were killing me, but what can you do? There were thunderstorms lurking and the last place we wanted to be was on a tall mountain when lightning was striking, so I pushed on.
This photo is when we are almost back to the parking area. I desperately needed to use the bathroom and wanted to just crash. I am proud to say that I completed the hike without Brett having to carry my pack.

Overall, I am very glad that I did this and that we were successful. Would I do it again? Maybe if I had better gear like boots that fit right (you don't really know if they fit until you are going downhill like we were) and trekking poles. Being in better shape would probably get us up in better time, but we weren't in it to break any records. I am happy to say that I can check that peak off of my list. I think that next year we will climb Mt. Whitney in California (the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states). Anyone wishing to join us let us know. Right now I am just dreading my scheduled run for tomorrow - my legs are killing me!