Mt. Borah (Idaho's Highpoint) Trip
Since Neal was moving to Houston, we decided to try to get in one more highpoint before he left. This is a view of the peak as well as the trailhead parking area where we threw our sleeping bags down on the ground and slept under the stars the night we arived. Neal's blog has a better blow by blow of the accent at http://nealsnowfamily.blogspot.com/2007/08/mount-borah.html. I've only added a few highlights of my own here.
A tremendously cool tree we saw on the way.
We reach the Top!
View from the top.
As you can see from the last two photos, as we summited the peak a storm started rolling in. We busted it down as fast as we could and got down to around 12,000 ft. when the storm hit us. Most people were smart enough to take cover, but Neal was convinced that just a bit further and we would be under the worst of it. The wind was howling and the rain pelting us as we got to what is called "chicken out ridge" a long narrow ridge many people don't dare cross as them come up the mountain. Coming down, that ridge was between us and the storm. So as we came over the top we were hit with the full force of the storm. The rain felt like being shot with a pellet gun with those plastic pelets. It was honestly difficult at times to navigate down with the wind and the rain. The wind was easily 50 mph if not more. The ridge was steep enough that a couple of mistakes could have been very costly, which was only intensified with the wind and rain. I would have gone back over the ridge and waited out the storm, but Neal was a few hundred feet ahead of me with no way to get his attention with such an intense wind in my face. So I ploughed ahead trying to catch up, so he wouldn't look back and not see me and think I had gone over the edge. Right about the time I got off the ridge, the storm broke and it was beautiful weather all the way down. We didn't have much company at this point since everyone else had(rightly so) huddled up and waited out the storm. Not exactly life threatening, but rather intense to say the least.
Since Neal was moving to Houston, we decided to try to get in one more highpoint before he left. This is a view of the peak as well as the trailhead parking area where we threw our sleeping bags down on the ground and slept under the stars the night we arived. Neal's blog has a better blow by blow of the accent at http://nealsnowfamily.blogspot.com/2007/08/mount-borah.html. I've only added a few highlights of my own here.
A tremendously cool tree we saw on the way.
We reach the Top!
View from the top.
As you can see from the last two photos, as we summited the peak a storm started rolling in. We busted it down as fast as we could and got down to around 12,000 ft. when the storm hit us. Most people were smart enough to take cover, but Neal was convinced that just a bit further and we would be under the worst of it. The wind was howling and the rain pelting us as we got to what is called "chicken out ridge" a long narrow ridge many people don't dare cross as them come up the mountain. Coming down, that ridge was between us and the storm. So as we came over the top we were hit with the full force of the storm. The rain felt like being shot with a pellet gun with those plastic pelets. It was honestly difficult at times to navigate down with the wind and the rain. The wind was easily 50 mph if not more. The ridge was steep enough that a couple of mistakes could have been very costly, which was only intensified with the wind and rain. I would have gone back over the ridge and waited out the storm, but Neal was a few hundred feet ahead of me with no way to get his attention with such an intense wind in my face. So I ploughed ahead trying to catch up, so he wouldn't look back and not see me and think I had gone over the edge. Right about the time I got off the ridge, the storm broke and it was beautiful weather all the way down. We didn't have much company at this point since everyone else had(rightly so) huddled up and waited out the storm. Not exactly life threatening, but rather intense to say the least.
posted by Jeremy Snow at 6:16 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home