Mount Breitenbach

My 5th 12'er and Idaho's 5th highest peak has a forgettable approach.

Date: July 19, 2013.

Objective: Mount Breitenbach 12,140.

Partners: N/A.

Stats: 8 miles, 4,800ft gain  in 9 round trip.

Gear notes: Forgot my sleeping bag.

I had a last minute window of opportunity to get out, so I figured Why not go try Breitenbach?
My last minute hasty packing job left me without a sleeping bag which I didn't realize until I was near Hailey. Not exactly close enough to home to turn around and grab one. Instead of shelling out some money for a piece of gear I didn't need, I opted to run through Albertsons and see what I could find.

A queen size comforter for twenty bucks? That will have to do!

I spent an comfortably warm night at the Borah camp ground. I probably would have been fine without the comforter after all.
Slept like crap, woke up and drove to the end of the road to Pete Creek where the real fun began.

Pete Creek.

It was a tangled mess of brush, trees both standing and fallen, assorted sizes of rocks and everyone's favorite - stinging nettle. I was already grumpy due to the almost complete lack of sleep. The hike up Pete Creek was frustrating to say the least.

Pete Creek.

Pete Creek.

Rocks in Pete Creek.

Above Pete Creek.

I don't remember how long it took to get to the top of the canyon, so lets just say two miserable hours. Once out of the canyon the terrain is quite fantastic.

Fossils.

There were a lot of fossils in the rocks.

Looking up to the South Face.

 I headed up, basically for the base of the south face.

Looking down the route.

Fossils.

Waterfall above 10k.

Lost River Peak.

I was thinking I could just start up the face, but then I ran into the Lost River Scree field from hell.

Scree from Hell.

It took way to much effort to ascend so I angled climbers right to the saddle, like I should have done to begin with. The rock was much more stable and easy ground in comparison.

Looking down the East Ridge. This is the good scree.

I should have aimed for the low spot on the saddle and followed the ridge.

Better scree to the false summit.

The east ridge to the false summit went without difficulty. I had burned up precious energy, but I was okay on time.

Summit Ridge

Pashimori Valley.

Summit Ridge.

The true summit lies further back on the ridge similar to Lost River Peak, only longer. The false summits cannot be avoided and must be walked over. Fun stuff with tired legs.

True summit.

Slowly but surely the true summit got closer.

Lots of fossils.

Lots of fossils.

High point.

Finally I was within striking distance of the high point.

LRR crest. Looking north to Donaldson and Church.

Its pretty hard to compete with a view of the Lost River Range.

Summit.

Alas, I stood on the summit. Then I sat on the summit for a while.

Borah,

Pashimori Valley.

Ridge to No Regret Peak.

Then all I had to do was an about face and dream of pizza and beer on the way down.

Looking up the East Ridge from the saddle.

Lost River Peak.

Above Pete Creek.

I took a long rest at the top of the canyon before the Godforsaken descent into Pete Creek. I was tired so I was moving slow. I eventually made it back to the car, but not without a couple brushes with the stinging nettle, a few miss-steps and toe kicks, and an equal amount of curse words.

Now, what to do with my new comforter...