McGown Peak

Date: June 25, 2021.

Objective: McGown Peak 9,860'.

Stats: 14 miles with 3,400 feet of ascent in 6:48 round trip.  Strava.

Links:  Previous attempt via the North Face Snow Climb.

Gear notes: Very light pack and trail running shoes.  Didn't even consider bringing an ice ax or crampons.

McGown Peak from the trailhead.

It's been a pretty dry spring and thus, a low snow level in the spring.  Time to hit the Sawtooths!  There are many other options and ideas that I have, but I needed to take care of some unfinished business.  I left Boise at 0700 and was moving 2.5 hours later.  The first couple of miles (and last) are flat so the going was easy.  Stanley Creek was the lowest I think I have ever seen.  

Stanley Creek was crossed with little difficulty.

I followed the trail to Point 7899.  I took the south side of the ridge to the west and quickly found a path that led me to the end of that ridge and to the lower cirque and the first real obstacle which is the headwall.  I bypassed it on hikers right, working up the ledges and aiming for the creek at the top.

Headwall of the lower cirque.

From there, I made my way to lake 8609 with little difficulty.  This area is truly magnificent with no discernible trace of man.  I went around the lake on the south side and continued up and to the north, planning to stick to the ridge as much as possible.  

Soaking in those Sawtooth views in the upper cirque.

North face of 9820.

East face and south ridge of McGown from lake 8609.

The rock itself is solid, but the ground is steep, loose and very sandy.  For the most part, I stuck to the east side of the ridge and didn't find any significant route finding problems.  I took an occasional detour over to the west side, but the terrain is pretty vertical and best avoided.  

Classic Sawtooth ridgeline.

Looking back on some of the route.

Looking north from the summit.

Looking south from the summit.

Observation Peak.

Castle Peak.

Mouth closed for bug swallowing avoidance.

At the base of the summit block on the south, I traversed northeast (right) on easy class 3 terrain until I came to an obvious route to the top.  Fun, easy scrambling and nothing too exposed.  On the summit I found a small cairn and a tin box with a register inside.  

McGown Peak is at the extreme northern edge of the Sawtooths, so the view to the south is magnificent.  I could see North Raker with no problem.  Just as I sat down on the summit, a single A-10 flew directly overhead.  A proverbial cherry on top.

To descend I simply retraced my route along the east side of the ridge and as I got lower, I veered more to my left to shoe-ski/ slide with the occasional slip in the sandy areas.  Since it was such a low water and snow year, there wasn't much in the way of route finding problems heading up or down.  Once back on the trail, it was pretty cruiser just jogging back to the trailhead.  

Just do it.

This is the ledge that connects the North Couloir to the summit.

Lake 8609.

Peak 9820 from the cirque.