Hope Peak

The Idaho Summits Fall Outing put us in the Pahsimeroi Mountains for a hike up a seldom climbed 11'er.

Date: September 22, 2018.

Partners: Margo, Steve, JJ, Dan, John, Zack and Brett.

Location: Pahsimeroi Mountains, Idaho.

Objective: Hope Peak 11,020.

Stats: 6 miles and 3,000ft gain in 5:23 round trip.  Class 2/3.  Stava track.

Links: Idaho: A Climbing Guide.

The Fall Outing had been announced on short notice, but sometimes that's all you need when your gear has been lumped in piles on your bedroom floor since May or June.  Or is it February?  Nevermind... I just need to find the... (insert random piece of gear) that I just laid out.  I swear I just put it right there!  Oh, there's the bag of spent Gu packets from last week!  I guess I should just decide on going or not, then I can worry about policing up the proper kit.  Uh, go!

Jamming out to the Lost River Range is no short task and usually starts and/or ends with all things Mackay.  I decided to head over by way of Stanley and Challis which was fairly zippy.  The zippyniss ended when I turned on Double Springs Road and headed into Christian Gulch.  The Forester made it, but I took it pretty slow since my goal was to arrive and depart without blowing a tire.  Getting smacked in the face with a view of Borah's North Face will also slow you down a tad.

Borah Peaks North Face.

After five and half hours of driving, including four stops, I had found Margo, Steve and JJ at the camp site.  The rest of the crew trickled in as the afternoon turned into night and we hung around the camp fire and got our laugh on until about 10:30.

We left camp in two vehicles a bit after 8am and were hiking just before 9.  The initial slopes were steep, but the footing was good and the trees provided ample shade.  We made steady progress and were able to follow the occasional elk trail from time to time.  Navigation was fairly straight forward and we were above treeline in about an hour and a half.  The wind that we were expecting made its appearance as we started up the final 1,500 feet of scree to the summit ridge.

Shortly after leaving the vehicles, hiking on remnants of an old two track.

Down in the trees.

Taking a short standing break.

Bell Mountain and Diamond Peak in the Lemhi Range.

Dan and Steve checking out the views of the nearby peaks.

Zack in front of unclimbed Peak 10.340.

Pushing above treeline.

Starting up the scree to the summit ridge.

Peak 10,340.

John and Dan on the upper slopes.  Hope Peak in the back ground.

Closing in on the summit ridge.

There were a few areas that we opted to make some easy class 3 moves to keep the guide book accurate.  In the end it wasn't much more than a steep scree slog to the slightly exposed summit ridge and highpoint.

Summit ridge.

Looking down the route and over Christian Gulch.

The high point is in the distance.

Gooseberry Peak.

The highpoint of Hope Peak.  11,020ft.

Looking back along the summit ridge.

Brett and Zack on the summit.

Quick selfie waiting for the rest of the gang.

Bell and Diamond again.

Summit hugs and high fives.

Now that we had everyone on top we could hug, high five, congratulate, rest and eat.  Oh yeah, we could take in the views too.  There was some discourse about traversing to Trinity Peak.  The day had been relatively easy up to this point and in the end we chose to keep it that way.

Trinity Peak.

After we had had enough of the biting wind we packed up and headed down the slopes to the east of the way we ascended.  It was sheltered from the wind and that meant glorious warmth.

Heading down.

The scree was still quite firm and in no shape for plunge stepping or boot skiing.  It was steep enough, just not loose.  Not a typical complaint if you know what I mean.

East face of Hope Peak.

Scree slope on descent.

After bypassing the ridge, we mostly reversed our track back to the vehicles.  It was a non-stop and uneventful descent; just they way I like 'em.  It seems like we were back in camp with potato chips and a cold beer before I knew it.  Not that that's a bad thing.  It was a great outing with a fine group.