Al West Peak - 11310'
Location:
44.17784°N, 113.80015°W
Margo's Pano of the view of Mountaineer and Borah peaks from Al West. The Peak
is on the far left of the photo. (Click on image for larger picture)
Stats
Date: 07/09/2009
Distance: 9 miles
Elevation gain: 4200'
Class (difficulty): 3
Time: 9 hours
Range: Lost River
Prominence: 410'
Partner(s): Aaron, Dave, Pat, Margo, John, Michael, Steve, Eric
Report:
It had been since 2006 since I had organized an outing with the folks that post
on the Idaho Outdoors Forum. Prior to 2007, we had done a spring and fall
outing each year since 2004. The outings have seen some great times and crazy
weather. Here is a brief history of the Idahosummits Outings:
Idahosummit's Outing History |
Spring 2004 |
Report |
7 in attendance |
|
Fall 2004 |
Report |
8 in attendance |
|
Spring 2005 |
Report |
11 in attendance |
|
Fall 2005 |
Report |
11 in attendance |
|
Spring 2006 |
Report |
3 in attendance |
|
Fall 2006 |
Report |
9 in attendance |
|
The weekend before the planned outing, a major early season storm blasted
Idaho’s mountains. Some areas picked up over 2 feet of snow. So we made some
modifications to our plans and chose to head to the Lost Rivers and a Al West
Peak (with its close to the highway and melted out approach) vs Copper Basin.
This seemed to be a popular peak selection and would allow me to settle a
personal score with Al West Peak (https://www.idahosummits.com/al_west/al_west.htm).
We arrived later than expected at the trailhead. We probably looked like a
circus act as 5 big guys and 8000 lbs of equipment poured out of Dave’s
Durango. Eric and Margo were there and already setup. Steve got to work on a
fine Italian dinner. John, Pat, Dave, and myself setup tents, fetched wood, and
got a fire going. It was a bit cold, but we had a great time around the fire
that evening.
In the morning we were joined by Aaron and eventually Michael. Other than Margo
and Steve, all 7 others had been on previous outings. The morning was very
chilly, but the sun was out and everyone was excited to get moving. So as soon
the clock hit 8am, we were off.
The group made it’s way up Rock Creek. It took a while, but we eventually found
the trail and did our best to stay on it. As we proceeded up the creek, the
snow depth increased. Just a inch or 2 of it during the first mile.
Temparatures were very cold in the still dark canyon. As we hiked through the
canyon and started turning south and could see terrain above us, several of the
group decided they wanted to go directly up the face above us. So the group
split in 2 with 4 heading up this unknown, south face route and 5 continuing up
Rock Creek, heading up the southeast ridge route.
Immediately after the other group departed, us 5 on the standard route were
introduced to snow that got deeper and deeper as we proceeded on. This drained
me and was frustrating and brought back memories of my last trip in this
canyon. Eventually we reached 8400’ and could see a gully leading up to the
ridge. We decided to head up here and successfully booted up the snow filled
gully. What had been a cold day really turned windy and colder in the saddle at
the end of the gully. I took a short break, but was unable to get any
signifigant food or drink down. As soon as I started walking, I was not doing
well. John eventually caught me around 10000’ and told me Steve had turned back
due to a frozen camelbak. I told John I was ready to call it quits as I felt
naseus and had no energy. John went ahead and helped Margo through the crux
moves over the next 200 to 300 feet. I plugged on, just wanting to get through
the crux moves and see the upper mountain. The climbing was great… just a bit
of exposure and some fun moves on mixed rock and snow. I eventually popped over
the ridge and could see the remaining route. The rest of the ridge was flat and
joined the easy terrain on the west face. This is where my mind told my body to
eat crap and that we were heading on. This mind over matter thing worked ok for
a while. About 300 feet below the top, I ran into Michael coming down. He said
I was about 20 minutes away. Then I climbed another 10 or so minutes and John
told me I was 20 minutes away. I was totally toast at that point and John’s
news about made me throw in the towel. However, John sensed my desperation and
suggested I dump my pack and head for the top. That was the motivation I needed
and got me moving up again. I then ran into Margo on her way down. She said 3
or 4 minutes and I was there.
For the first time in my climbing career, I did not stop on the top of a peak.
The wind was raging, it was cold, and my friends were waiting. I simply touched
my foot on top of the small cairn on the summit, peered over the north side to
see Horseshoe and Doublespring peaks and got the heck out of there. Shortly
after, I was back with John and my pack and racing down to get into the canyon
and out of the wind. Here John and I shared a giant can of Starbuck’s
double-shot expresso drink. My body recovered well on the hike out, as I did a
great job hydrating once I got to about 11000’ and on the way out. After a fun
ride home with the guys, I even managed to stay up and celebrate my annivesary
until 1am!
This was another great outing. My goal is to keep them consistent each fall and
spring. See you all next spring!
Getting There:
From Mackay, drive north on US 93 for 22 miles and turn east (right) onto the
Doublespring Pass Road. Follow Doublespring Pass Road for about 2.8 miles
(right before the earthquake information area), turning right on a dirt road
heading toward the mouth of Rock Creek Canyon. The road parallels the mountains
until it reaches Rock Creek, then drops down into the canyon and ends at a old
damn. The site is perfect for camping with a spot for tents, water, and shade!
On the way out, we followed a road due west and it came out right on the
highway. This other road was in much better condition and suitable for cars.
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