Trip Report:
(Date - A full moon in November of 2001. I'll never say which... you hear that evil ski lords... I'll never tell!)
This trip was done with the legendary Vince Lowe and included
ex-Floridian/flatlander/college geek Zach Vickery. To make the ascent
interesting, we did it at midnight, under a full moon. Vince climb's Shafer
annually, on first full moon in December. This year's happened to occur in
November. This year's trip also was welcomed in by about 4 feet of new snow
the week prior.
Our trip was epic, as the full moon, deep snow, spin drift, and 40-50 mph
winds gave it a mountaineering flair. On top of the peak, we could barely
hear each other speak due to the roar of the wind. We descended to a small
tool shed and celebrated Vince's birthday with a freezing beer, that sent me
into chills.
We then descended and headed to the warmth of our homes... only to have to
pull some knucklehead kid out of a snow bank on the way down. What the heck
are these idiots doing out at 2:00 AM? If not bagging peaks, useless things
I suppose...
Trip stats:
2 miles
600 feet elevation gain
2 hours
Drive:
From Boise, head to the Bogus Basin ski area via Bogus Basin road.
Hike:
We started our hike from the upper lodge at the ski area. From here, we
hiked up a road (cat track) for a few minutes to a point where we attacked
the peak's west ridge. The beginning of the ridge is broad, but steep.
In-frequent trees intervened on the route, providing sheltering from the
roaring winds. After 400 feet of gain or so, the ridge narrows and becomes
rocky. This is also about the times the views of the Treasure Valley open up
to your south. Continue to follow this narrow ridge, weaving around rocks,
until you reach the top.
Pictures: Click on the pictures below to see the full-size version.
Zach during the descent. Looks cold and miserable... it was!
One of the few pictures that showed anything, so I stuck it in here.
