South Starhope Peak - 10493', Drummond Peak - 10525', Skyline Peak - 10248, CoCo Peak - 10400+
Panoramic shot of the Pioneers from the summit of CoCo Peak.
Stats:
Date: 10/26/2008
Distance: 8 miles
Elevation gain: 3700' (cumulative)
Class (difficulty): 3
Time: 7:15
Range: Pioneer
Partner(s): Tom, John, Zach
Report:
It might turn out that the clear and warm fall of 2008 extends beyond this point, but to take advantage of the dry spell, I planned a 4-peak “end of fall blowout” trip. I invited several people. Zach and John both were interested weeks before the proposed date. We had the same plan as the week before… stay in a condo in Hailey the night before watching college football, then head out early in the morning to the trailhead. The night before we headed up, John informed me that his brother would be with him.
The peaks we planned to climb were four 10,000’ peaks that ringed Starhope Canyon. The canyon is at the southern end of Copper Basin. The 4 peaks are not officially named, but had been given names by Rick Baugher, who climbed them back in 2006. The peaks are located in the Pioneer Range. All 4 peaks are considered “real”, having at least 300’ of prominence.
Everything worked out with the condo. We set a 6am departure time and stopped quickly in Hailey for some coffee and food. The drive to Starhope Canyon took around 2 hours. We saw 2 moose at the turnoff to Big Black Dome’s trailhead. When we arrived at the start of the hike (8400’), it was cold! We could see some of the peaks we would be ascending that day, but the first summit and route to the second were not visible. We decided the night before that we would follow and old mining road up to the ridge on the east side of the canyon and do the peaks in a clockwise order. Off we headed on the mining road.
The mining road was steep, but provided a nice start to the hike. After about 500 feet of gain, I commented to the others about how incredible the views were… it turned out that they would get better and better as we gained elevation. The mining road ended on our ridge at 9400’. The first peak of the day was South Starhope, standing at 10493’. So we continued on the ridge, breaking at around 10000’ and then ascending South Starhope about 30 minutes later. The views were great, but all 4 of us looked at the ridge up to Drummond Peak with some concern. Not only was it complex, it was also steep, narrow, and covered in snow. We looked at alternatives, but you would lose a lot of elevation going around that ridge. We then spotted a goat and watched it traverse the ridge. John wanted to use this as beta.
We headed down to the saddle between S. Starhope and Drummond. I kept hoping the ridge in front of us would layback (as sometimes happens as you approach), but it stayed steep looking. The first obstacle was a red-colored granite tower. John went low and cursed a bit. Based on that, Tom went in the middle and struggled a bit. Therefore, I followed Zach, who was doing fine going right over the top of the tower. All of us agreed that was the best alternative. Instead of being rewarded as a pioneer, John had a tricky down climb and then a rotten gully to ascend. He made it and pioneered the rest of the route up the ridge. As we continued up the ridge, that tower turned out to be the crux of the climb. Although it was steep and bit exposed, me and Zach’s line was solid rock and stayed on the ridge loss without elevation gain.
The remainded of the ridge was steep and snow covered, but the footing was good. Exaclty 10 minutes from the crux I was standing on the summit. The summit of Drummond overlooked basins in nearly every direction. The sun was bright and the wind was not blowing at all. We took our time relaxing on top, totally aware that we were being treated to prime late fall conditions! Unfortunately, we knew we needed to move on, as two more summits awaited us. So we begrudingly headed off toward Skyline Peak.
The terrain down to Skyline was easy going, but we dropped a long way off Drummond. The climb up Skyline kicked my arse and took all I had. I rested for a bit, but wanted to get moving so as not to delay the others. I calculated the elevation loss and gain to get to the last peak of the day, CoCo Peak. It was the same gain as Skyline Peak… 600 more feet - UGH! Off we headed.
I decided I wanted to do the 600’ in 30 minutes. So I figured out that meant I needed to climb 60 feet every 5 minutes. I would verify each 60 feet or so and ensure I was on pace. This technique worked and kept my mind focused on numbers instead of my aching legs. I was 2 minutes off, but my pace was much better than up Skyline Peak. The top rewarded us with the best views of the main Pioneer crest that day, and possibly the best you can get. You could see nearly every summit from Big Black Dome to Grays Peak. Now our attention turned to getting down. We basically followed elk trails through the forest and sagebrush. It was easy going, with the exception of one steep section about 400’ feet below the summit. Seeing the car was welcome relief. The beer Zach had in the cooler was an excellent touch and improved our spirits and tired legs.
Getting There:
We drove over Trail Creek and turned on the Copper Basin road. We took a right at a sign saying “Copper Basin Loop” near the base of Big Black Dome. This took us past Bellas Canyon CG, Broad Canyon CG, and Starhope Campground. About ¼ mile past Starhope CG, the road crosses Starhope Creek. Take the right turn onto the next road. Follow this somewhat rugged road (high clearance required!) into Starhope Canyon to the point where a mining road turns off to the east and zig-zags toward a small lake. This turnoff is at approximately 8400’.
Hiking Instructions:
From the turnoff, we followed the road to its termination on the ridge at 9400’. We then gained the ridge heading toward Peak 10493 (South Starhope). From 10493, we headed straight up the ridge to Drummond Peak (10525). Then we turned and headed up the ridge on the west side of the canyon, tagging Skyline Peak and CoCo Peak before descending back down to the car.
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