Trip Report
I was in Hailey for a few days working. I was hoping to get a peak after work each day. The first day I planned on climbing Gimlet Peak. The second day, Peak 7777 (Lexie Peak). On the first day, it was foggy and snowing off-and-on. That coupled with the fact that I couldn't get out of the office until 4pm limited me to scouting and a short hike. I did find a parking spot and validated that my planned route on Lexie Peak would go. I then found a route on Gimlet Peak. I even started up the route, but with the fog and 5:15pm start, I wisely backed off after 5 minutes and returned to my vehicle. I then drove to the end of the plowed road in Ohio Gulch and parked. I hiked on a packed trail for about a mile and checked out the surrounding area, then headed back. It stayed light until about 6:15pm.
The next day I got out of work at 3pm. The weather was totally different, clear and cold. I changed into my hiking gear in the vehicle and headed to my parking spot for Lexie Peak. Lexie Peak is named after my daughter, as her favorite number and jersey number in softball is 7. If there is already a name for the peak in use by locals, I will gladly change to that name.
The temparature was at the starting point was 9 degrees with a bit of wind. I was glad I had all my cold weather gear with me. I started out in boots instead of snowshoes since it appeared the snow was hard. It turned out to be, but as I got up about 100 feet, I was amazed to see the west side of the ridge was free of snow almost to 7000' feet. It didn't really matter, as the snow supported my weight anyway. I made great time working my way up the ridge. The views of the Pioneers and valley below me were spectacular. From time-to-time, the wind would pickup and I'd feel the cold a bit, but for the most part my gear held up well.
The route was working great, but I couldn't see the finish until I was at Point 7326, which blocked my view of the true summit. Just below the top of Point 7326 I ran into a 75 foot section of very steep and hard snow. Instead of messing around slipping in my boots, I donned the snowshoes for the first time and cruised up it using the crampons. This brought me to a point where I could see the remaining route. I saw that I would have to drop of 100', but at least the rest of the ridge looked doable.
With snowshoes on and bomb-proof snow, I was cruising. For a while I followed a large trail in the snow the wolves had left for me. After that I met up with a skin track. Both were heading right for the summit. No claiming first ascent on this one with the skin tracks, wolf tracks, and elk droppings all over the summit.
The views from the top were incredible. This might be the best place I have seen to view the Boulder range. You get everything from Silver Peak to Rock Roll Mountain. The views of Ketchum and Sun Valley were stunning. And well, the views of the big Pioneers were nothing short of incredible. I guess it didn't hurt that there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sky was haze-free! I had been on top for 10 minutes taking photos before I realized the wind wasn't even blowing. It was however cold and the sweat and moisture from my breath from my efforts on the way up had accumlated around the brim of my hat, my hood, and goatee. It was cold and my hands were starting to feel it. After a few more photos, I headed down.
Down was colder because I was hiking into the wind that had picked up as the day grew older, but the cold was mitigated a bit by the fact that I was facing the sun. I kept a pretty good pace and never got too cold. I was always happy to know that I had one more jacket and my thick gloves in the pack. The temparature at the car on return was 3 degrees.
For a quickie, this was one of my more enjoyable hikes ever. Lexie Peak has tremendous views and is a fun ridge walk. Even in high avalanche conditions, I believe you could find a safe route on this peak.
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