Trip Report
I have had a plan to do a winter backpacking trip for a while. The mountains have a really cool look in the winter and if you are in the mountains early and late, you get views with great lighting. Since I had never been winter backpacking, I started getting some consultation on a few issues from my friend John Platt. Eventually I invited him on the trip (with one day advanced notice). John accepted, which was cool because now I had his know-how and some much better equipment.
Our target was Big Windy Peak in the Lemhi range of Idaho. Big Windy is a 10,380' peak. The area saw lots of mining, so it has roads, cabins, mine shafts, etc... That meant the terrain was somewhat easy and we wouldn't be at risk of avalanches or steep slopes.
We set off from Boise on Friday afternoon. I wanted to take my time and see the mountains on the way up, then stay in Arco so we could get a decent start. Getting to Arco near sundown meant we could check out the Lost Rivers during the sunset. Then getting on the road early on Saturday meant we could take our time and enjoy the views of the Lemhi range as we drove north up the Birch Creek Valley.
After a leisurely start on Saturday, we eventually got to our turn-off for the ghost town of Hahn. Dean Lords had told me the road from the highway to the base of the peaks was a drifted mess even with 2 or 3 inches of snow on the ground. Well, he was right. Instead of slogging 2 miles to the base of the hills, I had spotted a road heading to the same place a mile back on the highway. This road seemed un-drifted. John seemed nervous, but never said stop, so I took this road all the way to Hahn. I was excited to not have those 2 miles of hiking to do.
We started up the Spring Mountain Canyon road. It had been beaten down by snowmobiles, ATV's, vehicles, etc... This assisted us as we were pulling a heavy load in a sled and had a bit of weight on our backs. We hauled the sled up to about 8200'. Here we executed on our plan to take the ridge between Spring Mountain Canyon and Quartzite Canyon. We ditched the sled and loaded our packs since hauling the sled up steep slopes was not an option.
Our goal was to get to 9200' on the ridge and setup camp. The ridge was a slog of deep, sugar-like snow. With 40-50 lb. packs, we earned every step. But it was early and sunny and warm, so it wasn't totally bad. Eventually John hollered from above that he had found a great spot and we started setting up camp.
John did most of the work and we got camp setup and still had some warm sun to enjoy. After hanging out for a few hours, it was time to hit the tent fairly early. Once in the tent, John melted snow and I laid there like a bum. We ate dinner and turned in VERY early.
With the early bed time, it wasn't that difficult to get up at 6am and start our day on Sunday. We were on our feet, climbing by head lamp at 6:50am Sunday morning. The weather had changed and it was colder, windy, and overcast. After gaining 200' in the dark, we were faced with a steep section to get us to ridge of Big Windy Peak. Luckily it got light while we were on this section.
We now turned south toward Big Windy. It was windy and cold and we had to go over a small "false" summit. John wanted to stop and warm-up and eat, so I mentioned the cabin was at the saddle between us and the peak. We agreed to that plan and saw the cabin moments later.
After our break in the cabin, we started up the peak. Not too much longer and we were on it. However, it is a large summit area. We saw a cairn and walked toward it. It seemed lower than where we originally were. Then we thought the southern portion of the peak was higher and walked that way. Eventually we decided our initial location was the highest and returned for a summit photo.
We had considered going over to Trail Peak, but I wasn't feeling great. In addition, we had a long day of heading down, breaking camp, and returning to Boise. So neither of us was bummed we didn't head over to that peak.
Breaking down camp went well. We then hiked down to our sled. We tried putting a pack in the sled, but the ruts in the road caused it to tip within seconds, so we left our packs on all the way out.
The weekend turned out great. John was helpful and pulled more that his fair share of the workload. It's fun to hang out with/learn from someone that is so experienced and loves being in the outdoors so much. Another great time out in the mountains!
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