MT. Borah Adventure AAR!!!

[JollyRoger]

WooHoo!!!  Borah was a freaking blast! 

Some info about Borah:
~Borah is the tallest peak in Idaho at 12,662ft
~There was an earthquake near Borah on 10/30/83 (day before I was born!) and the mountain rose 7ft.  In fact, the benchmark at the top which was placed in 1956 (I believe) says the elevation is 12,655
~Out of the 50 state highpoints, Borah ranks #6 on the difficulty scale
~It was named after former Idaho Senator William Borah (see Michael N's post for info on him)
~Suprisingly, only 3 people have died at Borah.  Two in an avalanche, and the other one fell off a cliff I believe
~There is a ridge on the way to the top, about half way called Chicken Out Ridge.  It's quite steep, no matter which side or way you try to take it.  See the pictures below for some perspective on how sweet it is.

So we rolled into the trailhead/basecamp on Friday 7/27 mid afternoon.  Got camp set up, hung out for a while and crashed out early, 8pm, so we could wake up at 2:30am.  Needless to say I didnt get much sleep due to the neighboring camps.  On a side note, who the hell takes a family to Mt. Borah to camp?  There isnt anything to do at camp, no water to swim in, no really good views of anything (your in a sea of sage).  Anyway, rant over. 
We woke up right on schedule at 2:30am and got on the trail at 3am!  The first few hours in the dark went well since there is a pretty good trail up until you get out of the tree line.  The sun was starting to come up right before we got to the legendary Chicken Out Ridge (COR).  We took a quick break and headed into COR.  To be honest, COR while extreme was a freaking blast!  I can see where people would turn back but I had a lot of fun on it.
After COR, it flattens out a bit and then heads straight up.  The last 800ft or so was tough because you're basically crawling, sometimes on all fours, through scree (very loose rocks).  But at last we made it to the top!  Took us 5.5 hours to do and it was worth every minute!

Enough chitter-chatter, on with the pictures!!!!

The climb that awaits us


Sign at the trailhead


Me and my younger bro


The moon at 3am




About 3 hours after starting we were getting close to Chicken Out Ridge and decided to take a quick break at this wind break.


The 3 amigos


Me laughing at Chicken Out Ridge in the background


Enough hanging out...its GO TIME!


Adjacent mountain


The valley below, you can actually see crop circles through the smoke as well as the shadow of MT. Borah


Sun starting to come up


Starting the assualt on COR


Yeah!!


About 2.5 hours later we make it to the top.  I think the toughest part going up was the last 800ft due to the loose rock.
America...Fuck Yeah!!




Benchmark at the top




Me and my bro


Sweet view


ShortMag - I must apologize for not getting the 'pointing' picture from below as well as the top.  But dont fret, I've got some other summits in the works and will definitely do Borah again.  I'll be sure not to forget next time.

[Michael N]

William Borah was someone who was extremely cool in his day ...

Senator William Borah was affectionately known as the "Lion of Idaho" during his 33 years in the United States Senate. Elected as a Republican in 1907, Borah established himself as a prominent progressive with a fiercely independent spirit. This superb orator who had a knack for courting publicity was once named by Time magazine as the "most famed senator of the century." Despite his leading role in the creation of two constitutional amendments--establishing the graduated income tax and the direct election of Senators--Borah is best remembered for his impact on American foreign policy. In 1917, he was instrumental in the Senate's rejection of American entry into the League of Nations. In January, 1940, Borah suffered a brain hemorrhage and died. His funeral services were held in the Chamber of the United States Senate.   

[JollyRoger]

Guess I should have done some homework on Mr. Borah.  Thanks for the info.

[NGO]

What was the elevation of base camp and how long of a hike was it approx.

How long to get down?

How much water did you start out with?


I told my kids they will do this one day, they said OK! Not just yet though.

[JollyRoger]

What was the elevation of base camp and how long of a hike was it approx.

How long to get down?

How much water did you start out with?


I told my kids they will do this one day, they said OK! Not just yet though.

Let's see...
Elevation at base camp was 7,162, total distance traveled round trip was 6.8 miles.  So you gain a mile of elevation in just over 3 miles.  Pretty steep!

It took us about 4 hours to get back down from the top.  I think going down is harder, you're not using your lungs as much but using those braking muscles for so long wears you out.  Trekking poles would have definitely helped out on the downhill.

I started out with 196oz of water/gatorade (100oz camelbak bladder-water, 2 - 16oz Nalgenes-water, and two 32oz Gatorades) and actually ended up borrowing another 32oz Gatorade from my buddy.  I guess I drink alot, I was suprised the sign at the trail head only recommended 2 quarts.  For sure bring more!!


Here's a link with some pretty good info on the trip from another guys prespective.  He also has the route that we took from start to finish.
http://highpoints.home.comcast.net/borah/trip.html

[NGO]

Thanks for the details.

Hiking poles are great. When going downhill you extend them another 4 to 6 inches and they really make a differenace.

I know you can by fancy ones for upwards of $150 but the wally world ones we bought for $9 work great and are confortable too.


Some of the fancy ones are really nice and light and might be worth it if you do a lot of hiking. And if you had them money to spend.

[R_Hutch]

Great post! I will also do this hike with the kids when they are older.

Out.

R_Hutch

[Shortmag]

Awesome report JR!

looks like a great time!

SM

[Country]

WooHoo!!!  Borah was a freaking blast! 

Some info about Borah:
~Borah is the tallest peak in Idaho at 12,662ft
~There was an earthquake near Borah on 10/30/83 (day before I was born!) and the mountain rose 7ft. 

That is awesome!  I have never hiked Borah but am hoping to go soon, perhaps next Summer.
That earthquake...was that the same famous "Idaho Earthquake" because I remember that one, I was in 3rd grade.  I think that was the one that hit Challis hard, a building collapsed killing two kids on their way to school or something.  Other Idahoans in here might shed more light on my spotty memory.

Have you ever hiked Zion?  I've never been down there but I've heard it is pretty cool, there is a place where you walk on some Indiana Jones-like bridge or something and you can look down over 1,000 feet?
Just going off what I have heard, and that is like believing things on the internet of course...anyways yeah down there around Utah, I'd like to go hike that sometime as well.

Great pics buddy - Country

[TrooperBrian]

I went with three other climbers, they all stopped at COR. I've never summitted a mountain before, so it was especially hard for me. I think in total it took about 8 hours to hit the summit, but I didn't leave camp until 0952. So by the time we started heading down, the sun was setting. Two already left earlier, and I was with a buddy. To our nightmare, I left both my primary and backup flashlights in a separate pack in my car. Walked down 3000ft, with 1" blisters, and firestarters stuck in branches.

At one point I managed to slice my hand open, but my feet hurt so bad I didn't even notice.

[High Wall]

We were just up there on Friday, 9/18.  There just 3 other parties on the mountain.  By the time we got down late Friday afternoon, the parking lot and camp spots were full and then some.  Try to go during the week and avoid the weekends unless you like a lot of company.

[Nomad]

 Thanks for the pictures and information beautiful country.............