Mt. Borah Facts (from Wikipedia): Borah Peak (also known as Mount Borah) is the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Idaho[5] at 12,668 feet. It is located in the central section of the Lost River Range, within the Challis National Forest in eastern Custer County. The peak is named for William Borah (1865–1940), a prominent U.S. Senator from Idaho (1907-40). The photo from Wikipedia on the right was serendipitously taken 2 days prior to our ascent--what a coincidence!
The normal route involves ascending 5,262 vertical feet (1604 m) from the trail head to the summit in just over 3.5 miles (5.6 km). This route on the southwest ridge is a strenuous hike for the most part until one reaches an arête just before the main summit crest. This point is known as Chickenout Ridge as many people will abort the attempt once they see the hazards up close...this dangerous crossing involves a traverse...with steeply slanting slopes on either side. An ice axe is strongly recommended for this section. Parties should turn back if there is any doubt about being able to make the crossing.
On August 22, 2009 I, Daron, made one of the poorer judgements in my life and followed through on an invitation extended to my 8 year-old son Luke to climb the tallest mountain in Idaho--Mt. Borah. Shonni wanted me to be the one to document this occasion on 'our' blog for later proof that I have made at least one really bad mistake in recent history.
Luke was born to compete. Even as a speech-incapable two year-old child in a high chair he would do things like watch me eat and insist on finishing his food first or use the larger of the two spoons from our silverware set because that's what I used. As a five year-old he was known to ask for larger portions at the dinner table just so he could have as much food as his father and he'd throw a tantrum if we didn't give it to him. Even if it made him sick he'd eat it without hesitation to prove a point. He still enjoys pointing out that he ate more than I did at any given meal. He likes to be first at everything at home and school. His kindergarten, first and second grade teachers have all commented how they constantly tell him that it's o.k. not to be first in line for lunch, recess, getting his homework done first, being at the highest math and reading levels in his class, the fastest runner in the mile in gym, etc, etc, and I mean more etceteras.
Luke has been blessed with many talents but he's not the most innately talented person around. But where he lacks in talent he has always made up for in determination--a shrewd, focused, never self-doubting determination. I'll never forget the time he and I went for our special lunch together at the Nampa airport cafe and he stuffed 15 tater tots into his 5 year-old mouth (I think he pushed several down his throat.) He had asked me how many I could fit in my mouth. So in order to have a good time with him I respectfully put 8-10 in my mouth not knowing it was a competition--I just thought he wanted to have some fun and see me stuff my mouth. He then proceeded to annihilate me just to make sure he was the self-appointed king and dominate human in the area. His mouth and neck were so full he looked like Dizzy Gillespie. The waitress couldn't help from cracking up when she came over to see him stuff his last tot.
Getting back to the mountain. Each year I take Luke on our exclusive camping trip he always wants to 'climb that mountain' as soon as we get to camp. I on the other had just want to get camp set up and get dinner going before it gets dark as we usually leave late afternoon from work. I'm typically tired from a long week, last minute packing of our gear, an hour or so drive, and looking forward to some fresh air, hot dogs over the fire followed by sleeping under the stars. However the kids usually want to hunt for pine cones, treasures and rocks, go fish, hike, chop wood, climb trees, and most importantly 'stay up until midnight.' You name it--anything but chill out and relax. I figure it's their one night camping with Dad and I'm not going to get in the way of their fun so off we go only to eat late and read scary ghost stories even later. I have however discovered the trick of turning my watch forward an hour or more to bring bedtime sooner but that has backfired on me before when they check the car clock or cell phone. Nothing like teaching children to be sly and dishonest during a one-on-one outing.
So this year I thought I'd give Luke exactly what he always asks for and knock the climbing desire right out of him so next year I could get that nice relaxing evening of camping I always pine for. One day I thought, 'How better to do that then climb the highest peak in Idaho?' I figured he'd give out well before half way and then we could go back down and fish and shoot the .22 rifle for the rest of the day followed by some hot dogs and smores around a campfire. As it turned out he readily took me up on my offer but sincerely struggled--even talked to a friend of mine, Jason Kotter, on the phone about it one day when Jason called asking for me but I wasn't home. The dilemma: a huge hike vs. a typical fun camping full of fishing, shooting, and hot dogs over the fire. The later I told him wouldn't happen as we wouldn't be at a typical campground. He oscillated for weeks on what to do. I was amused watching him muse his options.
Luke informs me I checked him out of school "16 minutes late"--about an hour early so we could drive the 4 hours and get to the trail head of Mt. Borah before dark. We stop in Mackay for a bite to eat at the other place in town and have "the second best pizza" according to Luke (the best being the Pizza Factory near out home.) Their chocolate malt (no bananas) is quite good though--better than Sonic which is saying something. We get to the trail head--a small, dusty parking area only big enough to fit maybe a dozen cars where there are tents and sleeping bags for 80-100 people thrown out in the sagebrush all around. We are one of the last ones to show up at 6:30pm so we throw our bags out next to the Excursion and play catch with a football and get the rundown on the hike from our neighbors Dan and Bob--the cool, friendly, ambiguously 'close-friends' guys from Boise that end up making our hike 100% easier if not possible due to their knowledge of having done the hike before. We pack our packs (I've given Luke three 32 oz water bottles and his lunch in an effort to weigh and slow him down) and we wear our hiking clothes to bed so as to save time in the morning. Luke hikes up the trail a little to test out his fanny pack. We get to sleep around 11pm after star gazing, talking, and Luke still asks to snuggle so I'm happy. People shine their headlights on us all night long as they drive up looking for a place to crash--the last extremely loud group being 1:30am ('Dude we're here!'--Yah, no kidding. 'We ate in Arco....blah, blah, blah for 15 minutes') Then at 3:30am a group of about 10 noisily gets going on the trail which annoys me but I pass out shortly.
5:15am I awake to find I didn't hear the alarm go off on my watch set for 5:05am (5am seemed too early) and I just want to sleep. I force Luke to eat a bowl of cereal knowing he'll need the energy later. We help another guy in camp find some matches as he's starting a fire for his two less-than-10-year-old daughters and wife that he'll be leaving behind (whom I talk to at the end of the hike to find out the husband will be starting chemo for a prostate cancer that has metastasized to his pelvic bone with a grim prognosis. A nice 60 year old guy who has hiked Borah 15 times and although he leaves 20 minutes behind us ends up summitting 20 minutes ahead of us. Bob and Dan give us some more helpful pointers and encouragement but I'm wanting to get going so we dash out.
5:56am We strike out for the top holding our flashlights in one hand and water in the other. Luke is alert but understandably tired. I'm surprised to find him wanting to take breaks more often than myself even though the trail starts out very steep (and as it turns out continues steep the entire way.) Usually I'm yelling ahead to tell him to slow down so I'm a little concerned. Group after group pass us all saying basically the same thing: "How old is he?"--as though he's too young to answer for himself. "8!" I reply. "Wow, are you climbing to the top?" they ask as though they already either know the answer is 'no' or they would hope I'm not too stupid to answer 'yes'. I'd just say, "Well we'll see. We'll go as far as we can and enjoy the hike." There turned out to be about 100 people on the trail that day and probably 50 of them passed us in the first hour.
It's surprising how well you get to know people on the hike. They pass us and then 5 minutes later they're gasping for breath as we pass them. Oft times we stop where they stop and get a little conversation in before they take off again only to repeat the situation further up the trail as they pull up where we've stopped. I met a hygienist and her husband from Rexburg, a scout troop and their leaders (about 20 in all) from Meridian, Bob and Dan of course, a local dentist Dr. Eric Asay and his son and 2 brothers a lawyer from Wyoming and a dentist from Utah, a young avid climber and his girlfriend whom I'll mention later, a girl from Pennsylvania, a group of 7 from Ricks who share their Starbursts on the way down just above the tree line 'Time to empty our packs' they said, a guy in his 60's who helped pound a 1/5th of 12 year-old scotch the night before with his buddies, two father/daughter couples, etc, etc. Funny thing is by the BYU shirts and conversations I'd bet at least 80% of those on the trail were LDS. I wonder if Mormons are mostly the only ones stupid enough to do this hike or are they just thrill seekers in spite of President Hinckley's talk?
7:33am An hour and a half into the hike and Luke is starting to wake up. I take this photo that doesn't do justice showing how steep the trail is. To give you an idea, the water bottle at Luke's feet would quickly roll down the hill and out of sight at a rapid pace if it slipped.
We hike further so straight up that we slip trying to gain altitude with almost every step on the dirt trail. Everyone is making frequent stops for oxygen. It's getting serious now and people aren't as jovial as they were earlier down the trail. They're also making comments at how impressed they are that Luke has made it this far even though we're still below tree line and not even 1/3 the way into the hike.
8:23am We've hiked for 2.5 hours and Luke has his second wind now that it's at an hour he's used to being awake. I'm surprised he hasn't complained looking back. In fact, Luke never complained the entire hike. Now that we're above the tree line for about a half hour we take this photo of our first sight of the infamous Chickenout Ridge seen behind Luke in this photo. Only the outer-most edges of the ridge are not visible with the glacier bisecting it. I never got a good shot of the right edge/beginning of Chickenout ridge but it's so steep that from below I think there is no way in heck we're going to go that far. Not because it was too hard to climb to but because it would be way too hairy to go up and that's coming from a close relative to a Sasquatch whom is familiar with hair. Hence, my opening statement of this climb being one of my less impressive moments of judgement.
If you've made it this far reading this blog congratulations. You're getting to understand just how long this hike is.
We pass a view of Leatherman Peak about half-way up--absolutely stunning where the picture doesn't do it justice unfortunately.
8:47am This is a view of Chickenout Ridge with the sun just coming over the saddle which lies at the base of the last 800' ascent to the summit. You can see people in this photo on the only level part of the entire trail that eventually leads up the mountain to the steep base of Chickenout Ridge. If you click on the closer view of this photo below you'll see those people in the bottom right to be Luke well ahead of me walking behind Bob with another couple people ahead of them who are about 1/4th the way to the base of Chickenout. Obviously Luke has caught his third wind and has lost care of staying back with his father. As it turns out Bob is going over 3-point contact technique that will be required for Chickenout Ridge. I was thankful that Luke was hearing this from another source besides his freaked-out-father later on while on the ridge. And yes, the ridge requires us to walk, let me rephrase that, crawl along the very jagged edge of its top looking down the 2000' drop off you can see here on this side of the ridge. 'Oh it must be flatter on the other side.' you say? No. Not at all. It's a razor's edge for about 100 yards that one hikes and it's not a pretty view at the time causing me to about blow a gasket in my pelvic floor as I hadn't done Kegel exercises like that since preparing for my honeymoon.
9:32am This photo is taken at the base of Chickenout looking down into the valley we came from and whence I felt we were likely going to fall into 2000 feet to our death. The look on my face says, "I'm not sure we should keep going." I'm not sure what the look on Luke's face is saying but it's freaky nonetheless.
10:04am If you know what you're looking for you can see people (Bob in his blue tank top whom we never saw the rest of the trip) on the right side of the picture resting atop the end of the most exposed part of Chickenout ridge. This photo was to prove that we made it this far as I had no idea what lie ahead. The ridge then allowed us to get back onto a trail below the apex for awhile only to drop back over the ridge and across a glacier you'll see on the way down.
10:41am We've finished Chickenout and the snow chute and we're just below the saddle which is where the sun was coming over the ridge in the earlier picture of Chickenout. We stop and rest at the saddle and take some photos before the last 800 feet of almost completely verticle shale scramble to the top that is shown in the next picture (if you look closely at that photo you'll see little specs of people on it climbing on the trail.) I'm happy we've made it this far but just want to summit and get back down across Chickenout as I'm not able to quite relax/celebrate knowing I have to go back across that hellish ridge.
After a 10 minute break we head off for the summit. Luke is here just below the REALLY steep part of the last ascent at 11:06am. We're climbing at about the same pace at this point with him stating he is getting a little headache--a sign of high altitude sickness. We're taking 5-10 steps and catching our breath at this point as we are at almost 12,000 feet and tired. I'm starting to get a headache at the base of my skull too but wondering if it's from my carotid arteries trying to force blood to my head so fast it's splashing off the inside of my parietal bones atop my head. I give Luke an advil to try and help him if his pain is not from the high altitude. As Luke put it "It seems like the top keeps getting further" as we can't see the summit until we get within 20 feet from it. This last climb is so steep we can't tell where we are or if we're on the right path.
11:52am We reach the summit at last. The college aged girl who eventually shares her Starbursts with us half-way down the mountain is kind enough to offer to take a few photos of us. I'm so excited that we made it and that's when it hits me that I can't believe Luke has done it at age 8!
We take a few photos a the top, eat lunch, and enjoy the view. Luke asks if the lakes below are hot tubs. The guy in the red shirt is the young avid hiker we met on our way up that I'll mention in a minute. He was telling me at the top how he's done Mt. Hood 5-6 routes. Really nice guy. After about 20 minutes Luke gets progressively less responsive and lethargic. He wants to eat but clumsily fumbles with the food and just can't force himself to eat. I get nervous and know I need to get him down the mountain to try and alieviate his high altitude sickness symptoms. I hold his hand for the first 30 feet down along the cliff-edge trail that is who knows how high and we start our descent. Luke is much lighter and not concerned about starting an avalanche on the shale like I am and gets about 50-100 yards ahead of me. I see about a dozen people who are climbing up to the top stop him and give him a high five as he passes them on the way down. Mind you these are all the people that were thinking I was certified crazy for bringing him on this hike first thing in the morning as they passed us. I am slowed in my descent as every one of the 50 people I pass as they are gasping for air look at me with a smile of amazement and say, "How cool is that!?", "He's an inspiration to us all!", "How old is he?!?", "I can't believe he did this!" Without exception they all have nothing but nice, encouraging things to say and are so excited for him. Little do they know I am more nervous for myself than for him. Luke hits stride about 100 feet down from the top and doesn't stop inspite of my yelling to slow down until he gets down to the saddle where he waits acting like he is bored by being down there so long. Punk.
I want to show a couple close-ups of Luke's shoes he wore that day--crappy Vans that had the sole tearing away from the shoe from the tip to the ball of his foot. The soles both had holes in the bottom worn through in the heal allowing rocks to get into his shoes constantly. I didn't realize how crappy his shoes were until we got dressed in the morning but by then it was too late. "Oh well, just one more assurance this hike might end by Chickenout" I thought to myself.
1:01pm About an hour after reaching the summit we stop at the saddle for a brief rest before our Chickenout descent and I make Luke stop for this photo. A close view of the ridge in the background shows hikers on their way down holding their arms out for balance along the 'easier' part of Chickenout. The weather changes to scattered clouds and the wind picks up a bit such that when we are on that same section to the left we crawl on all fours. I yell back to Luke "3-point contact and lean into the wind". He responds, "I'm using 4-point contact baby!" It is comforting to know he is using his brain.
1:05pm Four minutes later we traverse over and then down the very steep and slippery shale/dirt trail leading us to the snow crossing. Above is the knife-edge ridge where Bob swore was the easier route but the idea of slipping down either side makes me choose the lower route across the snow chute where we only have to navigate one slope. I yell to Luke to wait for me to catch up. We get 2/3 across the now melting footsteps and Luke slips one step making my heart race but not wanting to make a big deal for fear of causing him to faulter. I tell him to slow down and be extra carefull. We have to step off the icy snow onto the verticle 10' climb which made the beginning ascent onto the small cliff sketchy to say the least. A lost foothold and we would be instantly moving 40+? miles per hour down a 1000' snow chute. This is the snow that is visible from the previous distant pictures. I would guess this is a 60-70 degree slope. In fact, on our way UP Chickenout and approaching this snow field I wouldn't go any further as I was unsure about whether or not we should be passing the snow field. There was a group ahead of us that was having a hard time climbing the hillside on the uphill side after the snow and I was thinking I should follow Bob's and Jason Kotter's suggestion of staying right on the spine of Chickenout ridge above us. That's when the young avid hiker came by with his girlfriend. He seemed cool and collected and not winded. I asked him if we were on the right trail and he said we were. I asked if we should be hiking up to the ridge and he said we could but it would put more hair on it (I didn't want any more hair on it.) He said the ridge was the only way to go when he climbed it this last winter as our current location was too snowy and steep. I told him no-thanks being anywhere near here with snow and ice--especially at the apex of a wind-blown snowy Chickenout ridge. No freeking way in heck. So he told us just to follow him across the snow and up the adjacent hillside. I was very thankful to have the reasurance from someone who knew what they were doing. VERY thankful.
1:17pm After another 12 minute crawl across the most apically exposed portion of Chickenout with 15 m.p.h. winds (I've flown enough to know my wind speeds) that were scary enough to cross with (I wouldn't want to do Chickenout in ANY kind of weather but calm) we stop for a photo. I want to make sure that if we fall during this last stretch ahead that people know I at least made it this far. I'm tired, my legs are starting to feel it, and I'm nervous for the last cliff-hanging section. It's a 12' wide, 80-85 degree smooth rock face except for a 3" crack that spans across it--enough to get your feet into with a couple hand holds at my eye level to sink my clawing finger tips onto them. The 3" crack is not continuous of course and disappears in a couple spots requiring one to step from one crack over to the next. I have to stretch my legs to get to the next secton of crack. I have no idea how Luke did it because I was too scared to look back and watch as I was focused on keeping my right foot from that involuntary twitter that it was trying to do as I stood on my tip toes with a near-cramping calf muscle. I couldn't shuffle along and had to awkwardly reach out one foot past the other as if walking in order to traverse across the cliff. All the while our heads were 5 feet from the ridge top as we could hear the wind blowing above us while trying to block out the 2000' of verticle below us. I brought ropes to tie Luke and I together but if one of us had slipped the other wouldn't have enough grip to help the other so we had to go for it individually. Plus I was worried that the ropes might actually cause us to tangle or pull on each other at just the wrong time. I kept talking to Luke asking him if he was using a 3-point contact. He was just having a good time as I could tell from his voice. I have no idea how he got across but it felt good to have that behind us. From there is was a steep verticle climb down a 50 foot ledge along the ridge and we were finally back onto the trail that wasn't along the edge. Sweet mother I was relieved to have Chickenout completed.Luke fell shortly after we got onto the main trail below Chickenout while running. Skinned his hands and knees. Later we were walking the ridge line and Luke of course insisted on continually walking close enough to see over the cliff edge inspite of my nagging him to get back. It finally sank in when I asked him 'What if you trip like you did back there? I like to walk far enough from the edge that if I fall there is no way I could go over the edge.' The light went on and Luke finally stayed away from the edge. The sense of infaliable that comes with youth is long gone from this frame of mine but not his.
The hike down was a beast. I used walking sticks for the first time in my life (which I can't imagine doing this hike without them) but it still beat my knees and thighs into feeling like chickenout fried steak. We stopped several times for lunch taking our time to rest which was a good thing. The last 1/3 of the hike down in the trees was chokingly dusty since Luke insisted on sliding crouched on one foot down the trail.
3:58pm 10 hours and 2 minutes later Luke and I take this photo at the bottom of the trail. If you look in between us the summit of Mt. Borah is a faint light gray peak behind us. I was so proud of Luke for what he had accomplished. It wasn't until we got in the car that I realized how stupid it was for me to have brought him on this hike. But by then all we could think of was getting that world famous hamburger from Pickle's Place in Arco washed down by a milk shake. Luke ranked it the number one hamburger place above Burger King and Red Robin.I asked Luke as series of questions in the car on the way home: Were you ever scared?--No. Did you ever think of wanting to stop?--no. Would you have done it if it was twice as high?--yep. What was your favorite part?--Chickenout ridge. He was as sincere and matter-of-fact as it gets. "I knew we were hiking but I didn't know how far it would be. I thought it would be like hiking the mountain behind Grandma Cheri's." Would you have done if you knew how far it was?--of course! Luke's shrewd, focused, never self-doubting determination that drives him to succeed in so many other things was an obviously ideal trait that helped him summit Mt. Borah. My goal is to help him over the next 10 years continue to focus that determination to accomplish future great things.
On our way home we stopped for a brief drive through Craters of the Moon. But my dusty, tired, sore body ached for a shower and sleep in my own bed. Luke of course wanted to camp another night. We finished off a couple Old Fashioned glazed donuts to make our campout complete and got home by about 9pm. The last 25 minutes of the drive home Luke climbed into the back so tired we laughed as he couldn't form a complete sentence to save his life. Finally, Luke begged to go to bed for once in his life! He walked in the door and went straight to bed without a shower. I didn't blame him as I was too tired to clean out the car as I usually insist on at the end of a trip as I don't like doing it the next day.
We had a lot of good conversation (we had to make a rule that the ipod had to be put down as it was a distraction) on the way up and back. Although Luke had to settle for a raincheck for rifle shooting and fishing as I thought we'd have time for he still had a great time. He wanted to camp and have hot dogs at Craters of the Moon. Looking back maybe it's too bad we didn't stop as I'm pretty sure I could have had that relaxing campout of hotdogs and an early sleep afterall.
