Jump Creek Canyon

I had to stay in town this weekend, so I figured I'd explore an area close to Boise that I hadn't explored before: JUMP CREEK CANYON! I've heard good things about this place for my entire life, but I really haven't spent much time in the Snake River Canyon area. So, about 60-70 minutes of a drive later, we were there. Directions can be found here: http://www.blm.gov/id/st/en/fo/owyhee/recreation_sites_/Jump_Creek.html.

So, first we hiked up above the waterfall. There are trails that lead you to the north for a nice view of the falls and the striking canyons. I suggest doing this first--that way suspense builds like it did for us.

Here are some more photos from the hike above the falls: 

 

After our adventure above, we ventured down to the creek that flows out from the waterfall. 

And then, finally, to the waterfall:

 

Overall, I was very impressed with the hike. The falls are really easy to get to--took us less than10 minutes once we actually headed towards them from the parking lot. I read that it's only a quarter of a mile (sounds about right). This is an easy day trip from Boise and I highly recommend it! Just try to pick up some trash while you're there! That's one bad thing about easy hikes--the litter bugs can get to them...

To conclude, I wanted to share some words of wisdom that I found on the way through Marsing:

Happy trails--and stay clean. :)

Mile Marker 4 Hot Springs (Aka Skinny Dipper)

Several people have asked me about a good hot springs close to town (Boise), so I thought I'd post about that. My favorite that is close to town (about 45 minutes drive and 15 minutes hike) is Mile Marker 4/Skinny Dipper. (Be forewarned, skinny dipping is accepted and common!)

Directions:

Take Highway 55 north towards Horseshoe Bend. Continue past H. Bend until you get to Banks. At Banks, turn right (east) on the Banks-Lowman Highway. Drive 4 miles and park at the pull-out right by mile marker 4. The trail to the hot springs starts on the opposite side of the pull-out up the road (northeast). Follow the trail (it is well-marked the entire way) for about 15 minutes.

There are 3 pools. Top one is the hottest (of course). Great view for start gazing, nice (if not intoxicated) people, not much trash--but let's keep it that way!

The middle pool (and 2nd biggest).

View from the trail in the winter. That's the Payette River down there.

Born Lakes in the White Clouds

Some stats:
15 miles south of Stanley, about 3 hours from Boise
10 miles east of Highway 75 on 4th of July Creek Road

3.8 miles one way
Trailhead elevation: 8,720'
Peak elevation: 10,100'
Lake elevation: 9,550'
Hiking time: about 3 hours

Britney and I headed out of Boise around 10:30 AM and made it to the trailhead by 1:00 PM after a snack stop in Stanley. The hike starts off in the valley with little elevation gain. This is a burnt area, so the real views didn't really start until about 1 hour in after we had passed 4th of July Lake (which is an easy, quick alternative).

After 4th of July Lake, the trail turns northeast and heads up more quickly. A small unnamed lake sits to your right. After that lake, you head west, traversing along Ant Hill Divide. At the top of the divide was one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen! Every direction had something breathtaking. Here are a few pictures taken from the same spot pointed in different directions:

And here is a picture of the secluded valley that the 7 Born Lakes sit in:

The descent down into Ant Hill Basin was awful--very steep with unsure footing. But it was well worth it. At the bottom, Warm Springs Creek ran through the valley connecting the lakes. The creek fed a wide variety of high-elevation flowers.

We followed the creek until we found all 7 lakes. At the main lake, a big group of kids was camped out--it looked like they'd been there for a while. I think they were from a camp.

The main Born Lake.

We kept going until we got to the farthest (and easternmost) lake so we could camp where it was quiet. We had spaghetti and rice for dinner... mmmm! We played canasta (a card game) until it got too dark. We stayed by the fire because the mosquitoes were pretty bad.

The moon rose and traced along the top of the mountains to the south of us. It was beautiful all night until around 4 AM when it finally set.

The hike out the next day was actually very hard! An extra 30 pounds on each of our backs as well as being at an elevation of 5 times what we were used to (Boise is only 2,700')... plus we were really tired. But we finally got to the top of Ant Hill Divide again, where we had lunch and enjoyed the view once more.

^ There I am at the top with the Sawtooths in the background. We're above the snowline (as you can see)!

This hike was stunning and varied. It was challenging but do-able in just 1 night. We passed 9 lakes/ponds and 2 creeks, many wildflowers, boulders, trees, and skyscraper mountains. And it's only 3 hours from Boise. I think everyone should check it out!

Mt. Whitney Permit

I received word that we got our Mount Whitney permit! We'll be climbing it on August 18, 2010! Yahoo!

Mt. Whitney cam: http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/
About climbing Whitney: http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150227/mount-whitney.html

We'll be taking the easiest route, a class 1, called "The Whitney Trail."

We're going to camp for two nights at the Whitney Portal campground and then stay at the Whitney hostel the night after for some showers and real beds. On our way back to Idaho, we're going to stop at Lake Tahoe. It's going to be awesome! Stay tuned for our trip report after August 18th!

Stack Rock (Attempt!)

 Stack Rock

Britney, Amy, and I decided we wanted to go snowshoeing today. I have heard good things about Stack Rock, located off of Bogus Basin Road, outside of Boise. I've wanted to go to this rock for a while... so we planned to wing it, not knowing where to start, how long it'd take, etc....

We parked a little bit north of Sinker Creek, close to Bogus Basin ski resort. We walked down to the side of the road, strapped on our snowshoes, and started the journey. We could see Stack Rock from where we started:

We planned on just going down and then up--seemed easy enough. We're all experienced hikers and figured it'd take less than a couple of hours to reach our destination.

We traversed down the side of the hill, and eventually found a trail, which was great, because I was the one breaking trail! (And with several feet of snow beneath your snowshoes, it gets hard!)

We continued on this trail for about 20 minutes, and then it stopped where the other people had decided to turn around, so we were again left with no other option but to break trail. Ughhhh! And of course, being enthusiastic and excited like I usually am outside, I willingly volunteered my tired legs to do the trail breaking. 

We kept going and going and going... for two hours. It was all so beautiful, but that rock turned out to be much farther away than we anticipated! We didn't know where we were going. There is an easier way--I have a friend that does it, and he says he'll take me sometime.

We stopped after two hours to sit on a smaller rock; Stack Rock was even in view where we sat. We had lunch, and then decided to head back, following our tracks. The way back took us a little less than 1 1/2 hours because the trail was already broken, and a lot of it was downhill.

We decided that this trip was an excellent example of the saying, "it's not the destination; it's the journey!" All in all, we didn't reach our destination--although we tried hard!--but we had a fabulous day together under the beautiful blue sky, in the rich pine trees, breathing in the clean, quality air... ahh, life is good!

Mt. Borah SUMMIT

22 August 2009: Reached the top of Idaho! Mount Borah's summit!

Trip Stats: 12,662 feet above sea level
7 miles round trip
5,200 feet elevation gain
4 hours, 20 minutes to summit
3 hours, 40 minutes to descend

My friends Kelly and Britney and I hit the trailhead at 6:17 AM, after about 6 hours of sleep and some burnt pancakes. First hour was ROUGH, due to lack of sleep, and just not used to being up so early! We were hiking with minimal light, (enough to see the ground and rocks, etc., but we were in the trees so we couldn't really see our progress). Trail was good at this point; well-defined, not too rocky, (although still very steep), and you could usually go side by side, as opposed to later when it was definitely single-track. Seeing a few remaining stars as we started the ascent was some greatly appreciated motivation.

This is us, moments before hitting the trail:

After 1 hour and 20 minutes, we reached the tree line, and were feeling much better. Talked to some interesting people up at the treeline. "Altimeter guy" gave us some quick stats about elevation. "Bum knee guy" was a great guy who genuinely loved hiking, despite his "bum knee". He had no intention to summit; he was just there to enjoy the mountain. We carried on, going up what was probably the least-steep section of the climb. Don't get me wrong- it was still very steep! The trail got a little less defined, but still easy to see. No trees left, just some sagebrush. The sun rose from behind the mountain, so the shadow down below in the valley was absolutely beautiful- one of the prettiest sights on the trip.



Chicken Out Ridge finally showed itself. At first, we weren't sure we were on it. I can understand why so many people chicken out. In order to cross, you SHOULD have a healthy respect and fear of the ridge, because any mistake you make could very well be your last mistake. I had an appropriate level of fear and respect for the ridge, (which was supposedly about a quarter of a mile long), but I never once felt my life was in danger, or that I shouldn't be there. Adrenaline and endorphins, paired with careful hand and foot placement, carried me through until the end of the ridge, where we crossed a few inches of snow. We hopped across easily. Now, I always heard from people who are "in the know" that you should stay high on the ridge even if you are tempted not to, so we stayed high. I'm glad we did, because those who didn't struggled a lot more than we did, and we beat them across. I kept telling the girls and myself to make sure they have at LEAST 2 good hand/foot holds at ALL TIMES, and to go slow and steady, always making sure to be completely comfortable before moving. And we made it! I decided later that aside from the summit, Chicken Out Ridge was my favorite part of the journey.



We rested for a little bit before the last uphill stretch. The last push to the summit was about 1,100 feet and took us... maybe an hour? It was harder than it looked. It was very steep and the rock was poor quality. It slipped from under our feet regularly. This section was definitely a feet AND hands section. The lack of oxygen was apparent, but not as bad as I anticipated. I was feeling amazing, honestly. I thought I would've felt a lot more tired at this point, especially given the elevation.

About 10 feet from the top, Kelly, Britney, and I joined hands and walked to the summit together. We made it! We sat up there for about half an hour, enjoying the views of various mountain ranges around us. We signed the notebook- Borah's own visitor's registry. I was incredibly proud to be among those people who summitted. It was a little hazy up there, but you could still see the Sawtooths and all the way into Montana.

We recorded a video, ate, hydrated, and enjoyed. It was pretty windy at the top, so we were ready to descend after half an hour. The descent... ah, the descent. Trekking poles were so helpful, but still, the descent lived up to its reputation of being the worst part! It was so tedious and it seemed to never end. My knees wanted to be done with all of that agony! The rocks weren't sturdy. I wished so badly that I could just jog down, but that would be very dangerous. So, it took us 3 hours and 40 minutes to get down. That means a total of 8 hours hiking in one day- not too shabby. :)

The next day, I was sore, achy, and in denial! Reaching the summit of Idaho's tallest has been a goal of mine for over a year, and to finally have achieved it is possibly indescribable, but I will try. I have spent hours and hours planning, organizing, dreaming, fearing, wondering, researching, and discussing this feat. Now it is all over and done with. I am almost let down, because there is nothing higher in Idaho! But that won't stop me from enjoying every other adventure I have, because any time in nature is good time. Besides, there are other, taller mountains in other states that I have yet to conquer. It amazes me how much climbing Borah has changed my perspective on life. I have a love/hate relationship with climbing Borah, and other mountains in general. There were times I questioned why I was even attemping this, when I felt sick and fatigued. But outweighing those times were the extreme highs I felt. Beginning the ascent when a few stars had yet to disappear from the night sky, being halfway up the mountain as the sun casted Borah's shadow thousands of feet below us in the valley, and finally summitting while holding back tears of joy and holding the hands of two of my best friends... all of it was addicting. I am hooked, and already dreaming and contemplating my next ascent... but when, and where? So many options. Life has so much to offer... and I'm soaking it up as best I can!

Strawberry Mountain SUMMIT

19 August 2009: Climbing Strawberry Mountain 
(More intense than it sounds and we didn't see any strawberries!)


Took us 3 hours and 40 minutes to summit, with a short lunch break.

There are 3 ways up to the summit.  We chose the longest and most scenic, starting from Strawberry Mountain Campground.  6.5 miles one way.

After about 45 minutes of very easy trail, (very little incline), we reached Strawberry Lake.  It was a fairly shallow lake but we saw a few fish rising.  Only one tent was camped there. This would be a nice easy day hike for those who didn't want to go very far... but I recommend continuing on to Strawberry Falls!

We kept going, walking along the lake, for about 10 minutes, until we reached Strawberry Falls.  Strawberry Falls is one of the most beautiful places I have been this year.  It could've been Costa Rica for a minute there... it was so wet and green!  We got there right as the sun was at the top of the waterfall, so it was perfect timing.  The sun came through the waterfall, and shined its light onto us... breathtaking!

Once you're at the waterfall, to continue to the summit, go up to the left and around the top of the fall, not to the right... follow the trail! (We weren't sure.) It is very self-explanatory from there-- just follow the trail the whole way. You will eventually gain enough elevation to see Strawberry Lake from above:

From there, you still have a long ways to go. We met up with a lady who was hiking alone; we asked how much farther and she said maybe two hours. I didn't think we were THAT far, but it turned out that the lady's estimate was very accurate! For a while, it looks like this, with trees and dirt and clumps of grass and sagebrush. Then things started changing. We went through a beautiful meadow, with lots and lots of flowers...

From there, we continued.... UP! Eventually it started getting more barren, with some scree and other larger rocks. It was never extremely steep, but it was wise to watch your footing.

In the photo above, you can see the summit. From here, we went off around the other side of the ridge to the left, and then continued upward from there. Then we walked across the ridge below the summit and approached from the north. Here's what the final section looks like:

This final push was the hardest--maybe it was the elevation that got us! We were panting pretty hard (or at least I was)! The summit... GRATIFICATION! It was a fantastic climb!

We stayed up there for a while, taking it all in. There was haze in every direction from wildfires. We read some of the journal entries at the top that were in a jar. Many people had been there, even from other countries. Britney even found one that was from a newly married couple--they got married ON Strawberry Mountain! (Now if that's not cute... I don't know what is!)

The flies were terrible up there though... we headed back down to eat our snack. We got back to the car, drank lots of water, then drove down to find a free campsite. We set up camp just in time for the sun to start setting. EPIC DAY!