Mt Borah

Mt Borah

I was a bit nervous about this trip as I’m not good on technical climbing and Mt Borah has a feature called “Chicken-out Ridge”.  We got a guide through Sawtooth Mountain guides which helped easy the worry as the days ticked down to the climb.  I headed up to Eric’s house Wednesday after work and we were up at 3am on Thursday for a pre-flight run with Murdoch (super running dog).  Our 6am flight got us into Salt Lake City by noon and we were in Pocatello Idaho by 3 pm for our afternoon run.  Although it was hot (90s) and the altitude was around 5,000’ we still had “fun” running an out/back course on the Lower City Creek Trail.  Mostly it was nice because there was a bit of shade.  A few hours later we rolled into Arco ID (the first town to get its electricity from nuclear power) and after our long day we were sacked out by 8:30pm.

We were up at 3:30am and got the coffee flowing and had a bit of Gatorade as we completed the hour drive to the trailhead.  We got there about 20 minutes before our scheduled meeting time which gave us a few minutes to complete final preparations.  Our guide (Marc) showed up a few minutes later.  He had our additional gear (poles, helmets, harnesses) and quickly made sure we had our other required gear.  Off we went at 5:06am under clear skies and a full moon.  The temps in the mid-40s felt great as we started climbing.  The trail starts at 7,000’ and we were at sea-level 24 hours before so it was a bit of a chore but nothing crazy. 

 Marc set a very good speed and we chatted away for the first 1:45 in which we covered the 3 miles to “Chicken Out Ridge”.  We roped up and 12 minutes later we were past the ridge and over the snow section.  Marc was great guiding us carefully and talking us through wear to go.  Having the rope gave me a lot of confidence and I wasn’t really scared at all (just slow trying to find footholds and bend myself…boy I’m not very flexible).

  We still had a mile to go and another 1,000’ to climb.  A couple who were aiming for a PR came up on us and passed by as we closed on the summit.  We hit the top 3:27 after we had started.  The running couple were the only ones on top at this early hour.  We spent 16 minutes taking pictures and I had another gel and some Gatorade (I’d drink a liter of water, a little Gatorade, and 3 gels over the entire hike).

  Then we were off for the second part of the hike (and the part least liked).  Marc kept reminding me to not “pat the dog” which is using your hands on the rock for more balance, but I just am not stable enough to avoid patting the dog constantly.  My running gloves developed holes from overuse!  We roped up again at the snow crossing and started meeting up with people on their way up.  It didn’t slow us much as the ridge seemed a bit easier in this direction.  Soon enough we were over the ridge and back to un-roping.  At that point the pace increased and Eric and I both basically jogged as Marc set a fantastic pace while not breaking into a run.  The last few miles seemed to take forever as the constant down was taking a bit of a toll.  We hit the trailhead 2:57 after starting our descent for a total round trip (including all stops) of 6:40.  We were happy, and Marc even more so as he noted it was his fastest time on this peak while guiding.  It certainly left plenty of time for our afternoon runs!

We made our way back to Arco and immediately headed out for a run (before we got REALLY tired).  There weren’t a lot of options so we went to the town park (which commemorates Arco being the first town to be powered by nuclear energy) and also ran on the track.  Both of us found it endlessly amusing that the local team nickname was the “Pirates” since we were in Butte County they were in fact the “Butte Pirates”.  After checking in to our hotel we rested for a couple of hours before heading out for another 3 mile run on the Arco bike path which was nice but it was 90-plus degrees.

The day after our hike up Mt Borah we were up before sunrise and drove to the Craters of the Moon national monument.  Another beautiful morning met us with 60 degree temps and clear skies.  We took our time getting in 7 miles running over ancient lava flows and going up and down a few volcanic cones.  The scenery was amazing and the footing was pretty good for running.

Next up was a 3 hour drive to the Golden Spike national monument. This was the location where the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads met.  We arrived just in time to see the reenactment of that feat.  We then headed over to the “Big Fill” and “Big Trestle” location which gave us a chance to run 4 miles on the old railroad bed.  It was pretty amazing to see the work that went into getting the railroad up and over the mountains.

That completed our running for the day.  We got to Salt Lake City in the early afternoon and had a chance to get in a soak in the hot tub and a relaxing swim prior to an early night.  Our final run of the trip was a 3:30am 4 mile loop in the industrial park where our hotel was located.  Maybe not the most scenic run of the trip but not a bad way to close the book on another state high point trip.  I’ve now got 46 states done and Eric has 45.  We both still need to climb Washington, Montana, and Wyoming.  Eric also needs Hawaii.  Neither of us plan on attempting Alaska.