Idahosummits Spring 2012 Climb

For the first time in two years, I attended an Idahosummits.com group climb.  I missed the previous three due to being out of town, too busy at work, and being a brand new father.  This time, everything fell in place for a great outing.  The destination was Peak 10027 in the Sawtooths.  In order to take care of some things around the house Friday evening, I opted to drive up Saturday morning.  I met John and Bob at 3:30am and we were soon on our way.  The vehicle conversation was great and before we knew it we were at the Decker Flat camping area along the Salmon River.  Here we met 13 happy campers getting ready for a fun day in the mountains!

After spending a little while in the 19° temperatures meeting people, we soon headed out to the Cabin Creek Trailhead near Alturas Lake.  Due to snow drifts, we parked about 100 yards shy of the trailhead. We were soon on our way led by John, who had climbed this route before.  Our large group (15 people on the trail, plus one more staying at the trailhead) made good time heading up the trail, then cross country to frozen Lake 8920+.  From here we split up to ascend the peak in different ways, but most of us took the "easy" route to a saddle and then up to the summit ridge.  We had a direct ascent to the summit, soon taking in the incredible views of the southern Sawtooths in shockingly warm and clear May weather!  The views were amazing and we spent quite a bit of time enjoying each other's company (there were a total of 15 of us on the summit!) and the spectacular Sawtooth scenery.


Five of us (myself, Matt, Andrew, Jacob, and Nathan) opted to traverse to nearby McDonald Peak, so we left the rest of the group and headed over.  The others headed straight for the trailhead while we made the traverse and soon enjoyed a similar summit experience from the slightly higher terrain of McDonald Peak.  This took a little longer than expected and we finished with a long (but very pleasant) hike back to the trailhead.  It is worth mentioning that aside from the perfect weather, the snow conditions were also perfect and I never needed snowshoes or crampons at any point during the day - even the soft afternoon snow supported our boots very well!


By the time we arrived at the vehicle, most everyone else had already left.  After saying goodbye to Nathan, Andrew, Matt, and Russ, we dropped Jacob off at the campground before the three of us headed back to Boise.  In short this was an awesome trip with great people, great weather, and great snow conditions - basically a perfect trip!


Idahosummits Spring 2012 Climb Pictures!
GPS Track

Dan's Trip Report
John's Trip Report
Oleg's Pictures
Jacob's Pictures
Geo's Pictures
Idahosummits Forum Thread