Idaho Summits Spring Outing - Peak 10027

Heading toward the Summit (J. Platt photo)

Dylan and I have attended the last three Idaho Summits group outings and have had a great time at all of them.  This weekend saw the group meet to climb Peak 10027 near Lake Alturus in the northern Sawtooths.  Dylan had prior obligations (something about camping with a bunch of Kuna High School science club guys and gals) and somehow he had it in his mind that this would be more fun that hanging with a bunch of old men.  I'm not too sure if he made the right choice.

The group (15 of us) gathered at the Cabin Creek trail head a little before 8AM, on a bluebird day with temps in the low 20's.  There was not a cloud in the sky and just enough of a breeze to keep you cool.  John Platt (http://www.splattski.com/2012/pk10027_b/index.html) set a blistering pace for the first hour until we finally got on to solid snow cover.  Here we slowed down a bit and had some time to converse.  We had quite a group with us - the ages ranged from 22 to early 60's, and we were international too - Oleg originally hailed from Russia, while Rodolfo grew up in Spain.

We quickly progressed up through the snow as the temperatures continued to rise.  The snow remained solid, and thankfully we didn't need to remove our snowshoes from our packs.  At roughly 8800 feet we took a break with the summit in full view.  At this point, I joined George and Jake on an assault directly up the east face while the others took a ridge route.

Summit of Peak 10027 with our route

George took the lead on traversing the snow field as we moved higher.  The snow was softening but we felt very secure with our crampons providing a firm gripping.  As the mountain steepened, George graciously allowed Jake to take the lead.  After all, we had at least 20 years on him and have learned that youth are good for breaking trail.  With Jake setting the pace we were on the summit quickly. 

Nearing the summit (George R photo)

Once on top we were treated to fantastic views as the others in the group came up the ridge route to join us.

Steve and Eric are all smiles

John P approaching the summit

The Splattski summit photo courtesy of George R.

Luckily the summit was plenty big and easily accommodated the 15 of us.  We spent the better part of an hour here eating, taking pictures and chatting in the gorgeous weather.  There were multiple plans on leaving the summit.  Nathan (who had already skied one lap) skied down, three others decided to traverse north and climb McDonald Peak, George and I were going to glissade down off the summit, and the others would traverse south and east across a ridge before heading down. 

George pondering a possible glissade path

And here is the path

The glissade down was a blast!  The snow was nice and soft allowing for a very controlled descent with good speed.  We dropped 1000 feet in a matter of minutes.  As George and I continued down through the snow we were joined by Bob (who decided against taking the long way out) and the three of us cruised out and were down at the car enjoying a beer by 2PM.

I'd like to thank Dan (http://idahosummits.com/trip_reports/trip_report.php?trip_id=71)  for setting up another great trip.

PS: Here is a great photo taken by Matt that Dan doctored up to show routes.

Dylan's Eagle Scout Project

Installed Goose Nesting Box

Saturday saw Dylan working with scouts from Kuna Troop 181 on his Eagle Scout project.  The project consisted of constructing three goose nesting boxes and placing them around Hubbard Reservoir.

Dylan's buddy Conner giving some last minute instruction on operating the mitre saw.

What do I do now?

As the adults look on...

Nick doing some drilling

Adding the post

Dang I wish this drill bit was longer.

Coming along

Delivered!

Man these are heavy!

The crew getting ready to plant.

Planting.

First one is done!

Now the second

Iwo Jima pose



Now we're done!

 A special thanks to the adults for offering pointers: Todd (Scoutmaster), Chuck (Asst. Scoutmaster), Tom, and Nathan.  To the scouts: Nick, Ryan, Jared, Nolan, Kyle, and Cody as well as Dylan's buddy Conner.

The Peak ( 太平山 ) Hong Kong

Since I was stuck in Hong Kong for the weekend with nothing much planned, I decided that I would scale the highest peak on Hong Kong Island proper.  Locally known as "The Peak", I wanted to forgo the nomal mode of travel by taking the "The Tram" and hike the peak on foot. Besides the ticket line for the tram was way too long.

I checked the avalanche report (after all it is winter) and with reported low avy conditions I set off alone.

The peak in the mist.

The first step was getting across the bay, and since canoeing was out I took the Star Ferry.

Crossing the bay

Once across the bay, I was in a land of tall trees and many, many people.

The peak seen through the trees

It took me a while, but after winding through the trees I eventually found the trail head.

Trail head

The trail initially wound up the mountain with sustained class 2 climbing.


Class 2 section

I followed the trail cairns as I made my way up above the tall trees.

Cairns seen along the way(click to open larger view)

More class 2 climbing

Once out of the tall trees I came across many beautiful creek crossings and the trail turned from class 2 into class 3 scrambling.

Creek crossing

Class 3 section

As I struggled with my route finding in the 70 degree/90% humidity weather, I wound up the side of the mountain on slippery concrete paths and eventually found myself on the summit ridge.  The objective became a little clearer.

Summit in view (left peak)

Finally, after 2.5 hours of wandering through tall trees, numerous creek crossings, and sustained class 2 climbing I had reached the summit! Well as close to it as I could get - the actual high point was fenced to keep the riff-raff out.

Summit Splattski

And enjoyed some phenomenal views:

I was pretty beat after the climb, so I took the more normal mode of transportation down the mountain to the appointed meeting place for lunch.

Typical mode of transportation

Lunch - Tom Yum soup at Good Luck Thai

A look back at the peak on the boat ride home.

Trip stats:

Elevation gain: 1800' (sea level to summit)

Distance: Unknown - since GPS wasn't working

Time: 2.5 hours from bay to summit with another 2 hours for lunch and liquid refreshments

Backcountry Skiing at Brundage Mountain

Last week's weather had been kind to the Idaho mountains by dumping a foot of new snow.  Knowing that it was going to get warm this weekend I figured skiing farther north up by McCall might be our best bet.  With this in mind I sent John Platt an email for beta on a place he had skied a few weeks prior - Sargeants http://www.splattski.com/2012/brundage/index.html

Turns out in addition to providing a map to the area John agreed to join us with an old friend of his. 

Tamara, Dylan and I met up a John's place in McCall and after meeting his old friend John Beckman (Bird) we made the short drive to Brundage Ski resort - our take off point.

The weather forecast I had remembered from a few days back had mentioned sun, but we were graced with lightly falling snow with little wind.  Not great for photos, but excellent for skiing!

The initial skinning took us out Goose Creek Road, which is essentially a snowmobile race track.  While skinning up the road we all got to meet Bird.  Luckily we were only on the snow covered road for a little over a mile before we peeled off and headed up the mountain.

Dylan was feeling it this morning so we allowed him to break trail through the new snow.

Dylan leading the troops

As we progressed further up the mountain I was getting pretty excited.  We were moving from one open glade to another. 

In a couple of hours we reached the summit of Brundage Mountain at 7803 feet and the snow still hadn't let up.  We quickly (well relatively quickly) removed our skins, had a quick snack, and headed down.

The snow was silky smooth powder and it was hard for me to keep the Woo-Hoos! from my lips.  We skipped from open glade to open glade down for a run of approximately 1000 feet!

John Platt showing his tele form

Bird showing his tele form

And Dylan showing his tele form

After some great conversation and lunch we figured we needed one more lap.  So we packed back up and started up again.  It had gotten a little warmer as the day progressed and we were enveloped in more of a cloud of mist rather than snow.  Once again, Dylan took the lead as we progressed upward. 

Into the mist we go

We again march up to the summit and headed back down.  Since it had warmed up a bit the silky powder was a little thicker but excellent none the less.

John (me) getting some turns in

By the time we had reached our lunch spot again everyone was smiling.

We debated heading up for another lap, but it was a little after 2PM, and Dylan had plans that night. So we decided to call it a day.  John lead us through some powder stashes as we made our way back to the snowmobile race track.  From there it was a short 15 minutes or so cruise back to the car.

Another excellent day in the snow!

Here is a short video of the trip: