On October 5th this year, Bob Boyles, Cory Harelson, Kevin Hansen and I hiked into Saddle Back lakes to climb the the Mountaineer's Route on the Elephant's Perch. Here's Bob's account of the trip.
(photo by Bob Boyles)
I left Boise around 12:30 PM on Friday to meet up with Wes
at Redfish Lake at 3:00. I was running late, the lodge was closing for the
season and the shuttle boat was making its last run of the season on Sunday at
high noon. On the way up around the Horn I drove into a wall of lingering
forest fire smoke and NOAA was forecasting a new season low for the next two
mornings so I wasn't real encouraged. The smoked got so thick I could see it
blowing over the near-by hills like clouds. I was thinking that if I'd of known
this or seen it on the ITD web cams I would have canceled. I hate the
inversions in the valley but this latest go-around was a record I hope to never
see broken again. I was kind of kicking myself for not being able to go over
the past weekend when the temps were in the mid-70s and the nights were still
around freezing. That big Harvest moon and clear skies would have made for some
out-of-this-world photography. That weekend just didn't work for the four of us
who had to meet up from 3 different parts of the state so we settled for
whatever we could get out of this weekend.
I pulled into the lodge around 4:00 and found Wes waiting at
the boat dock. I dumped off my pack, drove my car back down to the hiker's
parking lot and hoofed it back to the dock as quickly as I could. I had a late
start and really wanted some evening light for photos and we were planning on
staying for two nights so we hoped to catch some lingering daylight in time to
get camp setup. Cory and Kevin were coming in on their own schedules and we
hoped they'd both get there before the last shuttle boat ran at 7:00 PM. Kevin
had never been up to the Perch before and a missed shuttle ride would add 5
more miles of trail hiking with headlamps to the approach. I have been up here
at least a dozen times but for some reason I always forget about how stout the
approach is with a loaded pack. The logs at the creek crossing must have been
put in by some young slack-liners who like a soft rope. There are around 4
long, but small diameter lodgepole over a 20' gap and another one that didn't
seem to have any real purpose other than to serve as a foot snare. I don't
think this bouncing contraption of a bridge is going to survive next year's
run-off for a minute. Back in the day, this crossing issue would have been
solved quickly with a double-bladed ax and some stout rope. At any rate, we
both managed to bounce our way across without mishap and up the hill we went.
We made it to the luxurious climber's biv site just above the first lake around 7:00 and had plenty of time to get settled into our tent before dark. We quickly pumped water, fired up the stove, had a good hot dinner and found that we could keep the temp around a comfy 70 degrees in the tent with the stove running on low. (Heck with the carbon footprint, it's freezing arse cold up here tonight in Stanley). We ate, turned on the digital tunes and stretched out in our double-down beds and told stories until around 9:30 PM when we heard two voices outside of the tent. Kevin and Cory managed to meet up at the lodge and were able to headlamp up together. Kevin had never done this approach before so we were relieved he didn't have to do it in the dark for the first time. Our new visitors first priority was a hot meal and lots of liquids and no time was wasted in getting that taken care of. We kept the heat and music rolling along with a lot of stories (that were all 100% true) until around midnight when we all finally bonked out. No one was planning on climbing until the sun got around to the west side so morning was quite a casual affair.
Saturday morning started real cold but before long the day turned into one of
those "bluebird" Idaho, Indian Summer afternoons and the climbing
action warmed up as quickly as the weather.
Wes deep in contemplation. (He seems to pose like this every time he's thinking about
climbing something big.) Oct 6, 2012 Sawtooth Mountains,
Idaho. (photo by Bob Boyles)
Elephants Perch
If you ask
Idaho climbers "where are your big walls?" the first answer,
unquestionably, would be the "Perch". Nested a relatively short, 3
miles above the inlet of the state's clearest lake, Elephants Perch is the gem
of Idaho when it comes to big walls. The area is characterized by vertically
fractured, pinkish-gold granite that is the result of having been the most
heavily glaciated portion of the Sawtooth Range. While not tall by Yosemite
standards, the high quality rock and alpine setting more than make up for the
lack of "vert". During late summer and fall the range often
experiences long spells of clear, stable weather and the first hard freezes
that knock down the sometimes prolific insects of early summer.
Wes, Kevin and Cory getting ready to "rock" at the start of the Mountaineer's Route - Elephants Perch, Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho. Oct 6, 2012 (photo by Bob Boyles)
Kevin at the pitch two anchor. This is normally a 7 pitch route, We used a 70m rope and
stretched it out in 5. (photo, Wes)
Cory at the end of the traverse near the top of P2 on the Mountaineers Route.
Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho. (photo by Bob Boyles)
I shot this small video standing at the pitch 3 belay with Kevin. Although it's hard to see, Cory is making his way around the "three roofs" section. (video, Wes) Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho. (photo by Bob Boyles)
Wes on the boat dock as the last shuttle boat
of the season arrive. We had 5 minutes to spare when we got there. Oct
7, 2012 Redfish Lake, Idaho (photo by Cory Harelson)
