It’s funny, that this summer doing all my training hikes, I have probably seen more of Idaho than I’ve seen in a very long time. I am hiking with two women from California, and they both say Idaho is #morethanpotatoes. It really is! I already knew that, but it’s good to be reminded of what an amazing place we live in!
We have now been hiking every week for 9 weeks, and completed the most challenging training hike of all. Our requirements were to hit 15 miles, 4000 elevation gain, and 6 hours on our feet. Just looking at those requirements felt intimidating, and it has been a constant challenge trying to find trails that fit all the training requirements. When I saw Thompson Peak in the Idaho Sawtooths, it looked perfect. It was a little short on miles (13.3), but perfect in elevation gain and time on our feet, so we decided to go for it. It turned out to be the tallest peak in the entire Sawtooth range at 10,700 feet elevation! Talk about intimidating! The whole plan worked perfectly, all three of our families were able to come up to Stanley, ID (3 hours from Boise) and spend the weekend camping together. Our hike was planned so that on Saturday, us three ladies left on our hike and the husbands and kids spent the day exploring the local natural hot springs and the infamous (and crowded) Redfish Lake.
We started out on our trail at 6:30 am. It was freezing cold, and I soon realized that my “layering” clothes system was severely lacking in many layers. I will be updating my hiking wardrobe very soon! It was perfect timing because the first few miles of the trail were climbing up to a ridge trail through a grove of aspen trees (my favorite), and we got to see a beautiful morning sun peeking through the aspens.
Up on the ridge we got a wonderful and continuous view of a huge chain of the Idaho Sawtooth Mountains across the valley. Oh my gosh, and we thought that was beautiful. We had no idea what was coming!
We got into beautiful sloping wildflowers, and, as the trail started disappearing more and more, I crossed my first boulder field and came upon our first alpine lake. We stopped for a few pictures and to admire the view…we were a few hours into the hike at that point, and felt pretty high up in elevation. We could see Thompson Peak straight above us, but it still seemed so high and unattainable, we just kept plugging along, trying not to look at it. We stopped for lunch at the next alpine lake – unnamed – and it felt good to let our feet have a rest and fill up our water bladders again, we were all almost out at that point. One hiker, Bethany, looked up from the lake to say something and saw, directly behind Michelle and I, a large white mountain goat! He was looking at us with the funniest expression on his face – can goats have facial expressions? If they could, he would have said, “What are you and what are you doing in my pond?” It was very peculiar. So he looked at us a while before plodding off somewhere else. Probably to his other pond for some water. After this point, our trail basically disappeared completely and we were left to find our way based on the directions of our online resources and just assessing our route on our own. We spent hours and hours picking our way across miles of boulder fields, which is basically what this mountain seemed made out of toward the top, and snow field crossing. During the next few miles, the mountain didn’t look any friendlier, and Bethany took two pretty bad falls and was okay physically but mentally very shaken up. After another fuel break a few hours later, we decided to reach the saddle of the mountain below the peak and reassess how we were all doing. This involved a last push up a very steep and loose boulder field, you know the ones that make you feel as if you’re going to start a rock slide by walking on it. That was very unsettling and just added to some of the more dangerous aspects of our time on the mountain.
Just so you get an idea of the kind of slope and rock we were dealing with!
I reached the saddle first and enjoyed some very windy conditions and amazing views before the other two reached me. We all knew, that while managing a peak is awesome, it is absolutely not worth it at the expense of finishing well. With that in mind, Bethany decided not to finish the last climb to the peak, but offered to wait for Michelle and I if we wanted to. I knew I could peak, and just had to, since we were right there! So Michelle and I went on.
Can you find us?
It was incredibly tricky getting up, and right at the end (the last 50 feet or so) it was as much of a rock climb (or more) as it looks – much like climbing a rock ladder to the peak. We reached the top and got our first glimpse of a view amazing enough to make you cry! I wish pictures could convey the emotions you experience in the moment. It had taken us 9 hours to hit the peak but it totally rocked my world. There was no wind up there, but one little slip and you would fall right off and die – not joking! It was really intense! I sat on the tippy most TOP of that mountain, and we, very carefully, enjoyed a few pictures and laughs up on top (maybe the altitude getting to us, laughing hysterically at things only marginally funny?!) before edging off the peak and heading down…verrry carefully. We took the – climbing down the rock ladder, looking down between our legs for the next sturdy foothold – type of descending. Talk about nerve wracking.
And just to think, the view would have been even BETTER – but the whole valley had filled with smoke from the California and Oregon wildfires while we were hiking, and that obscured much of the view of the valley.
Our way back down was so much better. From the top, we were able to see a much better (and safer) route and took that. So much better! At the last steep snowfield, we were needing to cross it, make our way down a boulder field, and then come down to a gorgeous mountain meadow. I suggested that, to save time, we instead slide down the steep snowfield – avoiding the jagged rocks 100 feet at the bottom, and end up directly in the meadow! Good idea, right? So that’s what we did. It ended up being the funniest and best thing we did all day! We all held hands, pushed off, and sped down the mountain screaming and laughing all at the same time. By digging our heels into the snow, we were somewhat able to control our speed and slowed down before hitting the jagged rocks (always a good thing), and then just stood up and traipsed across to the meadow with our freezing bottoms and wet pants! It was fantastic!
The way back we were able to see the opposite end of the day – with the sun setting behind Thompson. The scenery was so fantastic, we spent a lot of our time on the way back saying, “Oh my gosh, look!” or, “Wait, I have to get a picture!” or, “I can’t believe we did that!” or, “Oh my gosh, we DID THAT!”
We managed to cross all the boulder fields, or go around on an easier route (again, route finding is so much easier from the top!) before it got dark. We had to balance stopping for photos with the urge to get off the trail before it got dark. We almost made it – we all had brought headlamps (thankfully) and had to pull them out for the last half mile.
We arrived back in camp at 10:00 PM. That is approximately 14 hours on the trail. After all that, we all came away feeling ready for our big endurance hike coming up NEXT WEEK! Yes, it was a little crazier than we had anticipated, but, it adequately prepared us and let us practice for the appropriate terrain and time we will be hiking for on the big one. I will never regret it – it was an unbelievable experience. I can’t wait to do more hikes of the same nature, why not let yourself be amazed?
Along that train of thought, I was thinking along the way on Saturday how much personal growth happens when you’re doing something hard. Or when you’re uncomfortable. Rarely do you experience anything worthwhile or grow into a better person if you only stay in familiar places. I was also thinking of how much personal growth comes from doing something for others, and not thinking about myself. I am always reminding myself that this hike is not about me. This whole summer of training has been challenging, but I’m coming out of the other side knowing that I can do some hard – but amazing – stuff! I encourage any of you reading to try it – it may not be climbing a mountain, but whatever it is for you, just try!
Check out more pictures here…there are a ton of them. Take a look if you want, I want all of them for ME to look back on them later!
Kingsbury Reports 