Climbing Mount McCaleb, and Little Mac Trip Report, Lost River Range, Idaho

Drove to Mackay after work on Friday. The drive is about two hours from Rexburg. I hoped to photograph both McCaleb and Little Mac before nightfall. The light was not the best nor the worst.

Mount McCaleb is the distinctive Mountain towering over the small town of Mackay. It sports a gnarly looking crown which makes it one of the most recognizable summits in the Lost River Range.

Here are a some Friday evening images made of McCaleb and some nearby peaks.

Little Mac, 11,071, Mount McCaleb, 11,682, Little Mac, and USGS Peak, 11,982 

Invisible Mountain, 11,330 center

Mount McCaleb and Desert 

Peak 10,552 south of McCaleb

Peak 10,552 south of McCaleb

Lost River Mountain in Distance With False Summit

Last Light on McCaleb's Crown

I think the most direct route to the base of the Mount McCaleb is neither the upper or lower Cedar Creeks roads; I have been on both. The best way is to turn right on Main Street in Mackay. Proceed to the foothill. Instead of curving right, stop at the green gate. The sign on the gate identifies the road leading up to a communications tower but there is no indication of trespassing. As always, make sure the gate is closed behind you.

I parked on the flats near a small hill to make some photos and bed down for the night. If you have a good 4WD, you could knock off eight-tenths of a mile by actually driving to the tree line. See image above. Although, less than a mile hike up a moderate slope is not too bad of an approach!

The evening was very enjoyable. About an hour after the sun went down, I rolled out a pad and a bag in the back of the Forester and left the hatch open to the fresh air. Fell asleep listening to Ed Viesturs book, The Will to Climb and Coyote calls from Lower Cedar Creek.

Awoke a bit after 6:00. Ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, got dressed, and was on the trail by 7:00. The hike is pretty straight forward. I debated the line I should take once past the tree line and decided I would go up the ridge to Little Mac, hoping the light would be good on the northern mountains for some photos.

The Pioneers and Mackay Reservoir

Mackay Mountains and Ridge to Little Mac

Near the Top of Little Mac

The Northern Mountains
Lost River Mountain on right, Donaldson, Church, and (I believe) White Cap

This one includes the false summit of Lost River Mountain, far right

The wind picked up on the ridge and I welcomed the leeward side of large rock formations near the top of the mountain. See image above. There were sparse pockets of snow on the leeward side of the ridge but nothing that required any special consideration. Once at the summit, I ate the second half of my peanut butter sandwich drank some Gatorade and began the descent to the pass between Little Mac and McCaleb. The descent was a bit dicey without crampons. I know; I should have thrown them in my pack; I am a slow learner. The snow had not warmed up and was often so solid that I could not kick in a step, I did, however, bring my axe! I prudently traded my poles for the ax and slowly descended using the pick firmly planted in the surface.

USGS Peak Over the Saddle Between Little Mac and McCaleb

The Summit of Little Mac and Ridge Leading to the Col

Loose Snow/Point Release Avalanches off the ridge north of Little Mac.

Ridge Detail

Once on the pass, I enjoyed the views to the east. The snow was firm enough to walk on comfortably with very few post holes. I decide not to follow the ridge to the top. Instead, I opted for a direct route up the northern face of scree and snow.  I had to pull out my axe only one more time on a snow field. Not sure if I saved much time. Climbing up this face, the wind picked up I could see spin drift rising from ridges in the southeast. Slowly the clouds darkened and lowered, always an ominous sign. I was a bit disappointed thinking that by the time I reached the summit the views would be gone. I made the ridge and walked up to the top.

View From Upper Ridge of Mount McCaleb

View From Upper Ridge of Mount McCaleb

Once on top, I ate some cashews and peanut M&Ms. It was about 11:30, and I was in no hurry to descend. I laid down out of the wind and rested for about 10 minutes, hoping the weather would change.  Then, I reluctantly started down. About fifty feet off the ridge, it was like a switch was flipped. the clouds disappeared and the wind died! I quickly ran back to the top for some photos.

USGS Peak 

Summit Ridge to McCaleb

Lost River Mountain (center) False Summit and Ridge to Summit

I left the upper ridge a little after noon. I scree skied to the snow fields and then glissaded down. The snow had softened a bit and was perfect...not hard and icy. When the slope was too shallow to glissade, I was able to take big strides in the softening snow, no post holing, just large cushioned steps! Descending was a pleasure. I was back at my car by 1:45. I left for Arco and grabbed an Atomic Burger and chocolate milkshake at Pickles thinking I could afford the calories. Then headed for home.

Other Resources:

Tom Lopez Website:
Mount McCaleb
Little Mac

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Climbing Mount Church and Donaldson Peak, Lost River Range

Mount Church to Donaldson Peak
10/17/2014

Donaldson, Church, Bad Rock,White Cap, Leatherman taken from Brietenbach

This would be my first time on the ridge that connects the two Idaho high points and I was not really sure of the route. I was confident though that I could figure it out as I went. While driving out of town, a friend texted me, concerned that I was going up alone. He offered some advice about different sections of the scramble and urged me to be careful. He concluded by telling me that his father-in-law's friend died while climbing Church. I was a bit freaked out, but I concluded that this was his way of telling me to be extra careful.

When I go into high mountains alone, or on any hike into the back county, I am very aware of the risks involved. I am totally responsible for getting myself out if anything should happen. I don't expect help. Perhaps having this mindset, makes me a bit more conservative in my choices. Nothing wrong with that. If I was seriously injured, I am quite sure I could drag my self to some crossroad even if I had to crawl for a day or two.

Some suggest climbing from the Jones Creek Drainage. After studying the map, I thought a more direct route would be to climb from the drainage to the northwest. Take the Lone Cedar Creek road, a well maintained county road, to the ranch at the foot of the mountains. Turn right at the ranch and follow to road to the trailhead.

I drove up to the trail head and bedded down for the night. I was working on some images in the back of the Subaru, when I saw headlights meandering past the ranch and up my way. The Lost River Range is remote and chance of two parties sharing a trailhead is unlikely; Borah is the exception. It is the "Mount Everest" of Idaho. When Ben and I climbed Borah earlier in the summer, there was a steady stream of hikers from the trail head campground to the summit.

The van, pulling a large trailer behind, slowly pulled into the flat area before the trailhead. I had company! In fact a lot of company. It was a van from BYUI Outdoor Activites full of students eager to make it to the summits of Church and Donaldson. I arose from my bag and introduced myself and asked if what time they planned on starting in the morning. Several of them had attempted a summit on Church when the ridge was loaded with snow and had turned back a few hundred yards from the summit. They were familiar with the basic route and I was eager to join them. I figured I could save myself time and energy by tagging along. Also, I always enjoy company.

We began at 5:00 A.M. hiking up the drainage. With headlamps we could follow a pretty good trail. Evidently this was a well trodden route. At this point the route is straightforward. Walk up.

Looking down the valley

Scott with his dog Moab

Eventually, After a few miles you come to a small pond, or puddle in October. Beyond this point, a steep slope of scree skirts a skirts a tall wall. the ridge line to Church and Donaldson is at the top. It is here that I was glad to relinquish route finding to those who have previously been up the wall. At this point, Scott tied up Moab; he would not make the trip the rest of the hike.

The steep scree slope and wall to the ridge between Church and Donaldson

Leatherman, Bad Rock, Church, and Donalson from the west
The wall can be seen between Church and Donaldson.

Matt and his friend on ridge from Donaldson to Church
Mount Church on the left

Photographing on the ridge above the wall

The ridge to Church

Looking back to Donaldson on right. No Regret Peak on left and Breitenbach between the two

Climbing the ridge to Church

On top of Church

Taking pictures on top of Church
Eric Newell looking rugged in his new "blue" Patagonia

Eric and Scott on top of Church

The Ridge to Donaldson

Mount Church from Donaldson

Other Resources:

Tom Lopez Website:

Mount Church

Donaldson Peak

For more trip reports of other mountains visit idahoclimbing.weebly.com

Climbing Gilmore Peak and Meadow Lake

Ever since I photographed Meadow Lake last fall, I wanted to climb to the top of Gilmore Peak. The peak rises 1,400 vertical feet from the lake's surface and just looks cool. Ben and I spent the first evening in the Meadow Lake Campground. Ben fished a little and I photographed the lake and peak.

The next morning I was joined by Marvin Hansen on the hike to the top of Gilmore Peak. Marvin and his wife camped next to use in the campground and wanted to summit the peak. We followed a well maintained trail to the saddle north of the peak and completed several traverses to the top of the saddle.

The trail leads to the ridge on the left. We then followed the ridge to Gilmore Peak. This view is from the top of Gilmore looking south.

Meadow Lake Campground from the top of Gilmore Peak.

Marvin Hansen on top of Gilmore Peak.

Looking south from Gilmore Peak

A wider view of the above image.

The ridge to Gilmore Peak. Sawmill Canyon is behind while the Lost River Range is in the far distance. From left to right...Borah, Sacajewea Peak, Mount Idaho, Peak 11,967, White Cap Peak, Leatherman Peak, Bad Rock Peak,Mount Church, and Donaldson can be seen on the skyline in the left on the image.

The ridge leading to the summit of Gilmore. several couloirs are found between the peaks.

While descending, I noticed that the very first couloir was not as steep as it appeared from a distance, an illusion of foreshortening perspective and seeming compression of space. Instead of following the ridge back to the saddle and then traversing our way down, we went down the couloir. It was a simple descent. It took us about 3 hours to make the ascent from our camps and only took 50 minutes to arrive at camp using the couloir shortcut.

A final look at Gilmore Peak and Meadow Lake.

Other Resources:

Tom Lopez Website:
Gilmore Peak

For more trip reports of other mountains visit idahoclimbing.weebly.com

Climbing Umpleby Peak

Ben at the top of Umpleby

Ben in the cliffs of Umpleby near the top.

Ben and I decided to climb Umpleby Peak located north of Bell Mountain.  We read that the area was a good place to look for fossils and thought that a slow climb and a fossil search would make a good combination. We drove to Basinger Canyon from the Little Lost River Valley. Once into the canyon, we proceeded to the end of the road. The road is passable; We had no problem in my Subaru Forester.
We parked in a turnoff and found a trail that continued up the north side of the canyon.  The trail led to the end of the canyon where The Knoll and Umpleby stand at the ends of the box. The peaks are joined by a saddle ridge that encloses the canyon.

Umpleby Peak as seen from the entrance of Basinger Canyon

The hike to the end of the canyon was pleasant. The tail led through firs, aspens, and meadows. Many wild flowers were scattered along the way. The trail ended in a clearing at the foot of the two peaks. We rolled out our bags on the south of the clearing next to the trees. and played around until dark.

The clearing at the base of the peaks. We slept out on the left side of the clearing near the tree line.

We hiked the lower slopes, played pine cone baseball, and found our first fossil that evening. We found several Bristle Cone Pines in the rocks. I photographed one that evening and another the next day with Ben in the photo for scale.

The climb was mostly class 2 with a bit of class 3 climbing to reach the top peak. We found lots of horn coral including a full horn and several complete horns embedded in rocks. We found a few more kind of fossils which I will photograph and post for those interested in fossil hunting.

On top of Umpleby looking south. Bell dominates the skyline and Diamond Peak can be seen in the distance (center).

Near the top of Umpleby looking toward the Lemhi Valley. The Knoll is on the left.

The climb offers sensational views of Bell Mountain. The views begin with the north face and wrap around to the northeast as the climb proceeds.

Bell from Umpleby.

Looking north from Umpleby.

A final look at Bell and surrounding peaks.

Other Resources:

Tom Lopez Website:
Umpleby Peak