Trip Report
The fall weather had been spectacular and I wanted to get one last big hike in before the snows hit. However, I have been trying to be a better husband and pitch in on weekends and of course fall Saturdays mean football. So the best alternative was to take a day off from work. As luck would have it, I needed to be in Hailey for work on Thursday, so it seemed logical to stay the night and bag something close to Hailey on Friday.
Even at work on Thursday I wasn't sure what I wanted to climb. Finally that night I decided on McIntyre Peak on the divide between Big Basin and the East Fork of the Wood River. I had climbed 2 other peaks on this divide and knew of its scenic qualities.
I left town around 7:45am and arrived at the trailhead (the end of the East Fork Road) at around 8:35am. This was my first off road driving in my new SUV (a Chevy Traverse). The Traverse did great, although I am not sure it is really made for a road like that. According to one trip report, that road is for incredible vehicles driven by incredible drivers. I guess the SUV and I passed, though a road like the Hell Roaring would tear that vehicle up.
It was hunting season, so I didn't have the drainage to myself. There were several vehicles in the area and an ATV at the trailhead. I wasn't too worried about getting shot, as I only had about 1/4 a mile on trail before heading up into open terrain above the trail. At least I don't think 6'2" guys wearing a Gillagan hat and Boise State shirt resemble anything people shoot at.
As I got to the turn-off for the off-trail route, I noticed skies were not that great. It was very cloudy to my north. Kind of disappointing after yesterday's blue bird day, but oh well! So off I headed on good terrain headed for the valley between Jaqueline and McIntyre peaks. At around 9300' I broke into a flat area and could see the upper half of the route. I had been climbing for an hour and was ready for a drink and snack. In addition, I wanted to refer to the map and see what might work. I knew of several routes people had used. However, the one to my right, which was basically a side drainage that seemed to lead all the way to the ridge looked good. I hiked to the base of it and sat down for a break.
During the break, the sky darkened and it began to snow. UGH! This was supposed to be a great day. Oh well, I put on my rain jacket and ate some breakfast. Eventually I got moving and so did the storm. About 15 minutes later, the skies were sunny, the rocks were dry, and I was 300 feet higher on the mountain.
The terrain was still pretty good. I was starting to notice how varied and unique the rock was on this peak. Some of the rock was slabby with smaller rocks embedded in it, some was solid black with a shine to it, other rock was white and pink, other a shiny silver. A lot of the rock was tilted (see the goat photo below). As I reached the top of this gully, I joined a less steep rib coming in from the west. I could now see the ridge above me and the summit to the north.
One of the reports I read mentioned a "not so nervous" goat in one of the gullies near the summit. I ran across a similar goat. He was not nervous at all with my presence. In fact, he didn't even freak out when I climbed above him in the gully.
After the goat fun, I climbed up to the ridge. The ridge was fun. It was composed of tilted towers. Climbing the west side of it isn't bad. I jumped over to the east side of it to check it out. Here there is a pretty major drop and more blocky terrain. I messed around for about 10 minutes and headed back over to the west side. These titled towers were actually challenging to climb, mostly because it was different that the usual angles you scramble on I guess. I also found out that the ones laying on the ground looked huge, but would move when you stepped on them. I am guessing because they were thinner, thus lighter, than normal boulders.
I sidehilled the ridge about 50 feet below the top and actually climbed too far north on the ridge. To gain the ridge top, I ended up climbing some really challenging terrain. When I popped out on top, I saw my mistake, as the summit cairn was 50 feet to my south on much easier terrain.
The summit views were splendid. The sun was still out and great views were to be had. I also had cell reception, so I posted a pic to Facebook and sent a few texts.
The way down went great until about 9000', when it began to snow/rain again. This slickened the rocks and caused me to slide a few times. More than anything it slowed me down. Not too much longer and I was at the trailhead.
None of you probably care, but I found some interesting observations in driving my Traverse off road for the first time. I can really only related the performance back to that of my 2000 Dodge Durango.
The Traverse had adequate power to get up steep sections. It is lighter than the Durango, so seemed to get up on the rocks instead of bog down in them. One of the coolest things it has is a tire PSI guage. On rocky roads, I constantly think I have a tire going low and get out and check. Now, I don't have to worry, as the PSI for each tire is displayed on the dashboard! The other thing is that when going downhill the Durango, even in D1 or D2 would still get going too fast and require a lot of brake. However, the low gear in the Traverse kept me going slow and really saves brakes and bouncing around. The Traverse handles washboards incredibly well, so no loud noises or jarring when going over them like every other vehicle I have been in experiences. Then lastly, I had to test out the automated slide control feature. So I took it up to 50mph on the gravel road and let the backend slide. The computer immediately took over and pulled the vehicle out of the slide. I was very impressed with that feature. However, this story didn't impress the wife, who wondered who in the hell would risk a wreck to test a feature out.
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