Borah, Where is that again?

Borah peak the highest mountain in Idaho doesn't seem as though it is in the right spot. It seems the high point should be in the sawtooths instead of the lost river range. With a name like the lost river range you already get the feeling things are a bit confused. There was a large (7.3) earthquake there in 1983 a description is here.

We drove from the pacific coast to the base of Borah. My father, a cousin, a brother's dog, another brother, and a 5 months pregnant sister-in-law accompanied us. Maybe we were a bit confused as well. The hike up is fairly steep. It begins on a nice trail though. This is the type of high point I find entertaining. Straightforward. You go up till you get to the top. No traversing for ages, no up and down on passes, no ridiculously long approach.



You just start hiking up a trail and see some pretty things (especially the dead trees that seemed to be well on their way to petrifying in place) . Then it gets steeper. And you can see the baby bulge now. It seems that would upset your balance. As the trail ends and the hands start being used I had to help the dog.



Just past the picture, while I was holding the dog in my arms (and he weighs like 40 pounds), the dog decided that he had enough. I was stemming across between two ledges and he pushed us away from the cliff face. I imagine he was not intentionally trying to kill us, but instead just get some purchase for his paws. Well I started to drop him so I could grab something before we fell to our death. I managed to keep hold of him with one arm and grab the cliff with the other. To show his gratitude the dog peed on me. At least he was facing the cliff.

My sister-in-law was a bit tired and fell behind as we neared the summit. It is well ingrained in me that safety in the mountains is heavily reliant on the weather. And that it is better to get up and down early. As such Tiffanee and I started taking photos.




She joined us soon though looking only a bit winded. I hope I can do that well when I am 5 months pregnant (er wait a minute :) ).

And I was able to take a lovely picture focusing on a rock. (Note to self check summit picture more carefully after taking it).



Down we went. We made fast time at first, but my dog who was aged and infirm had remained at the campsite near a spring. I felt bad about this and my cousin and I decided to run down the rest of the way. We made it quickly to the campsite and had everything put away by the time the others arrived. My brother explained it took them awhile b/c his wife lost trust in her ability to balance as they hiked down the steep trail. He walked behind her holding the back of her polar fleece in case she ever began toppling forward. There were no ill-effects from this expedition that we know of.