Highest Peak in Idaho- Borah Peak

So my friends Craig and Macall are on a quest to climb the highest peak in each of the 50 states. A pretty amazing quest, if you think about it. Most people never make it to all 50 states, but they're taking it the extra mile. Long story short, they came to Idaho to climb Borah, but because of school I was unable to join them. Like many of my adventures lately, I was motivated by the jealousy of their adventure, so decided to hike it myself.

I tried and tried to get someone to join me, and almost had a few takers, but in the end I had to go solo. The good part about going alone is I can go as fast as I want. And if you know me, you know as fast as I want means as fast as possible. I ran to the summit in 1:47 minutes, (26 minutes short of the record. Hard to imagine going 26 minutes faster).

Trip Summary:
Adventurers: Solo 
Distance: 475 miles- 6hours
The Hike- 8.0 Miles- 3 hours 0 minutes 36 seconds.  12,662'

The road from Sun Valley to Mt Borah was mostly dirt. Borah can be seen here towering over the valley. in fact, it doesn't look as daunting as you approach, but the closer you get the harder it looks. 

I left work at 2, and I knew I had to be to the trailhead before 5 if I had any hope of making the trek before the sunset. The placard at the trailhead seen here, is hard to miss. parking is $5 FYI since its on national forest land.

The first mile is steed right off the bat. 1000 feet in mile 1.  I was able to maintain 14 minute pace. its wooded, and kept me cool since it was 88 degrees at my 5pm start. 

After mile 1, the trail breaks out of the trees, and it is exposed the remaining 3 miles to the summit. 

Mile 2,  The trail rides the ridge line to the around to the right, all the way to the summit. .Its the steepest mile of the hike, climbing 1700 vertical feet in a mile. That's pretty much stairs in my book.   

A herd of  12 Big Horn sheep grazed on the trail. the trail here is easy to see, but it becomes much more difficult  at chicken out ridge

The Big Horn let me get very close, considering this is an iPhone pic, and not my 400mm lens.  These guys were at about mile 2.5, which is the easiest portion of the trail, and almost feels downhill.

Chicken out ridge is at about mile 2.5-3 and it is aptly named. It is very narrow, with a very exposed feeling. the footing is great and wasn't any trouble, but if you're afraid of heights, this is where you'll chicken out.
Remember, when you arrive at the ridge, stay as close to the ridge as possible. the first half you keep to the right of the ridge, then cross over and keep left. It isn't too hard to find, but definitely best to keep close to the ridgeline. 

I am afraid of heights, so I used my hands for a lot of chicken out ridge. Took the obligatory selfie here. 

Here is a cairn marking the way across chicken out. hard to tell but its pretty much 1000' down if you trip to the right. 

The next peak to the south showed how strange the geological formations are around here. Very rugged mountains around here.

After chicken out, the trail stays to the right of knifes edge. I pretty much scrambled across the rocks the rest of the way to the peak. footing is mediocre, and if you drop 100 yards down to the left, you may find more of a trail than I did along the edge. fastest way would be to learn where I lost the trail. this is where I will make up time on the record run.

Also note. trail guides vary between 3.5 and 4 miles to the summit. it is most definitely 4 miles. I had the GPS going. I got to mile 3 and knew I was close to record pace, so I pushed the next half mile very hard, only to find I was still half a mile from the summit. It kinda made me hit a wall and mile 4 was 40 minute pace. 

But eventually I made the summit. 1:47 minutes. I will break 1:20 by the end of next year, because thats the current record and it would be fun.

There is a box at the top to write your names on the log, and a bunch of flags that people had left on the summit. official 12,662 feet. 

The view off the back from the summit. 

Took a few selfies at the top since I was all alone out there... had to show off the short shorts. 

Ran into the sheep again on the way down. I was racing the clock so I didnt get much time with them

The sun setting on chicken out ridge. 

Cairns mark the easiest route, but they are hard to follow with the sun in your eyes. 

One of my favorites of the moutains below, as the sun began to set

The sun was down with 1.5 miles left... lucky enough there was still enough light to see, so I didn't have to bust out the flashlights.

my legs burned so bad from the run down. I got into the car, headed into Mackey, got myself some food and then made the 3 hour drive home. a very long day but worth it.