spengy - Jun 27, 2009 8:32 pm Date Climbed: Jun 27, 2009
Fun Times
I meant to take the Deer Creek trail but I got confused in Granite Flats and took trail 044 by mistake.
Nevertheless, it was a nice hike. There is still a fair amount of snow in the drainage below the south saddle. I met some folks who actually intended to climb this way. They were more prepared than myself, with crampons and ice axes. They slid down after they were done on the summit.
We headed up the Deer Creek route this morning and found the snow a little soft down lower, but pretty solid up higher, with a fresh coat of 4 inches or so on top of that. Thunderstorm clouds were looming as we were about to gain the ridge, and we decided to turn around.
It was cool to be up there, though, because the entire valley was cloud-free all morning, despite clouds visible over the ridges and off in the distance to the east and over toward Timp.
Took snowshoes, but didn't put them on. Probably would have used them up higher.
highpeakskier - Jan 18, 2009 3:53 pm Date Climbed: Jan 18, 2009
Winter ascent
Its has been 3 years since I last made this summit (Summer). I determined that the next time would be in the Winter. After several failed attempts, I finally made it. With friends Stan and Colin, started from Tibble Fork parking lot, ascended the NE face, skied a lap about 1500 vertical ft. Climbed back up, traversed west to gain the ridge, made the summit at about 3:00 p.m.. With Stan in the lead, we descended on skiis via the North Cirq.( A "DO NOT FALL" zone), skied out Dry Fork trail to the trail head.
got skunked by snow and out-of-shapeness earlier in the year, got my revenge this time.
hail and lightning made me think it wasn't going to happen but the weather had good pockets so it worked out.
3:40 up(2 hours to the saddle, 1:40 to summit) and like 3:20 down. That counts breaks and lunch and photo time.
saw a scout troop close to the saddle, alone the rest of the time.
fall leaves are starting, it was really pretty.
this is the best view of any of the peaks i've done so far.
Straight forward climb to the saddle/meadow (dont know the name) but after that it got hairy. Started later that I would have liked and so lost the trail easily. Got confused because there were 3 options at the saddle and doubt I chose the right one. Ended just going up and eventually got there but it was way steeper than expected. Reached the summit at 11:30pm and had great views of the whole Lone Peak area. There's a 6-7' rock cairn at the summit, not sure if it's always there, but it was chill. Descent was sketch, got lost again and ended up skiing down the rock slides/snow in the dark till we made it to a trail.
vanman798 - Jun 21, 2008 7:44 pm Date Climbed: May 5, 2012
Awesome Ski Tour
May 5, 2012 - Via Trail 44 to Wide Hollow and up the Sleigh Runner. Started at Tibble Fork Resevoir, as the road to Granite Flats Campground was closed. It took 30 minutes to reach trail 44. From the saddle between the Box Elder Peaks to the summit, via the sleigh runner took 40 minutes. Descending back to the saddle only took 15 minutes!
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March 20, 2010 - Skinned up from Dry Creek to the NW Cirque. Climbed the ridge on the east side of the cirque and followed that to the peak. Took six hours. Skied down the NW Cirque -- very rewarding tour.
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June 21, 2008 - Via Trail 44 to Wide Hollow and up the Sleigh Runner
Lpollock, Jordan, and I started at Granite Flats Campground on trail 44 which took us into Wide Hollow. We snow climbed up Wide Hollow to the ridge, and then skirted around to the Sleigh Runner Gully on the SW aspect, ascending that to the peak. The Sleigh Runner is a fun glissade down. We summited in 3 hours 45 minutes, and descended in 2 hours 15 minutes.
JDrake - Jun 18, 2008 12:19 am Date Climbed: Jun 17, 2008
Dry Creek up and back
Took the Dry Creek Canyon trail from Alpine. Water was flowing great; waterfall was really smashing down. Made our way up through the slushy snow to the saddle and headed up the north ridge. Soft snow made for extra time on the ascent, but made for great fun on the decent. Still lots of snow between roughly 9000 to 10,300. Great views, could not find the register?? Rock cairn is as tall as I am!
seanpeckham - Jun 9, 2008 2:57 pm Date Climbed: Mar 20, 2010
Deer Creek and Dry Creek
Entry for June 8, 2008:
I finally got around to climbing this spectacular peak! My friend Jane and I took the Deer Creek trail from Granite Flat to the pass and then followed the north ridge to the summit. Conditions ranged from T-shirt/shorts weather to cold and windy on the summit, and wallowing up to our knees in soggy snow, to crampon grade surfaces (glad to have those in a few places). The top part was rocky, unless you got too close to the cornice, which I might have once and punched through to my horror. We added an extra ~800' vertical to the trip to glissade the southwest face and return to the summit to go back the way we came (couldn't find a way back to the TH from there that wouldn't have involved lots of heinous bushwhacking). Great fun, beautiful day, and no other human beings sighted (except the hordes at Tibble reservoir)
Update for March 20, 2010:
Skinned up from the Dry Creek Trailhead with vanman798, and skied the NW cirque. Awesome day!
jareds - May 18, 2008 2:45 pm Date Climbed: May 17, 2008
deer creek trail attempt
me and a buddy left the lake at 7am, the road past the lake was closed. hiked up to the beaver ponds, about a mile into it. lost the trail, ended up above the saddle. didn't summit, tons of snow, beautiful area. when i do it again i will probably wait until the snow melts and/or others have paved a better trail. and i will get in shape.
Steve Elmer - Sep 15, 2007 12:03 am Date Climbed: Aug 21, 2007
Dry Creek
Started from Dry Creek trailhead. I was the only car there on this weekday. Much longer than I had expected and quite hot. Saw a snake, moose, and about 7 mountain goats. On the way down I explored a couple of cool water falls.
Carpey - Jun 28, 2007 4:30 pm Date Climbed: Jun 23, 2007
Deer Creek
Hot as can be, summited and down in around 7 hours. Fantastic peak, highly recommended.
Full TR here: http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/?p=103
Hiked with Hyrum Wright. Left Granite Flat campground around 7:30am and summited a little after noon. Didn't go too fast.
The leaves were absolutely incredible in October. Amazing. There were also traces of snow at the time. We saw a big bull moose on the way down, which was really cool.
Hyrum's trip report is here: http://hiking.hyrumwright.org/hike/Box_Elder_Peak
mtn runr - May 9, 2007 10:16 pm Date Climbed: May 9, 2007
Feeling like a workout . . .
I decided to climb Box Elder from the west which offers the most vertical relief (about 5,500 ft.) Mine was the only car at the Dry Creek TH on this weekday. The weather was spectacular, if you like bright sun and no wind. I came down sunburned and tired in about 8 1/2 hours.
CubicleSlave - Mar 6, 2007 9:14 pm Date Climbed: Feb 3, 2007
Near Crushed
Read the trip report by soccerdude.. It tells all the gritty details. It sure was pretty up there though.
Moogie737 - Nov 8, 2006 3:25 am Date Climbed: Jun 6, 2023
Various routes
On a wonderfully warm November day Brent, Ladd and I left the Granite Flat Campground just after 7 a.m. and navigated through and over varying amounts of frozen turf, mud, snow, ice and mush to reach the saddle south of the peak in about 3 hours. Brent and I attacked the steep scree-strewn ridge leading directly to the summit and arrived to revel in stunning views to the north and south. We both agreed that Box Elder Peak is a great peak to climb. In July one more time atop with Dave and Lana. August 14th again, this time with Brent, Lana, & Kim. From the summit we hiked the ridgeline north to the White Baldy summit. That, my friends, is one fine ridgeline hike! One more summit on 6-26-08 with very special friends including a 7-foot cairn at the summit. This time via the Deer Creek Trail (#43). Successful ascent #5 on 10-30-08 with Brent, Anne, & Christine via Trail 044. A splendid fall day with unusually warm temps made for a keen hike. #6 7-13-13 Mit Yz 44 auf und 43 ab. Besser ist es, 043 auf zu nehmen! #7 6-12-14. Solo. Gift for fellow hikers left at summit. IVD. #8 6-23-15 W/ Brent. Deer Creek trail, 3+41 up & IVD sehr. #9 8-4-17 W/ Yadahzoe. 4+16 up. Deer Creek Trail & north ridge. #10 9-07-18 W/ Lana & Jim Kucera. 4+20 up via the normal trail. Fall colors beginning to dazzle. #11 07-13-19 W/ Lana. Six small snowfields to cross, no traction necessary at all. 4+26 up. #12 07-27-2020 W/ Lana & Brent, zero snow, tempestuous wildflowers, 4+10 up, swim in Tibble Fork reservoir afterwards. #13 08-27-21 W/ Lana. 4+46 up. Smoky. #14 05-21-22 W/Lana. Via Trail 044, crampons up the drainage to the saddle and then via the Sleigh Runner to the summit. Normal way down. Windy but satisfying. #15 06-06-23 W/Lana. Same as #14 but in record snow year. 9+27 up. Sleigh Runner is awesome. Bushwhacking in deadfall both up and down was horrendous.
mtn_pika - Oct 11, 2006 11:38 pm Date Climbed: Oct 8, 2006
South Slopes via Dry Creek
Great (albeit muddy/snowy/cold) solitary afternoon getaway from the smog-filled (already!?!) valley. Beautiful views looking out towards snow-covered Mt. Timponogas and Mt. Nebo in the distance. The trees towards the top of the peak were covered in hoar frost, despite a cloudless, sunny day. It was interesting to find clumps of hundreds of orange ladybugs at the very summit -- not sure if they were mating, hibernating, or just soaking up the sun. I can't exactly call the final scramble up the south slope fun, however; I don't think there's a single stable rock along the final 900 feet.
apachedino - Oct 7, 2006 5:20 pm Date Climbed: Jul 13, 2006
Deer Creek Solo
Wicked hot. This mountain had always interested me. Solitary, with a blown apart north face. I decided to tackle it one Sunday afternoon to break in my new hiking shoes, got terrible blisters though they fit fine now. Nice hike, interesting terraces. Great views of the bigger surrounding peaks.
Rocky Alps - Sep 10, 2006 1:16 pm Date Climbed: Jun 26, 2015
Route Climbed: Deer Creek Trail
First time with my fiancee (now wife) on June 17, 2006, we accidentally got onto the Box Elder Trail (no. 44) and ended up bushwhacking over some steep snow slopes below the south peak. After slipping down one particular slope (no ice axe), attempting to grab a tree branch to stop my fall, and slicing my finger open, I decided to go back down and give it another try some other time.
I came back later with my brother on June 26, 2015, found the correct Deer Creek Trail (no. 43) this time, and successfuly summited. We started early (3:30 am) to avoid the heat. See "Underrated Walkup" trip report for details.
Started at about 2:30 pm. Climbed the NE ridge after bushwhacking my way through the bottom the drainage. Made the simmit in three hours.
Returned VIA the Deer Creek trail, about 2 1/2 hours walking.
It was a hot day, didnt take enough water, I was counting on some remaining snow to replenish my water supply, however the snow that was there was not looking too good, passed on that.
spengy - Jun 27, 2009 8:32 pm Date Climbed: Jun 27, 2009
Fun TimesI meant to take the Deer Creek trail but I got confused in Granite Flats and took trail 044 by mistake.
Nevertheless, it was a nice hike. There is still a fair amount of snow in the drainage below the south saddle. I met some folks who actually intended to climb this way. They were more prepared than myself, with crampons and ice axes. They slid down after they were done on the summit.
Bruce Christensen - Apr 25, 2009 5:50 pm Date Climbed: Apr 25, 2009
StormyWe headed up the Deer Creek route this morning and found the snow a little soft down lower, but pretty solid up higher, with a fresh coat of 4 inches or so on top of that. Thunderstorm clouds were looming as we were about to gain the ridge, and we decided to turn around.
It was cool to be up there, though, because the entire valley was cloud-free all morning, despite clouds visible over the ridges and off in the distance to the east and over toward Timp.
Took snowshoes, but didn't put them on. Probably would have used them up higher.
highpeakskier - Jan 18, 2009 3:53 pm Date Climbed: Jan 18, 2009
Winter ascentIts has been 3 years since I last made this summit (Summer). I determined that the next time would be in the Winter. After several failed attempts, I finally made it. With friends Stan and Colin, started from Tibble Fork parking lot, ascended the NE face, skied a lap about 1500 vertical ft. Climbed back up, traversed west to gain the ridge, made the summit at about 3:00 p.m.. With Stan in the lead, we descended on skiis via the North Cirq.( A "DO NOT FALL" zone), skied out Dry Fork trail to the trail head.
byates - Dec 7, 2008 11:27 pm
Need to get back.i can't believe I havn;t done it sine 94.
jareds - Sep 22, 2008 1:19 pm Date Climbed: Sep 20, 2008
2nd time's a charmgot skunked by snow and out-of-shapeness earlier in the year, got my revenge this time.
hail and lightning made me think it wasn't going to happen but the weather had good pockets so it worked out.
3:40 up(2 hours to the saddle, 1:40 to summit) and like 3:20 down. That counts breaks and lunch and photo time.
saw a scout troop close to the saddle, alone the rest of the time.
fall leaves are starting, it was really pretty.
this is the best view of any of the peaks i've done so far.
jekyllman - Jul 9, 2008 6:39 pm Date Climbed: Jul 8, 2008
Route: Granite FlatsStraight forward climb to the saddle/meadow (dont know the name) but after that it got hairy. Started later that I would have liked and so lost the trail easily. Got confused because there were 3 options at the saddle and doubt I chose the right one. Ended just going up and eventually got there but it was way steeper than expected. Reached the summit at 11:30pm and had great views of the whole Lone Peak area. There's a 6-7' rock cairn at the summit, not sure if it's always there, but it was chill. Descent was sketch, got lost again and ended up skiing down the rock slides/snow in the dark till we made it to a trail.
vanman798 - Jun 21, 2008 7:44 pm Date Climbed: May 5, 2012
Awesome Ski TourMay 5, 2012 - Via Trail 44 to Wide Hollow and up the Sleigh Runner. Started at Tibble Fork Resevoir, as the road to Granite Flats Campground was closed. It took 30 minutes to reach trail 44. From the saddle between the Box Elder Peaks to the summit, via the sleigh runner took 40 minutes. Descending back to the saddle only took 15 minutes!
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March 20, 2010 - Skinned up from Dry Creek to the NW Cirque. Climbed the ridge on the east side of the cirque and followed that to the peak. Took six hours. Skied down the NW Cirque -- very rewarding tour.
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Lpollock, Jordan, and I started at Granite Flats Campground on trail 44 which took us into Wide Hollow. We snow climbed up Wide Hollow to the ridge, and then skirted around to the Sleigh Runner Gully on the SW aspect, ascending that to the peak. The Sleigh Runner is a fun glissade down. We summited in 3 hours 45 minutes, and descended in 2 hours 15 minutes.
Click here to see the glissading down video.
JDrake - Jun 18, 2008 12:19 am Date Climbed: Jun 17, 2008
Dry Creek up and backTook the Dry Creek Canyon trail from Alpine. Water was flowing great; waterfall was really smashing down. Made our way up through the slushy snow to the saddle and headed up the north ridge. Soft snow made for extra time on the ascent, but made for great fun on the decent. Still lots of snow between roughly 9000 to 10,300. Great views, could not find the register?? Rock cairn is as tall as I am!
seanpeckham - Jun 9, 2008 2:57 pm Date Climbed: Mar 20, 2010
Deer Creek and Dry CreekEntry for June 8, 2008:
I finally got around to climbing this spectacular peak! My friend Jane and I took the Deer Creek trail from Granite Flat to the pass and then followed the north ridge to the summit. Conditions ranged from T-shirt/shorts weather to cold and windy on the summit, and wallowing up to our knees in soggy snow, to crampon grade surfaces (glad to have those in a few places). The top part was rocky, unless you got too close to the cornice, which I might have once and punched through to my horror. We added an extra ~800' vertical to the trip to glissade the southwest face and return to the summit to go back the way we came (couldn't find a way back to the TH from there that wouldn't have involved lots of heinous bushwhacking). Great fun, beautiful day, and no other human beings sighted (except the hordes at Tibble reservoir)
Update for March 20, 2010:
Skinned up from the Dry Creek Trailhead with vanman798, and skied the NW cirque. Awesome day!
jareds - May 18, 2008 2:45 pm Date Climbed: May 17, 2008
deer creek trail attemptme and a buddy left the lake at 7am, the road past the lake was closed. hiked up to the beaver ponds, about a mile into it. lost the trail, ended up above the saddle. didn't summit, tons of snow, beautiful area. when i do it again i will probably wait until the snow melts and/or others have paved a better trail. and i will get in shape.
Steve Elmer - Sep 15, 2007 12:03 am Date Climbed: Aug 21, 2007
Dry CreekStarted from Dry Creek trailhead. I was the only car there on this weekday. Much longer than I had expected and quite hot. Saw a snake, moose, and about 7 mountain goats. On the way down I explored a couple of cool water falls.
Carpey - Jun 28, 2007 4:30 pm Date Climbed: Jun 23, 2007
Deer CreekHot as can be, summited and down in around 7 hours. Fantastic peak, highly recommended.
Full TR here: http://www.danransom.com/TripReports/?p=103
Bruce Christensen - May 28, 2007 2:11 pm Date Climbed: Oct 15, 2005
Summit from Granite FlatHiked with Hyrum Wright. Left Granite Flat campground around 7:30am and summited a little after noon. Didn't go too fast.
The leaves were absolutely incredible in October. Amazing. There were also traces of snow at the time. We saw a big bull moose on the way down, which was really cool.
Hyrum's trip report is here: http://hiking.hyrumwright.org/hike/Box_Elder_Peak
mtn runr - May 9, 2007 10:16 pm Date Climbed: May 9, 2007
Feeling like a workout . . .I decided to climb Box Elder from the west which offers the most vertical relief (about 5,500 ft.) Mine was the only car at the Dry Creek TH on this weekday. The weather was spectacular, if you like bright sun and no wind. I came down sunburned and tired in about 8 1/2 hours.
CubicleSlave - Mar 6, 2007 9:14 pm Date Climbed: Feb 3, 2007
Near CrushedRead the trip report by soccerdude.. It tells all the gritty details. It sure was pretty up there though.
Moogie737 - Nov 8, 2006 3:25 am Date Climbed: Jun 6, 2023
Various routesOn a wonderfully warm November day Brent, Ladd and I left the Granite Flat Campground just after 7 a.m. and navigated through and over varying amounts of frozen turf, mud, snow, ice and mush to reach the saddle south of the peak in about 3 hours. Brent and I attacked the steep scree-strewn ridge leading directly to the summit and arrived to revel in stunning views to the north and south. We both agreed that Box Elder Peak is a great peak to climb. In July one more time atop with Dave and Lana. August 14th again, this time with Brent, Lana, & Kim. From the summit we hiked the ridgeline north to the White Baldy summit. That, my friends, is one fine ridgeline hike! One more summit on 6-26-08 with very special friends including a 7-foot cairn at the summit. This time via the Deer Creek Trail (#43). Successful ascent #5 on 10-30-08 with Brent, Anne, & Christine via Trail 044. A splendid fall day with unusually warm temps made for a keen hike. #6 7-13-13 Mit Yz 44 auf und 43 ab. Besser ist es, 043 auf zu nehmen! #7 6-12-14. Solo. Gift for fellow hikers left at summit. IVD. #8 6-23-15 W/ Brent. Deer Creek trail, 3+41 up & IVD sehr. #9 8-4-17 W/ Yadahzoe. 4+16 up. Deer Creek Trail & north ridge. #10 9-07-18 W/ Lana & Jim Kucera. 4+20 up via the normal trail. Fall colors beginning to dazzle. #11 07-13-19 W/ Lana. Six small snowfields to cross, no traction necessary at all. 4+26 up. #12 07-27-2020 W/ Lana & Brent, zero snow, tempestuous wildflowers, 4+10 up, swim in Tibble Fork reservoir afterwards. #13 08-27-21 W/ Lana. 4+46 up. Smoky. #14 05-21-22 W/Lana. Via Trail 044, crampons up the drainage to the saddle and then via the Sleigh Runner to the summit. Normal way down. Windy but satisfying. #15 06-06-23 W/Lana. Same as #14 but in record snow year. 9+27 up. Sleigh Runner is awesome. Bushwhacking in deadfall both up and down was horrendous.
mtn_pika - Oct 11, 2006 11:38 pm Date Climbed: Oct 8, 2006
South Slopes via Dry CreekGreat (albeit muddy/snowy/cold) solitary afternoon getaway from the smog-filled (already!?!) valley. Beautiful views looking out towards snow-covered Mt. Timponogas and Mt. Nebo in the distance. The trees towards the top of the peak were covered in hoar frost, despite a cloudless, sunny day. It was interesting to find clumps of hundreds of orange ladybugs at the very summit -- not sure if they were mating, hibernating, or just soaking up the sun. I can't exactly call the final scramble up the south slope fun, however; I don't think there's a single stable rock along the final 900 feet.
apachedino - Oct 7, 2006 5:20 pm Date Climbed: Jul 13, 2006
Deer Creek SoloWicked hot. This mountain had always interested me. Solitary, with a blown apart north face. I decided to tackle it one Sunday afternoon to break in my new hiking shoes, got terrible blisters though they fit fine now. Nice hike, interesting terraces. Great views of the bigger surrounding peaks.
Rocky Alps - Sep 10, 2006 1:16 pm Date Climbed: Jun 26, 2015
Route Climbed: Deer Creek TrailFirst time with my fiancee (now wife) on June 17, 2006, we accidentally got onto the Box Elder Trail (no. 44) and ended up bushwhacking over some steep snow slopes below the south peak. After slipping down one particular slope (no ice axe), attempting to grab a tree branch to stop my fall, and slicing my finger open, I decided to go back down and give it another try some other time.
I came back later with my brother on June 26, 2015, found the correct Deer Creek Trail (no. 43) this time, and successfuly summited. We started early (3:30 am) to avoid the heat. See "Underrated Walkup" trip report for details.
highpeakskier - Jul 25, 2006 7:44 pm Date Climbed: Jul 21, 2006
Box Elder SoloStarted at about 2:30 pm. Climbed the NE ridge after bushwhacking my way through the bottom the drainage. Made the simmit in three hours.
Returned VIA the Deer Creek trail, about 2 1/2 hours walking.
It was a hot day, didnt take enough water, I was counting on some remaining snow to replenish my water supply, however the snow that was there was not looking too good, passed on that.