McGown Peak Climber's Log
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| tommyluke | No cigar Date Climbed: Jul 23, 2012 | |
| My brother and I had planned on this peak for months before he visited from Tennessee last month. We made it to about 9,200' before turning back after a rest. My little brother lacks no stamina but - holy cow - he must've been hit by altitude sickness coming from Tennessee just two days prior. He was dizzy, rager head ache, nausious, etc. It was obvious we had hit the wall. We headed back. It was so lovely in the cirque, hadn't seen my brother in 3 years and it was dang fun despite the lack of summit. | |
| Posted Aug 7, 2012 4:30 pm | ||
| mansfieo | East Rib  Date Climbed: Jul 4, 2012 | |
| Tried the N. Couloir last June, but got to the top and was late, raining, and the traverse across to the summit looked sketchy with all the wet snow. So we just skied down. Finally got to it again on America's Bday this year. Great day on the East rib... seriously screey! | |
| Posted Jul 9, 2012 1:11 pm | ||
| SawtoothSean | North Face Couloir Date Climbed: May 28, 2012 | |
| Great day climbing the couloir. Snow was really great with trickiest part being traverse from top of couloir to SE side. | |
| Posted May 28, 2012 11:04 pm | ||
| SawtoothExplorer | Close Call Date Climbed: Jul 9, 2011 | |
| I have always wanted to climb this route. Conditions were perfect with freezing temps for 2 nights in a row. I hit the base of the couloir at 8am. About half way up the couloir, I was hit by a silent rock missile , the size of a grapfruit, that grazed my chin then slamed me in the chest. I was lucky! I mean seriously lucky. Looking back at it, I don't think I could have done anything differently other than climb it in the dark. The climb was fantastic. Perfect weather and nice firm snow. Just glad I made it back. | |
| Posted Jul 28, 2011 9:24 pm | ||
| maxhaze | East Rib Date Climbed: Aug 2, 2010 | |
| Got kids aged 9 and 13 to base of summit block. Had to leave them at the top of the ridge because we were running out of time and energy. Lots of mosquitoes made it uncomfortable. Still worth it though. Summit was great. | ||
| Posted Sep 29, 2010 2:56 pm | ||
| Smoove910 | East Rib Ascent Date Climbed: Sep 18, 2010 | |
| Hated the scree, but was a fun trip with excellent scenery. I would recommend this hike in the Fall so you can experience all the colors this area has to offer. Stunning. | |
| Posted Sep 19, 2010 2:35 am | ||
| Scrambling Man | Skiny Summit Date Climbed: Jul 24, 2010 | |
| Nice climb overall. The loose gravel was no fun. I liked the scramble near the top. Looking over the edge from the summit made my stomach drop a bit. Awesome views. | |
| Posted Jul 31, 2010 3:02 pm | ||
| rmjwinters | East Rib Date Climbed: Jul 13, 2009 | |
| Melissa and I successfully made the summit via the east rib. The route is not as easy as advertised in terms of mileage and effort. Sticking to the east rib is definitely advised for this route. The lower section of the ridge which is more vertical can be bypassed on the left(south) side for the first hundred feet or so by ascending the loose sand and scree. | |
| Posted Jul 18, 2009 10:02 pm | ||
| sprosseda | East Rib Date Climbed: Jun 28, 2009 | |
| Enjoyable route that requires some route finding to stay clear of slabs. Pretty trail, fun and easy xc, yukky steep dirt and gravel slopes to top, a little bit of fun class 3 on last bit. Beautiful from valley but totally different experience while on standard route. Does not feel classic while on the ball bearings and scree. | |
| Posted Jul 9, 2009 5:37 pm | ||
| sassyplatt | Crazy water and wind... Date Climbed: Jun 24, 1998 | |
| The stream crossings intimidated me more than the climb! The wind blew hard all night, I thought the tent was going to lift. I belly-crawled to the summit ledge. What a thrill! | |
| Posted Jan 27, 2009 10:25 pm | ||
| Idaho Guy | From east side Date Climbed: Jul 15, 2007 | |
| With the dog from the lake on the east side after hiking in the evening before. Ran into two people on the trail in. But nobody once we were off trail. Beautiful view from the summit - can see all the way to the Rakers. | ||
| Posted Sep 12, 2007 2:39 pm | ||
| kdonaldson | North Face Snow Couloir Date Climbed: Jun 30, 2007 | |
| This mountain is photographed a lot but not climbed that much. Almost all summits are done via the east rib, however we decided to try the amazing looking north face snow couloir on the main summit block - the beautiful white line that splits the mountain in all the pics taken from stanley lake. My friend Matt came along. This would be his first steep snow climb - what an introduction to idaho mountaineering! We left the stanley lake trailhead at 6:00. Once we headed off the alpine way trail, it was rough bushwacking up until we read the base of the north west tower. From there we traversed around and up into the lower basin below the scree/talus field. We reached this point around 8:30. From here it was a very steep slog up the scree/frozen gravel to the based of the snowfield. Here we geared up and started up the snow. The snow was in great condition for this time of year. Still somewhat hard on the surface in most places. This gully gets steeper and steeper as you get to the top. The top 25 ft is on the verge of rotting out - made for a very precarious climb up a neck of snow and a stemming move on the rock to get to the top of the couloir. I went up first. Matt wanted to rope up so we did. He did fine though. Once you are at the top of the couloir, the hard part is over. We reach this point about 11:30. We had ropes, and gear but didn't use them at all on the climb except for the small section at the top. From here, its an easy traverse north and then south around the summit tower to finish up on the 100 ft as the east rib route on class 3 rock. Summitted just before noon. We came down the east ridge (which in my opinion sucks - gravel on top of rock - yuck - I would take the steep snow any day). We then tried to follow the ridge described in this route but could never find the alpine way trail up high where one normally cuts off to hit the east rib route. We ended up dropping down a gully and bushwacking down and north until we finally intersected the alpine way trail way down low in the valley. We were back at the trailhead parking lot just past 3. Beware - it is very easy to get cliffed out in this area We did a few times and had to backtrack a little. | |
| Posted Jul 1, 2007 3:36 pm | ||
| splattski | East Rib Date Climbed: Sep 28, 2001 | |
| Beautiful fall day- fireweed was flaming, clear and calm on the summit, evening clouds were streaming through the sky, | |
| Posted Apr 23, 2006 12:28 pm | ||
| awilsondc | Route Climbed: East Rib Date: Summer 2004 | |
| I remember only a couple of challenging moves on this climb to the summit. A must climb for anyone who is a fan of the Sawtooths. Look for my haiku in the summit register. LOL :) | |
| Posted Mar 12, 2006 7:28 am | ||
| SawtoothSean | Route Climbed: SE ridge Date Climbed: Sept 3, 1997 | |
| Fun scramble up through a spectacular gulley just SE of summit. There's a spectacular vertical block that sticks up on the ridge nearby. It's clearly visible from ID-75 just north of the Redfisfh Lake turn-off. There could be rock climbing potential on this nearby gendarme. | |
| Posted Jan 4, 2006 9:42 pm | ||
| Super Dave | Route Climbed: East Rib Date Climbed: Aug 27, 2005 | |
| My brother and I climbed up the east rib, saw a mountain goat on the way. The weather was great and the views were gorgeous. | |
| Posted Aug 28, 2005 6:43 pm | ||
| mountaingazelle | Route Climbed: East Rib Date Climbed: July 23, 2005 | |
| I have wanted to climb McGown Peak ever since my first trip to the Sawtooth Mountains. The approach went past many lakes and a large waterfall and was very beautiful. The last climb up the east rib was the hardest part. It involved climbing up a steep ridge full of loose pebble sized scree. We had a sunny day with blue sky and an amazing view from the top. It was a great climb. | |
| Posted Jul 24, 2005 8:37 pm | ||
| IdahoSummits | Route Climbed: East Rib Date Climbed: September 15, 2002 | |
| Nice climb! For more details and pictures, click here. | |
| Posted Oct 10, 2002 6:35 am | ||
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