When: May 12, 2007
Where: Boundary Peak Wilderness Area, White Mountains, Nevada
Who: Bob Bowles, Leslie Benson
Route: Standard route from the Trail Canyon TH, elevation 8800 ft.
Distance: 8 miles RT
Elevation gain: 4,300+
The up side to this hike was that Les and I have now summited all the 13ers in Nevada…both of them. The down side was that TalusMonkey and USAKeller were to have joined us. Boundary is the high point of Nevada and one of the goals of TalusMonkey. We’re going to make sure the TalusMonkey is in the summit register.
I do not own a GPS, can’t take pictures worth a damn and don’t know how to add graphics, lines and colored arrows to this TR. So I apologize for not being able to provide you with the visual details that so many others can.
Directions to the trail head:
Most of the current directions in print are wrong. The “old” route to the TH crosses private property and is now closed off. It really bites to find this out the hard way and have to back track. Access is to the west off of SR 264, in Fish Lake Valley, on a well identified and visible dirt road marked Trail Canyon. From the south, go 16.5 miles from the tiny town of Dyer, from the north it’s 100 yards (approx.) past the junction of SR264 & SR773. Boundary on the right, Montgomery on the left from SR773.
Go 12.7 miles to a small pond in Trail Canyon, the road is well maintained to this point. From the pond go another 1.6 miles on a defined single track to the identified TH and park. A passenger car can make it to the TH in one piece.
Standard Route:
From the TH, follow a defined path up Trail Canyon. The canyon bottom is choked with dense brush and willows, think of the Bierstadt willows on steroids. Don’t go there. The trail starts out on the north side of the creek, quickly crosses over to the south side and manages to stay out of the jungle. At 1.75mi. approx., the creek/springs vanish in a wide, open sagebrush covered bowl and so does the trail. Your destination is the Trail Canyon Saddle which is the obvious low point on the northwest horizon. Pick your way across the bowl as best you can following any number of wild horse and game trails. Angle to the north side of the canyon as it makes its way up to the Saddle. There is no defined trail here, so bushwhack your way up by the route of least resistance. The Saddle crest is 2.5+ miles from the TH and the elevation is 10,800’. You’ve got some great views of the Sierra Nevada range to the west and looking back down 5,500ft. at the Fish Lake Valley floor to the east.
At this point you’re facing a nasty #@%*$ scree and talus slope. You’re going to gain 1200+’ in .7 miles.
Think of the Trough on Longs only longer. Try and stay on the most defined climbers’ trail you can find, there are several to choose from. Stay high to the climbers’ left and angle right to a small pass on the northwest ridge in front of you. This is really ugly terrain, TalusMonkey refers to it as “hellish scree”. It was hell. Just never ending scrunge rock; two feet forward, one foot sliding back. I wasn’t a happy hiker. I have to admit that I started thinking about quitting half way up. Les said “You’ll hate yourself if you turn back”. She was right.
At the top of this god forsaken climb, you cross over a small pass at 12,000’. From here the view of the north face of Boundary is awesome. Slabs, spires and sharp rock faces make a much welcomed view from the seemingly endless talus below.
The remainder of the route is another .7 miles and 1100’ to the summit, following the north ridge to the climbers’ left. The entire route is in view from this point. This section wasn’t much fun either, we’re both tired, morale is low and we’re going really slow. Les talked me out of quitting again. “We’re too close to quit now, plus we want to get there for David too ”. The little bit of ridgeline snow helped make this part of the ascent easier, otherwise it’s more @#$% scree and some larger rocks to negotiate. Try and stay on or as close to the apex of the ridge as possible.
When you get to the last gendarme (oops, forgot, no French terms) the route descriptions say to pass to the right. There was a very steep snow bank of about 20 yards long on the left with a well beaten path and we chose that route. When the snow’s gone, it’d be very dicey going left. From there you’re just 100+ yards to the summit. “Thank-you Jesus!”
Now you’ve got a view! The Sierra Crest to the west, the Owens Valley 9,000 feet below, endless desert mountain ranges to the east, Mono lake to the north and Montgomery Peak at 13,441 ft. directly behind you to the south. If you’re feeling really, really strong, you can attempt to climb Montgomery Peak. But be warned that most of this route looks like it’s got a lot of class 4 sections. If you’re not comfortable down climbing Cl.4, don’t try it. It’s taken us 4:45 hrs to summit. This was the second hardest hike we’ve ever done after Longs.
We signed the register “This climb’s for you, David” & “TalusMonkey was here”. We left a bizarre little plaque with instructions on “How to resuscitate a Lizard”. It’s got a 14er’s decal on the back with David’s name and dates. Knowing how much he liked all things outdoors, we figured knowing how to give a lizard CPR would be right up his alley.
The descent took us three hours. We were dreading the descent back through the scree. I now know why trekking poles were invented. I’ll never go anywhere without them again.
The car never looked so good and the champagne never tasted better. The only regret is we didn’t have the TalusMonkey and USAKeller to share it with.
