Mountain Boy Peak – 13,198 & Igloo Peak – 13060

RT Length: 6.78 miles

Elevation Gain: 2151’

I wanted to get in one last peak before Interdependence Pass closes for the year. I was supposed to hike this peak o Tuesday, but weather was coming in, so I changed my plans and hiked it Monday morning instead.

I made it to Independence Pass and was on the trail by 5:30am. Side note: I was here October 25^th, and the bathrooms were closed for the winter.

Obviously, mine was the only vehicle in the parking lot that early in the morning. The trail is obvious, and starts by heading south on a paved trail.

I’ve never been in this area in summer conditions, so I’m not really sure when the trail becomes a trail and no longer paved, but I know I was off pavement pretty quickly, heading west. This morning, before making it to Igloo Peak, snowshoes were needed some of the time, overkill most of the time.

Here’s an overall view of the route to the ridge

I headed towards the ridge, following an obvious route, which I am sure is class 1 in the summer.

As you can see from the pictures… obvious route. If it’s not obvious when you’re here, follow the contour of the ridge. It’s all tundra.

The route becomes briefly class 2 here

This is very easy to navigate

And then it’s back on a class 1 trail again

If you stay on the trail, the summit will be obvious

Here’s Mountain Boy from Igloo

From the summit of Igloo Peak, the trail towards Mountain Boy immediately gets fun. It’s class 2 from here on out, with one brief class 3 move (or two… it’s a chimney). Now is a good time to put on your microspikes. I continued southeast, heading down this briefly class 3 chimney

The rock will be loose until you make it to the saddle.

In order to get to the saddle, I headed straight south, down these scree/loose-rock filled gullies

The sun was just starting to rise at this point. Alpine sunrises are the best!

Since the sun was still rising, my view wasn’t that great. Here’s what I saw as I was descending, following the contour of the drainages. This is choose your own adventure, but it’ll be obvious when the drainages end. Don’t descend too early.

It’ll also be obvious when it’s time to head towards the saddle. There seem to be several social/game trails here. I chose to stay high, about level with the saddle, and didn’t regret it.

Once at the saddle, there were still a ton of social/game trails. I chose the one closest to the ridge. From the saddle, it was an easy hike to the summit of Mountain Boy Peak on scree/tundra

Easy, except for today’s wind!!! It was relentless, and difficult to catch I pictures/on video at its worst. This doesn’t begin to describe the gusts

Wind on Mountain Boy:

The summit is obvious, marked by a cairn

I summited Mountain Boy Peak at 7:45am.

Mountain Boy Peak:

The views of Grizzly Peak were stunning!

I turned and retraced my steps back to the Mountain Boy/Igloo saddle

Here’s the route I took back to Igloo, which is the same route I took down. Microspikes are helpful here, as it’s kitty litter in some areas.

Here are some close-up pictures of the route back up to Igloo

And back up those scree/rock gullies

And up that quick chimney to the peak

I re-summited Igloo Peak at 8:25am

Igloo Peak:

The trek was easy back to the trailhead in the daylight

I made it back to my truck at 9:15am, making this a 6.78 mile hike with 2151’ in elevation gain in 3 hours, 45 minutes

Side note: I didn’t have my microspikes. Well, I did, but they fell out of my pack when I took off my snowshoes, and I didn’t realize this until they were needed. So, when I went to find my microspikes, just before the kitty litter area on the south side of Igloo Peak, they weren’t in my pack. But I really could have used them! Especially on the snowy ascent/decent of Mountain Boy Peak. The kitty litter areas were so much more difficult than they needed to be without spikes as well. I cursed myself the entire time, thinking I’d lost them for good and vowing to buy new ones on my way home as soon as I got cell service. The reason my track shows movement near Igloo Peak is because, on my way back I realized when I must have lost them and went looking for them. I found my microspikes, along with a whiskey flask I hadn’t realized I’d lost, just before the summit of Igloo Peak. From now on, they’re going INSIDE my pack, not in the cup holder of my backpack (I know, I know, not the best decision).