Im writing this right now from Challis, Idaho. Four days ago my dad, brother, a family friend and I climbed Borah Peak. Doesn’t really sound like a big deal, right? Yeah I didnt think so either. I was wrong. Background time… I’ve summited Mt. Whitney in California, Mt. Elbert in Colorado, Mt. Humphrey’s in Arizona, and attempted Mt. Rainier in Washington. They are all difficult in their own right, although Rainier is certainly the most difficult with Whitney not too far behind. As a reference point, Mt. Whitney took us 19 hours. Sunday’s climb on Borah lasted 12. HOWEVER, we climbed over 1 mile… vertically… and reached heights of about 12,500 feet. And the climb was technical.

Chicken Out Ridge (COR). This is the name the locals have given the area of the mountain in which many people, well… chicken out. And for good reason. It requires hanging on by fingers and toes and scaling vertical rock walls with no safety net below. In fact a slip of the grip means, at certain points anyways, a several hundred foot fall that would put Wile E. Coyote in the ICU. Luckily for our crew, the weather held off and we were able to make it across COR without any rain, snow, or substantial winds. After COR, however, the climb becomes more of a crawl up sliding rock for rougly 1/8-1/4 mile. Again, doesnt sound like much, but after climbing for many hours and at an altitude of ~12,500 feet, it’s tough… really tough.

After reaching the summit, the really hard part kicks in. There is an old saying that goes “climbing up is optional, going down isnt.” It’s a true kick in the groin. You’ve made it! Yet you havent. And the descent is where the majority of climbing accidents occur. The reason? Tired legs, get-home-itis, lack of concentration, etc. Long story short, we made it. But it hurt and I’m feeling confident at this point of hanging up the boots and pack thankful that I’ve been lucky enough to make the climbs I have without any significant, long-term damage. That I know of at least.

As for my nutrition, I packed 2 PBJ’s on whole wheat, 2 powerbars, an apple, and beef jerky. Maybe not the epitome of a true hiker or dietitian, but not bad either. The beef jerky served 2 purposes… 1. Protein to prevent muscle soreness and 2. Salt to replace lost electrolytes. The others should be self-explanatory. For example, PBJ requires no real refrigeration, whereas a turkey sandwich would. I also carried 2 litres of water in a CamelBak pack and an additional 16 oz of sweetened green tea for extra energy and a change of flavor. If there are other RD’s reading this, you may be thinking “That’s not enough”, but keep in mind, everything you have in your pack you have to carry up. So it becomes a balancing act of weight and nutrition. I figured I could suck it up if worse came to worst. I’m tough… D-U-M… tough.

So I made it. I’m alive and just finished a white water kayaking trip this morning. So with that, I’m going to have a bite to eat. I have a plane to pilot back to Indiana tomorrow.