Boundary Peak, 6/23/2004

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[Ed: Imported from Americas Roof ‘Summit Trip Reports’ forum]

[By: Matt Knecht on October 8 2004 at 1:23 PM]

[Link: http://www.network54.com/Forum/198362/message/1097256199/Boundary+Peak%2C+6-23-2004]

Approaching Boundary Peak, I had been intimidated by all the previous reports of the scree slope from Trail Canyon Saddle. I went up to the saddle from the Trail Canyon trailhead on 6/20 to reconnoiter before doing Mount Whitney on 6/21. After summitting Whitney, I went to a motel in Tonapah and reviewed my topo map for a better approach to Boundary than the “rock pile” from Trail Canyon Saddle.

I think I found a better route, although to try it, you need to be able to read a topo map. From the Trail Canyon trailhead, look to the southeast. You will see a saddle on the ridge. Go straight up the hill to the saddle, gaining about 700 feet in elevation to 9500 feet. The footing is good, the sage brush minimal. From here, you follow the east/northeast ridge of Boundary, and by keeping to the ridge top (avoiding the larger “false summits”) you have pretty decent footing. Just under 12,000 feet (i.e., the last 1100 feet of gain), the going becomes steeper, but no steeper than one encounters on the north ridge from Trail Canyon saddle. Apparently, I was not the first one to try this route, since evidence of others (boot scrapes, mostly) are evident.

I came down off of Boundary via the trail that leads to Trail Canyon Saddle, and I could see why folks don’t like this route. The footing is a drag coming down or going up, but the trail is better marked than others have reported. But I like the earlier journal entry that labeled this the “Rock Pile”. It is appropriate.

I like the route I took up, and I ran into some people at the trailhead who were scoping the peak out for a climb the next day. I recommended it to them, and would recommend it to others. You can see Boundary Peak most of the way up, compared to the Trail Canyon Saddle approach, where it is blocked until you get to the top of the “Rock Pile”. Your steepest climb (at the start) comes when your legs are fresh and it is cooler (I started at 6:30 am) than if you were to slog up to Trail Canyon Saddle, and then attack the Rock Pile. The footing is good, and I summitted in a little under 4 hours, and was back to the trailhead by about 1:00 pm. The only thing is, you have to know how to read a map.

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