My third time up Hibox and for some reason I keep forgetting that I hate this mountain. But I have done Alta a handful of times, and prefer it with a dusting of snow (late Sept/early Oct), so figured I'd head to Hibox again. I must be nuts. If you, too, are kind of nuts, I suppose read on.
The first 2.25 miles on the Rachel Lake trail, a breezy piece of cake. You know how some climbs are 2 hours of approach and 20 minutes of climbing? (Kendall Peak and Red Mountain near Snoqualmie Pass) Well, this one is about an hour of approach, and two hours of ascent. Grueling is melodramatic but it's no walk in the park. The the turn off (see pic) after an opening in the trial was 48 minutes in. Followed by about 20 minutes of "I can't really believe this is a trail" trail through the forest. A fun adventure and every time you think you lost the trail, it's around the next log or bend. It climbs pretty steeply, and over a few logs, up many slopes of dusty, gritty mess. The forest part is pretty cool, and out in the open steep meadows at least you can see the summit block every once in a while, so it's got that going for it. But the climbers' trail varies from normal trail (20%) to talus (20%) to crazy stuff that you can't believe you're climbing by choice (60%)--uphill dust and grit, yay! The summit block is challenging--my first time I was turned back by snow (suicide) and the second time I did the corkscrew route around the back side (not difficult, but exposed on downward-sloping slabs--makes you think). This time, I tried the vertical rock gully, which is not as difficult as it looks (I prefer Kaleetan's summit block--shorter and cleaner), but there is so much loose/crappy gravel to contend with. About halfway up, I reconsidered and decided that the climb down was going to be really unpleasant, so I cut things short about 100 feet from the top. And the next mile downhill went slower than it was going upward. It's always easier going up, isn't it? At least this time I didn't fall or bend any trekking poles (like back in 2018). There were at least a dozen spots on the descent that I asked myself "did I really climb this? Am I an idiot? What was I thinking?!?!"
Also, this mountain seems to have its own insect biome--big and aggressive flies at the top I guess, but they don't seem to bite. Just fly around you taunting, and landing, and then easy to slap. Eventually, I was just waving a hand around to keep them away. But no stinging, which was courteous of them.
Details:
48 min to the turnoff (see pic), just under 3:00 to the summit. And 2:50 back to the car.
7.53 miles, 5:53 on trail. High 50s at the 7:30 am start and 81 when I got back to the car around 1:30 pm. Maybe 10 cars in the lot when I arrived Friday morning, and lot overflowing when I left (start of Labor Day weekend). One bag of dog poop on trail on the way in, and three bags on the way out. I crossed paths with a handful of singles and families heading in with dogs (and one cat!). It's great that you're cleaning up, but I wonder if those bags will be carried out.... Total ascent 3,560, which I suspect is about 100 feet shy of the top.
Kidding aside, I am not sure I'd recommend it. It's a gritty, dusty, sketchy accomplishment. Good views (when it's not cloudy) and rewarding, but at the age of 60, pretty sure it's my last time. I've earned climbs that have a higher fun factor. This one is rewarding more than enjoyable, if that makes sense. You can tell I have a love/hate relationhship with this one, and the affair is over, I think.
Comments