GeoTracker90
Adventurer
First a little back ground. Idaho has nine peaks over 12,000 feet in elevation and I have made it a personal goal to climb all nine of them before my body begins to give out. Seven of the nine peaks are located to the north of Mackay, one is over in the Sun Valley area and one is to the north of Mud Lake. Last September I started on this journey by making a solo ascent on Mt. Borah, the tallest peak in Idaho. I call it a solo ascent, but truth be told there were about 40 to 50 people on the mountain that day; I just went by myself.
I've wanted to tackle Diamond Peak next and for the past week I have tried to find a climbing partner without any luck. None the less I figured I would go out yesterday and "play" on the mountain and do some exploring and route finding. Unlike Borah, Diamond sees very little traffic and the path is not nearly so distinct.
I ended up leaving Rexburg around 6:30 am, a little latter than I had anticipated, and headed west and north to get to the trail head.
The trail head is a little over seven miles from the highway on a very rough track that is strewn with everything from fine silt to grape fruit and some cantaloupe sized rocks. I was traveling at a pretty good clip even though the narrow track of the Tracker kept tossing it from side to side as I navigated the ruts. This combined with hardly any wind produced quite the dust trail behind me.
At the second gate I took a look and discovered that I had blown the seals out on both rear shocks. What can I say; it was a lot of fun pretending to be racing through the desert. Oh well, it was worth it; they were cheap shocks anyhow.
I started up the trail and right away I knew that even if I wanted to I wouldn't be able to make it to the summit. I had gotten too late of a start and I wasn't feeling too well either. As a result I took my time going up the very steep ridge line. (photo looking back down)
On the way up I found some rocks with an interesting feature. I can't decide if it is just a mineral deposit or if it is some sort of fossil. Right now I'm leaning towards mineral deposit, but I need to pass this in front of a geologist and get an answer. I also found this tiny little flower, although I'm not sure the name of this either.
Diamond peak has a series of false peaks and I decided to stop at the base of the first one. From where I was the path didn't seem to be real clear and things were obviously going to be more of a scramble from that point on. So what's a guy to do when you find yourself on the side of a mountain without another person around for at least a seven mile radius? Well first I set the self timer and took a self portrait. Next I found a comfortable spot to lie down and take a nap. It was so nice, and so quiet up there I just couldn't resist. I pulled on my black polar fleece and moved the shale until I got rid of most of the sharp edges and closed my eyes. I truly don't know how long I was napping but I do know that I enjoyed it immensely. The only negative was that I was always just aware enough that a jet passing overhead would wake me. This happened at least three, maybe four times.
After getting up from my nap I had the choice to either head back down or explore some more. Looking around I could see to the south what looked like the edge of a rock formation that is known as The Riddler. Well if I can't make it to the summit I should at least take a look at that.
I ended up side hilling my way across, leaving my backpack where I took my nap. On the way across the side hill I took the opportunity to roll some of the rocks down the slope. Some were really cooking when they reached the bottom.
Finally I reached the other side and was treated to the mesmerizing rock formation that I had expected to find. I believe that this is the first time that I have seen such an expression of pure force. It boggles my mind to think of how much power it would have taken to fold the rock in this manner. There was everything from horizontal bands to straight vertical bands in a very short area. It is pretty interesting to see the bands in the first picture below take a 90 degree turn form horizontal downward to vertical.
I've wanted to tackle Diamond Peak next and for the past week I have tried to find a climbing partner without any luck. None the less I figured I would go out yesterday and "play" on the mountain and do some exploring and route finding. Unlike Borah, Diamond sees very little traffic and the path is not nearly so distinct.
I ended up leaving Rexburg around 6:30 am, a little latter than I had anticipated, and headed west and north to get to the trail head.
The trail head is a little over seven miles from the highway on a very rough track that is strewn with everything from fine silt to grape fruit and some cantaloupe sized rocks. I was traveling at a pretty good clip even though the narrow track of the Tracker kept tossing it from side to side as I navigated the ruts. This combined with hardly any wind produced quite the dust trail behind me.
At the second gate I took a look and discovered that I had blown the seals out on both rear shocks. What can I say; it was a lot of fun pretending to be racing through the desert. Oh well, it was worth it; they were cheap shocks anyhow.
I started up the trail and right away I knew that even if I wanted to I wouldn't be able to make it to the summit. I had gotten too late of a start and I wasn't feeling too well either. As a result I took my time going up the very steep ridge line. (photo looking back down)
On the way up I found some rocks with an interesting feature. I can't decide if it is just a mineral deposit or if it is some sort of fossil. Right now I'm leaning towards mineral deposit, but I need to pass this in front of a geologist and get an answer. I also found this tiny little flower, although I'm not sure the name of this either.
Diamond peak has a series of false peaks and I decided to stop at the base of the first one. From where I was the path didn't seem to be real clear and things were obviously going to be more of a scramble from that point on. So what's a guy to do when you find yourself on the side of a mountain without another person around for at least a seven mile radius? Well first I set the self timer and took a self portrait. Next I found a comfortable spot to lie down and take a nap. It was so nice, and so quiet up there I just couldn't resist. I pulled on my black polar fleece and moved the shale until I got rid of most of the sharp edges and closed my eyes. I truly don't know how long I was napping but I do know that I enjoyed it immensely. The only negative was that I was always just aware enough that a jet passing overhead would wake me. This happened at least three, maybe four times.
After getting up from my nap I had the choice to either head back down or explore some more. Looking around I could see to the south what looked like the edge of a rock formation that is known as The Riddler. Well if I can't make it to the summit I should at least take a look at that.
I ended up side hilling my way across, leaving my backpack where I took my nap. On the way across the side hill I took the opportunity to roll some of the rocks down the slope. Some were really cooking when they reached the bottom.
Finally I reached the other side and was treated to the mesmerizing rock formation that I had expected to find. I believe that this is the first time that I have seen such an expression of pure force. It boggles my mind to think of how much power it would have taken to fold the rock in this manner. There was everything from horizontal bands to straight vertical bands in a very short area. It is pretty interesting to see the bands in the first picture below take a 90 degree turn form horizontal downward to vertical.
