Trip Report
It was "eclipse 2017" weekend. Carrie and I had thought of 20 different trip ideas and just couldn't decide... Sawtooths backpacking, Sunset Peak in the Lost Rivers, Ocalkens Lake in the White Clouds, yada yada yada.
Finally we decided on a trip to the Copper Basin area would work.
Carrie hasn't fished much all year, so our first stop was Iron Bog Lake. After an hour hike to the lake, Carrie fished, while I scrambled up Iron Bog Peak (aka Peak 10820).
I left the lake and hiked due north. For the first 1000 feet of gain, I mostly side-hilled until reaching a prominent dry wash at around 10,000 feet. I then climbed up the wash until around 10,400 feet. Here I saw about 8 mountain goats grazing on the south facing slopes of the peak.
For some reason I had it in my head that the highest point was further west, so I headed climber's left and towards the only rocky terrain around. Turns out the peak was basically straight above me before, so this choice in route just added distance.
Although it was a bit smoky, the views were pretty good on top. Especially of the ridge running north towards Alcyon Peak and Atlas Peak.
On the way down, I pretty much just followed the fall line (drainage) which led me back to the dry wash and then eventually to a creek with abundant flowers surrounding it. The creek led me past several tarns and eventually to Iron Bog Lake. This was a much better route scenery and footing-wise.
While I was gone, Carrie had killed it on the fishing. In the 2 hours I was gone, she caught 5 or 6 cutthroats, all 12 inches or longer.
Turned out to be a great day in the mountains for both of us!
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