Trip Stats

Trip Start: 8:00 AM (14 August) Climb End: 7:00 PM (16 August) Summit Elevations: Horizontal Distance: 8 mi.

Climbers

Ray K. Mitch O. Joe B. Ryan K. Nick L. Adam F. Tyler K. Curt B. Jon H. Peter P. George P.

Group Picture before climbing Baal and She-Devil.

15 August 2003

Looking back towards the trailhead from the saddle.

After spending the night at the trailhead, we divided the food between us. We started hiking about 9 or 9:15am and headed towards the saddle of the ridge next to us. The trail was very steep and without any switchbacks.

Resting on the way up to the saddle

View down the hill as we rest.

Ryan at the saddle.

We reached the saddle, took some pictures and headed across the ride (above a pristene mountain lake) towards the other side of the ridge, where we'd descend again. It began quite steep and rocky, but flattened out for a while. We had a great view of Sheep Lake on the descent. We had to traverse a couple shale and boulder fields on our way to the campsite.

Joe B. relaxing at the saddle.

We arrived at the West side of Sheep Lake around noon. There, we set up camp and ate lunch.

View of She-Devil and Baal as we descend to the camp.	Ray K. walking by the lake on his way to the campsite.	Relaxing in camp after hiking in.
View of the campsite.	Even though we begged them not to...	Ryan heading to pump some water.

Since we had the whole afternoon free, we decided to climb Baal and She-Devil. We left at about 1:30pm and began our scramble up the chute of loose rock that leads to the saddle between the two peaks. Ray K. and I (and later Peter P.) elected to do some rock-climbing up the west-side of the chute, by doing so, avoiding much of loose rock and make it up faster.

Group picture before we started up the chute.	Starting the climb up the chute (Baal is the visible peak)	Wall leading up to the summit of Baal. If you look closely, you can see a person in a white shirt at the bottom of the wall.
Peter and Adam climbing up the side of the chute.	Peter continuing to climb up the rock.

After reaching the saddle, we ate some lemon drops, then we proceeded to the summit of Baal. Heading east from the saddle, we scrambled up to the peak. Following the photo-op, logbook signing, and more lemon drops, we returned to the saddle.

Summit picture from Baal.

View from the top across the lake.

After we got back to the saddle, a couple people decided to head back to camp. We then continuted to the summit of She-Devil. After a 30-45 minute scramble, we reached it. There seemed to be a lot of flying ants at the top. And after more photos, more logbook signing. and more lemon drops, we headed back to the saddle to begin our descent to camp.

Flowers up on She-Devil. (Looking down towards Sheep Lake).

Summit of She-Devil.

Once we got back to the saddle, we went back down the rock chute. The basic way to get down is to create a mini-rockslide and "surf" it down. I waited until most everyone else had gone down, taking pictures and movies of everyone sliding down the chute.

David C. leading the way down.	Curt B. descending.	Jon H. descending.
Matt D. descending.	Nick L. on his way down.	Peter P. surfing his way down.

Finally it was my turn to go down. I was last, save Mitch O. I'd made it almost the whole way down the chute (2/3 of the way down the mountain) when Mitch yelled out "ROCK!" I looked up and saw a good sized rock (about the size of a football) bounding towards me. I tried scrambling out of the way, but slipped and put my left hand down to steady me. The rock hit me square on the ring finger of that hand. I recieved lacerations (about 1/4" deep) on the top and bottom of the finger. I also got good scrapes on my other fingers. Mitch rushed down, and bandaged my finger up quickly, and we got back to camp.

Click here to see pictures of my finger. **Note: The pictures are of an open cut. If you're squeamish about blood, think about it before you click the link. **

I camp, the adults cleaned, inspected, and dressed the cuts. We're currently unsure if the finger is broken or not, but everyone is hiking out tomorrow so I can get my finger x-rayed. While they were treating me, I went into shock, which was an interesting experience. I don't remember all of it.

The moon near He-Devil before sunset.	Sunset on He-Devil.	Nick and Adam relaxing by some boulders above camp.
Peter finishing off a cheesecake.

My hand is getting tired (I'm left handed...), and so am I, so it's bedtime.

Epilogue

We hiked out the next day (the same way we came in). We drove back to Boise, where I went to the hospital and had some x-rays done. My finger wasn't broken, but it was too late for sutures. My finger was all bandaged up. Now, a year and a half later, it's all healed up. There is a nice scar, but I've got full motion. The joint is a little larger than the one on my right ring finger, but it's nothing that affects the use of my hand.

Breaking camp before leaving.	Peter and I at the saddle on the way back.	The group taking a break at the saddle.
Me taking pictures.	Ray and Ryan at the saddle.	Ray and David are ready to go!
Group picture at the end. We all made it!