Tuesday, September 9, 2008

09-09-08 -- Boise hikers survive overnight ordeal on Mount Borah



Photo courtesy Nate Wheeler
Nate Wheeler stands next to the Idaho state flag atop Borah Peak moments before his descent.


BY DAVID KENNARD - dkennard@idahostatesman.com

A day hike to the top of Idaho's highest peak could have turned deadly for two Boise men Sunday.

Nathan Wheeler, 34, and Mike Thornton, 68, survived a frigid night on Idaho's highest mountain before walking out to anxious wives and other searchers Monday morning.

Wheeler, a Boise real estate agent, said calm attitudes helped them make it through the subfreezing night.

"Even though we're looking at the sun setting and it's getting cold - and I'm just in shorts - the power of positive thinking and prayer helped a lot," he said.

The Mount Borah trail is only 3.5 miles long, but it gains nearly 5,000 feet in elevation over very challenging terrain above the timber line.

The hike is considered one of the most challenging in the state and has claimed the lives of three hikers since 1977.

This was Thornton's third attempt at the summit. Twice before he had been forced back by poor weather on the mountain.

When the two hikers left the trailhead early Sunday morning, heavy clouds obscured the summit and for a time threatened to thwart yet another try at the peak, Wheeler said Monday.

But as the morning wore on, the clouds thinned to reveal the jagged rocks - known as Chicken-out Ridge - that would take them to their destination.

By noon, Wheeler said, they found themselves at the summit. The clouds peeled off, the sun shone down, and the two men took in the view as a stiff northwest wind blew across the broken granite boulders.

The parking area at the trailhead below is nearly visible from the top of the barren mountain, a fact that makes the hike down seem almost too easy.

But Wheeler said the return was more difficult than coming up. Loose rocks and large boulders made the trek difficult.

And the two friends decided to take an unfamiliar route down the mountain.

"Some hikers we talked to ... said that going left instead of right around Chicken-out Ridge was an easier way down," Wheeler said.

The route took them farther south than they had anticipated, and by the time they realized how far away from the trail they were, they had already lost precious elevation.

"We saw how far down we were and didn't want to climb back up (to get back on the trail)," Wheeler said.

By the time they made their way into the trees they were at least a mile away from the trail they had taken on their ascent.

Wheeler said he considered his hiking companion a much more experienced hiker and turned to him frequently for advice.

"Mike was getting tired and I began to wonder if we should stop," Wheeler said. "He suggested we stop hiking, and I said, 'You know better than me, and that's the right thing to do.' "

As night fell, the temperature began dropping, and the two men had come prepared only for a day hike up the mountain.

Asked how they kept warm, Wheeler said most of the night was spent huddled together to conserve body heat.

A member of the search-and-rescue team later estimated that the temperature reached down to the 20s Sunday night.

Both men had brought cell phones, but neither had reception.

"We thought our wives would be absolutely frantic," Wheeler said.

In fact, the families of both men reported them missing late Sunday after they failed to come home.

Wheeler said his dad and other family members arrived at the trailhead at about 5 a.m. in preparation for a hike up the mountain in search of the two men.

About four hours after the two men began hiking again Monday morning, they arrived at the parking area to learn that their ordeal had sparked a full-scale search.

"When I saw my parents' car there I knew this was serious, but we couldn't call anyone to tell them we were OK," Wheeler said. "So we both yelled out really loud."

A Custer County search team had already set out up the trail but were called back when the two men made contact with one of the searchers near the trailhead.

Wheeler said other than a few minor scratches, sore legs and mild dehydration, they felt fine.

In 1977, two climbers were swept off the face of Mount Borah by an avalanche. Another man died in 1987 when he slid on a snowy face over a rocky ledge during a descent.

David Kennard: 377-6436

HERE ARE SOME HIKING ESSENTIALS - EVEN FOR A DAY TRIP

- Map: GPS units are great, but there's no substitute for a USGS topographical map. You can find Mount Borah on the Borah Peak Quadrangle map.

- Compass: North declination in Idaho is about 14 degrees east.

- Flashlight or headlamp: Even if you plan to be back by nightfall, you never know.

- Extra food: A Snickers bar can help power you through a cold night.

- Extra clothes: Adding a sweatshirt under your windbreaker can help if it cools down.

- Sunglasses: Besides being cool, they'll save your eyes when you're bushwhacking or making your way across a glacier.

- First-aid kit: Complete with antibiotic ointment, sports tape and pain killers.

- Pocket knife: Anything with a decent blade is great.

- Waterproof/windproof matches: Above the timber line, you can burn a roll of toilet paper.

- Firestarter: Paraffin and sawdust are great, but even a candle is better than nothing.

- Water and water filter: Plan to drink at least a gallon per day.

- Whistle: Blowing loud and long in sets of three means, "I need help."

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