A fish and a view.
- August 30, 2020
- Team: Tuesday Dave
- Peak
- Paintbrush Peak, 8610'
- 7.2 miles, 2181' gain, 6:11 car-to-car, Class 1 and 2
Note: click images to see a larger version in a new window
We were looking for something local that wouldn't be overrun by what Dave refers to as 'Boisefornians'. But we were saving Beaverdam for when my brother could join us. We settled on fishing in Marge Lake. So after the numbing drive to the Pearl Lake trailhead, with three cars already in the lot, we were headed for Pearl at about 9am. Bright sunshine. Blue sky. |
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The meadows were gorgeous, and much drier than when I was here in July. |
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| At Pearl Lake, Ruby went to work. That's Paintbrush in the background, with the summit on the far left. |  |
From Pearl, you leave the trail and do a little bushwacking. I've been up and down this hillside several times, and if there is an easy way, I have yet to find it. But at least we were able to walk straight across the old lake bed. |
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And there's Marge down there under the face of Rain Peak. As Dave noted when looking at Rain, "Now I know why I had the heebeegeebies from the summit." |
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As we neared the lake, we finally figured out where all those folks from those three cars were: 14 people camped at the lake. We withdrew slightly and had lunch while deciding where to go next. |
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As we ate, they started leaving. Yay. So we progressed around the lake, passing a couple who had been camping at the far end. When we got to their campsite, their campfire was still smoking away. If you know these folks, give them a lecture about responsible backcountry behavior. Worse, it only took me about 5 minutes to truly put it out. Lazy bastards! So anyway, we fished for a bit while we watched the group of 12 pack up and leave. That's Paintbrush again, looking a little pointier now. |
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Then, with the lake finally to ourselves, it was time to complete our loop of the lake and start up our mountain. One quick look back at Rain. We checked the campsite of the 12. They did a great job, leaving a clean campsite and their fire was dead out. To them, thank you. |
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| And then upward. Our peak is on the left, with TwentyMile Creek down below on the right. |  |
We did a long, gradually-ascending traverse across the flanks of the ridge, then finally went straight up for the views. |
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And the summit. There's something on the lens. But off in that general direction there was a big smoke plume. Probably the Buck Fire. |
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This peak is sort of in the middle of the McCall mountains, and fairly tall, so the views are never-ending. NTP to the max! For now, though, there's Pearl and Teardrop lakes. And in the distance, Big Payette. |
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We dropped off the very steep west face and then chased stinky sheep trails through the hillside meadows and downfall back to the Pearl Lake trail. Fall colors are happening. An absolutely incredible day! |
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