Photography, backcountry ski touring, winter, a journey up a major named peak, and the Sawtooth Mountains. Now that combination sounds like fun to me.
My goal on this day is to head up Imogene Peak 3,000+ vertical feet – via skins on skis and post hole climb – to capture a late afternoon shot of the Decker Peak area. Imogene (10,225 feet) is the farthest east named peak in the Sawtooth Range.
I am able to capture the desired shot of the Sawtooth Range with Decker Peak as the center piece. It is taken from a wonderful platform-like rock outcrop just below the Imogene Peak summit. The effort to get up and back down the mountain is not without some significant snow related challenges. The snow conditions for the 1,600 vertical feet at the start and finish and the 600 feet below the summit are challenging – for different reasons.
Luckily, accompanying me is Chris Lundy, co-owner of Sawtooth Mountain Guides. The route is from Yellow Belly Lake to McDonald Lake and then up the spine of Imogene. Chris and I are using the ascent as a warm-up for a traverse of the Sawtooth Wilderness. I have been up Imogene in the summer (via the the direct/face route from Farley Lake) with my MESH Art partners Kyle, Merry [Christmas] Dog and Shae Dog.
