Boskoff Peak – 13,134

RT Length: 10.63 miles

Elevation Gain: 3398’

I started this hike at 5am from the Rock of Ages Trailhead.  The trailhead has a porta-potty, and room for a couple dozen vehicles, but the road in is at minimum high clearance (with a creek crossing).

The trailhead starts at the south end of the parking area.  I took the trail to the left, the Rock of Ages Trail, at the junction immediately following the entrance to the trailhead.

I followed the Rock of Ages trail for 1.5 miles

After following the Rock of Ages trail for 1.5 miles, I came to a junction, and started following the Elk Creek Trail east. 

Here is where the trail got interesting.  I kept gaining, then losing elevation, then gaining it back again.  I knew this would be frustrating on the way out (it was).  I continued following the class 1 trail

I then came to another junction, but the sign was broken.  I followed the trail to the left.

I followed these class 1, well defined trails for 4.3 miles, until I came to the base of a gully running down from Boskoff Peak

Here I could clearly see Boskoff, and it’s ridge in front of me.  I left the trail, and headed southeast up the tundra slope towards the ridge.

Once on the ridge, I turned left, and followed the tundra northeast.  I pretty much stuck to the ridge to summit.  Here’s the overall route:

I followed the ridge until the tundra ended.

The tundra ended at the base of a rock formation and several gullies.  I took the right gully up, the left one down.  Both were class 2.  The right gully was more stable, but the left gully made for some fun scree-surfing on the way down.

Here are some pictures of the right gully

Both gullies end at the same place. From here, there’s a well defined game trail on the talus leading northeast along the ridge.  I followed the talus trail until it ended at another pile of rocks.

I went a little to the right, hopping over loose talus doing a couple of easy class 3 moves, then aimed for the ridge. 

The rest of the hike is class 2, all the way to the summit.  Just be careful, the boulders and talus here are loose.  I wouldn’t want to do this ridge if the rocks were wet, as I relied a lot on the traction of my shoes to keep balance.  I followed the ridge to the summit.

I summited Boskoff Peak at 7:50am

Boskoff Peak:

Now to head back. This was an out and back hike for me, so I turned and headed southwest down the rocky ridge

Then back down to the talus

And back on the talus to the gully.  This time I took the gully to my right down, scree surfing to the tundra. 

Back on the tundra, this is the route I took back to the trail below.

When I made it back to the trail, I turned right, and followed Elk Creek Trail back to Rock of Ages Trail

I then went left, and followed the Rock of Ages trail north back to the trailhead

I made it back to the trailhead at 10:45am, making this a 10.63 mile hike with 3398’ of elevation gain in 5 hours, 45 minutes.

On to the next trailhead!