Ascent of Cache Peak on 2012-08-13| Other People: | Solo Ascent
Only Party on Mountain | | Date: | Monday, August 13, 2012 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Motorized Transport to Trailhead: | 4x4 Vehicle | | Peak: | Cache Peak | | Location: | USA-Idaho | | Elevation: | 10339 ft / 3151 m |
Ascent Trip Report Other reports acurately describe the road to the trailhead. My stock Pathfinder had no trouble clearing the rocks. My biggest concern were the waterholes and only having normal road tires. I dodged the first two by going around through the trees. The last one had a fallen tree right beside it and couldn't be avoided. It was just past a steep road berm, so no running start either. It looked deep, but I tested with a stick, and it was only about 3 inches, and it felt like another inch into mud. Only about 15 feet across, I slowly went through okay, and probably shouldn't have worried. But with my tires, I'm not confident in mud, and didn't want to find out what it can't do.
There's a new-looking sign at the trailhead for Independence Lakes. It does cross the lowpoint on the saddle between Cache and Independence. At the saddle, I planned to start up to Cache by staying close to the ridge edge. But I quickly found out this is the toughest going, with more boulders and the densest clumps of small trees. Once I got a hundred feet southwest of the ridge edge, I found more openings to work my way up.
Coming down, it was easier to see the openings. Using my gps, I again stayed about a 100-150ft southwest of the ridge, but when I got close enough to the main trail, I turned south and downhill to avoid what I found near the saddle. I ended up finding a lightly used trail the last 100 feet to the main trail. Coming up the main trail, at about 9550msl, the trail passes through an open area and then unexpectedly curves right and climbs steeply for 30 feet to go around a tree. When the trail angles left past the tree, look for a trail angling slightly right up the hillside. It won't take you far, but will give the most trail up the mountain. From its end, you have to pick your own way southeast to the summit.
From the saddle, Mt Independence looks like the more fun scramble, almost all large rocks and boulders that would be easy to walk on. Being on a multi-day trip, I didn't have the time. One thing to consider though, you can't see the true summit from the saddle. You can probably expect 200 more feet of climbing than what you see. |
| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 1856 ft / 565 m | | Total Elevation Loss: | 1856 ft / 565 m | | Round-Trip Distance: | 5 mi / 8 km | | Route Conditions: | Maintained Trail, Open Country, Bushwhack, Scramble | | Weather: | Hot, Calm, Clear | | Ascent Statistics | | Gain on way in: | 1826 ft / 556 m | | Gain Breakdown: | Net: 1796 ft / 548 m; Extra: 30 ft / 9m | | Loss on way in: | 30 ft / 9 m | | Distance: | 2.6 mi / 4.2 km | | Route: | Independence Lakes Trail | | Start Trailhead: | trailhead on west ridge saddle 8543 ft / 2603 m | | Time: | 1 Hours 43 Minutes | | Descent Statistics | | Loss on way out: | 1826 ft / 556 m | | Loss Breakdown: | Net: 1796 ft / 548 m; Extra: 30 ft / 9m | | Gain on way out: | 30 ft / 9 m | | Distance: | 2.4 mi / 3.9 km | | Route: | Independence Lakes Trail | | End Trailhead: | trailhead on west ridge saddle 8543 ft / 2603 m | | Time: | 1 Hours 20 Minutes | GPS Data for Ascent/Trip
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Peaks:  climbed and  unclimbed by Richard Hensley
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