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After a great climb of Mount Darcy, I got to witness a brilliant rainbow on the way to a group camp at Wildhorse, and some great climbing stories around the campfire.
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The next morning, I made the long bumpy ride to the upper Wildhorse trailhead. The route to Howard starts with this bridge crossing over Wildhorse Creek.
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After 2+ miles of easy trail hiking, then some light bushwhacking, Howard Peak comes into view, on the left in this photo. But my first order of business was checking out Arrowhead Lake.
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Old Hyndman and Hyndman rising above the head of the valley.
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Some route finding and a little scrambling along the way to Arrowhead Lake.
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Arrowhead Lake was a gem, and a great place for a snack break. A real treat to visit this lake I’d seen from other surrounding peaks.
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Next was a brief climb to the ridge north of Arrowhead Lake, which provided a full view of the scramble route up Howard Peak.
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Here's a view looking up Howard from the base of the climb. Head left to find a weakness in the cliffs, then angle back right into the gully. Follow the gully all the way up to the base of the summit block, then veer right and scramble up to the saddle on the ridge south of the summit.
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The upper section of the gully is smoother rock, but still plenty of options to follow upward.
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Looking back on Old Hyndman and Hyndman.
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Here's a fun scramble section leading to the ridgeline.
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And the final class 3+ section below the summit. Fun climbing on stable rock, but little tricker to downclimb later.
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Old Hyndman and Hyndman from the summit of Howard Peak.
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Brocky Peak to the east of Howard.
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Enjoying a PB&J on the summit of my 800th career peak!
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I put the camera away for awhile. No issues on the downclimb and made it back to tree line just as the clouds opened up. A little bushwhacking through the trees, then a wet trail hike back to the truck.
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Some wackadoodle drove a jacked up prius to the upper Wildhorse trailhead.
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Map of my route. 8 miles and 3500' gain, in just over 7 hours of hiking. Fantastic fall day in the mountains, even in spite of some afternoon rain.
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