[TR] Sawtooths-Idaho -The Coffin-West Face FA?

[Sawtooth Sean]

Trip: Sawtooths-Idaho - The Coffin- West Face FA

 

Date: 9/13/2012

 

Trip Report:

Coffin- First Ascent?- Idaho Summits

We climbed 3 towers above 10,000 feet in the Sawtooths above Hell Roaring Lake. These towers are all visible from ID-75. The Red Bluff (aka Birthday Cake) was first (5.4), then the Sentry (4), and lastly The Coffin (Class 6).

 

I'll call it the Red Bluff (Birthday Cake) because the summit log originator called it that. This is more problem solving than climbing, as you ascend the "layers" the final summit move stumped me 4 years ago with a 3-4 inch vertical crack with slight overhang before it eases out. This time we got creative with full horizontal body stems etc and figured out the move. The summit had a register anchored in with 10 signatures with the last being 2006.

 

The next tower on the ridge just to the north is the Sentry and it's Class 4, but required 2 raps to get to the saddle with the Coffin.

 

We reached The Coffin around 6:30 and knew we had limited time. The Coffin sits perched on the ridge, is under cut and rotten on it's 35 foot east side, and on it's steeper west side has minimal features. The 22 foot face sits above jagged rock and caverns on the ridge line. With some ingenuity, we figured out a way to top out. The summit is 3 feet wide. There was no sign of anything on top or anywhere around this tower. We think this could be a FA, but if anyone has some info please pipe up. We left no gear, slings behind on the Coffin.

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

some big stuff, some aid stuff

 

Approach Notes:

long approach past Finger of Fate climb

Edited September 16, 2012 by Sawtooth Sean

[fgw]

Sean, looks like a fun adventure in a great setting! Hope the mosquitoes were thinned out already. As a side note, we saw this year that Not only did the fs improve the road to the upper hell roaring th but for some weird reason they've added c. 2 miles of new trail that pretty much parallels the old one on the other side of the creek... Bizarre. Cheers. rc

[ezra]

Nice, I love that area! Thanks for posting!!!

[Sawtooth Sean]

Thanks- who knows what and why govt spends money on. The road is improved, but still rugged and that extra 2 miles of flat hiking is painful after a long day on the rock. The old TH was next to the creek, which may have something to do with it, but they spent $ on cutting dead trees to lay on the old road?? Oh Well.