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Trip Report    

Alpine Scramble - Hibox Mountain

If you are comfortable with steep climbs and descents and enjoy GREAT views and a fun short scramble, then I highly recommend this scramble hike. I would recommend tagging Mailbox peak via the old trail (up and down) as a conditioning hike for Hibox. Hibox is steeper!

Placeholder Contact Profile Ken Waletzki
August 22, 2021
  • Wed, Aug 18, 2021
  • Hibox Mountain
  • Scrambling
  • Successful
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • The trail via Rachel lake has seen some good trail maintenance in the past month with lots of trees blocking the trail cut and removed.

    The climber's trail up to Hibox can be difficult to spot.  It is off to the right and shortly after you notice a trail to the right through bramble.  That is not the trail.  Continue for a couple of more minutes, after you enter back under the tree canopy you will spot the correct trail to the right.

    At this point as you ascend, keep looking back and noting features to spot on the descent, particularly when the trail becomes thin or non-existent.  I marked issues with flagging which I removed on my descent.

This was a fun and trying hike. It is just over 7 miles round-trip with 4140 feet of TOTAL elevation gain. The worst part of this was descending the steep "climber's trail". That was 3200 feet in 1.2 miles. That is way steeper than another I-90 classic, Mailbox Peak. There is a lot of loose gravel on steep dirt. I used my hiking poles on the descent which helped out a lot!

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The scramble on the summit block was easy enough and fun. I wanted to do this hike prior to some really serious scrambles I have planned for September this year. The moves are mostly class 2 and a few very easy class 3. The exposure is minimal and nothing to get excited about. I had a sphincter factor of 10 on the Catwalk on Mt. Hood in May of this year (check out that video on my channel).

If you are comfortable with steep climbs and descents and enjoy great views and a fun short scramble, then I highly recommend this scramble hike.

Be aware of the intermittent climber's trail. It is easy to get off course in a few places. I marked potential issues with bright pink flagging as I ascended and I removed them as I descended.

I had no issues with bugs although there were few wasps, but they never bothered me. The summit block was free of any bugs.