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This week I took a hiatus from work and life in general. I researched the shit out of the area I planned to go backpacking. I knew I would be going solo. As usual. It would have been nice to have someone go with me. But I also live life refusing to wait. If I waited for people to be ready, to be willing, to be able, I would be waiting my whole life. So I go. Just me. And I am fine with that. But some of the things I witness and experience would sometimes be even better to witness and experience them with someone else. Friend or other. Does not matter. Human connection. In nature. Yes.
Anyway, back on track. I decided I wanted to explore the Sawtooth Wilderness within the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) in central Idaho. I have been to the periphery of this area many times. Stanley, ID remains one of my most favourite locations on planet Earth. I wanted to be up in the mountains. See their jagged peaks. Walk around alpine lakes. Get up out of the heat and see snow and raging creeks. I wanted an adventure.
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| Packing all my gear for the trip! |
This is the list of trails the Ranger told me were accessible as of 06/29/17:
- Lower Hell Roaring Lake (most likely cannot get to Imogene)
- Redfish Inlet to Flatrock Junction (possibly make it to Alpine Lake)
- Alturas lake area
- Harriman Trail
- Galena area (Gladiator Pass)
- Murdock Creek
- E Fork N Fork Big Wood Riv Trail
- Oregon Gulch
- Adams Gulch area
- Norton Lakes
- Baker Lake
So I went online and read books about all these trails. Realised most were not hard enough to the standards I set for myself. Or not remote enough. Or not high enough. What I truly wanted to do was the Toxaway to Alice Lake Loop. But everything I read and heard told me that Snowyside Pass and Twin Lakes (~9,000'+) were still snowed in and that the trail to Toxaway Lake was washed out in places. ARGH! This past winter is still coming back to bite us.
Based on all the beta (data) I gathered, I decided to to a lot of out and back trips since a loop did not seem feasible. My rough itinerary was as follows:
Day 1: Pettit Lake to Alice Lake
Day 2: return from Alice Lake. Drive to upper Trailhead for Hellroaring Lake. Possibly hike to Imogene Lake.
Day 3: If not done already, go to Imogene Lake. Hike back to Jeep. Go to Redfish Lake and take boat shuttle to Inlet Camp. Hike to Flat Rock Junction. Maybe go to Alpine Lake.
Day 4: return to Redfish Lodge and Jeep. Drive home.
Lots of miles. Nothing set in stone. It would be an adventure!!
I drove to Trudy's Kitchen in Idaho City to get my last real meal to go on my way to Stanley. Mmmm, I love the food at Trudy's. I was getting so nervous for my trip. Butterflies in my tummy the whole drive out there. I got to Tin Cup camp at Pettit Lake. Holy fuck! The place was packed. I was doubting myself. But no. I would persevere, dammit. I got started a little after 1200h. It was hot outside. I got to the Wilderness Boundary and filled out my wilderness permit, attached it to my pack and continued on. The trail goes through lodgepole pine and is muddy and totally saturated in areas. After about 2mi into the trail, traffic died down and eventually it was just me. I GoPro'd some scenic shit and made a video of it.
First real obstacle at mile 2.9. Fuck. A big scary looking water crossing. The current was pretty strong and there were submerged rocks causing waves. The crossing looked to be about 15'+ across. Man, I was nervous. And totally regretting leaving my water shoes in the Jeep just because they added weight. D'oh!! I crossed. My sphincter was probably clenched the whole time. I know my jaw was. I am ever so thankful for having my trekking poles. I relied heavily on them. I placed my feet in carefully. The current tried to sweep them away many times. The water was cold. And it came up to my mid-thigh at times. I made it to the other side! I reviewed my hiking book and saw that there were five more crossings ahead and a possibly unsound bridge over one that the FS put an alert out on two days prior. Great. Well. I wanted adventure. Here it was!
Next water crossing thankfully had a nice wide fallen log to cross over. Water was deep and raging here, too. Then it was switch back time. Not much shade. Then talus slopes. I met quite a few hikers coming back from the Lake, many of whom gave me good info. "No, the Toxaway Loop is not accessible unless you have an ice ax to arrest an accidental glissade and crampons." "There is a bypass around water crossings #3 and #4." "Yes, you can cross the bridge." "Watch for the snow field. There's a lot of it."
The bypass is at a talus slope. The water crossing was just before a large cascading and raging waterfall. I was beyond thankful I did not have to cross it. Slipping meant certain death or at least a really fucking scary and painful 600' drop. Then there was the avalanche field over the talus slope. So climbing over fallen trees and snow and back on talus. It was only about 1/4 mile, but route finding got interesting. There were rock cairns and a worn path to look for in most parts.
Water crossing #5 was a bridge that the NFS put an alert on 2 days prior saying it had structural damage and no stock were allowed on it. This is where the canyon I was hiking in, merged both sides with the creek cutting through it. And once again, the creek was hella raging just barely under the bottom of the bridge. On the other side, you could see all the way to the White Cloud Mtns looking east. Gorgeous. And the snow started. Around 8,200' the snow was everywhere. It was melting in patches, but overall, it was difficult to find the trail and route-finding was definitely needed. The snow was very slick, but luckily very little post holing. I slid a but and my shoes were getting wet again, but this time my toes were freezing.
I made it to water crossing #6, the last one. And fuck. Had to wade across that one, too. This one was flowing as fast as #1 and just a deep. But it was at least 15'-20' across. And oh my. I had to stop and take my shoes and socks off and my feet were bone white. They were cold. I saw a couple and child cross the water in front of me. I was highly impressed with them. I met them at the second pond before Alice Lake. Their daughter is 9 yrs old. She had her own pack. Fantastic! What awesome parents, to bring their child backpacking in the wilderness. I am happy people like that have children.
There was snow everywhere. The trail was basically its own melt water creek.- very wet and slick. I could see El Captain overlooking pond one and two. Majestic. And the sound of moving water everywhere. Melting. Forming falls and rivulets everywhere. And unfortunately, Alice Lake was not very accessible. Even lager snow piles led up to it. I ended up camping on a large rock surrounded by snow. There were so few places to camp that were dry. I had a hard time getting my tent set up since I could not put stakes down. And my shoes were all wet. There were two guys across a small depression where melt water had made it all waterfalls between us. The couple with the child went back to pond one (I was at pond two).
I went to bed early. Hung my food up. Set my shoes and socks out. And snoozed. It got pretty cold that night since I was at ~8,600'. I woke up with frost on my tent. I filtered water. Dawdled around a bit hoping my shoes would dry faster. I finally picked up camp, hiked to see Alice LAke and be in awe of my surroundings. Then it occurred to me that everyone had left. It was July 4th and I was alone. Self preservation mode reminded me that it was time to go. As I slalomed over the rivulet over the trail, I slipped on some ice mud and slammed my left leg near the knee on a granite outcropping. Blood. Pain. Shooting pain. Great. No time to stop. Keep going. My adrenaline was high enough that my leg did not bother me much anyway.
I came up with a better system to do my wading water crossings. I took off my socks and crossed. Then wrung shoes out and put on new socks while the first set dried from my sweat. It actually worked out quite well. I missed the trail a few times in the snow, but through common sense with directions, I found it again and made it to the bridge. I met a few more people going up to Alice Lake and shared information I knew with them to help them along. My pack was beginning to feel less cumbersome and more a part of me the more I moved with it. I was simply enjoying the world around me.
By the time I got to Petit Lake, my leg that I injured was throbbing badly. It really hurt. I had a hard time putting weight on it. But I knew I had to push on. I felt both relief and disappointment when I made it to the Jeep. I filled my water bladders and decided to move on to Hell Roaring Lake. I drove to the upper TH which cuts off about 2mi from the lower TH and since my leg was hurting so badly and I refused to quit, this seemed the most reasonable trail to do. The road (FS315) was hyped to be rough and high clearance 4WD only access it. It is definitely single lane and of course, I encounter people who are unaware of trail etiquette and I was forced to back down a particularly bad section of road and go into 4Lo to get over a boulder on the side of the road to allow the fuckmunchasshole drive down. *sigh* Note people: downhill is supposed to give way to those going up hill.
At the trailhead, I started my next journey. Silly me. I thought it would be 2mi to get to Hell Roaring. I misread the trail description. Nope. 2mi to the intersection with lower trail and then another mile to the lake. Which, overall, 3mi is pretty darn easy, esp with only ~200' ele gain. But with a throbbing leg that I really could not put weight on, that last mile was slow and painful going. When I was almost to the lake I ran into some dogs that were off leash and really did not like me. I yelled at the kids that were running with the dogs to control them. Then teens arrived and the dog lunged and growled at me. I was quite firm with the kids and advised them to keep control of their dog and keep it away from me. *sigh...again*
I learned how evil chipmunks are. I was cooking my Mountain House meal and went down to the creek to put my throbbing leg in the water to help ease the pain. I was gone no more than 10min. In that time, a little fucking furry spawn of hell chewed through my dry bag where my food was located and into my bag of trail mix. Motherfucker! And then it would no go away. I could not eat my food without it coming directly up to my feet. I was getting pissed...at all the people prior to me that reinforced such contemptible behavior of a wild animal. I hung up my food immediately upon discovery. Slept great. Walked/hobbled around the lake half nude for much of the morning until the mosquitoes forced me into clothes. I really wanted to hike to Imogene Lake, but my leg still hurt. I was disappointed but knew I should play it safe. I can always come back.
I left Hell Roaring. The trail is almost all lodge-pole pine. Flat. Dusty. Nothing hard about it. My pack now felt as if it was just an extension of me. Filled my water bladders and back to Jeep. When I returned, no other vehicles were left at the TH. I decided to go to Red Fish Lake and take the boat shuttle to the Inlet Camp and explore from there for my last night/day. Holy fuck was the lodge busy! Balls! The shuttle ($17 round trip) was a beautiful ride. I was the only one set up at Inlet Camp. I left my camp and hiked to the Bench Lakes, which is on and behind the ridge to the north shore of Red Fish Lake. And holy heck, that trail was a helluva lot steeper than any description I read. It was ~3-3.5mi to the lakes. And mostly exposed. And all switchbacks. At sections of trail had fallen trees you have to scramble over and hope you did not fall down the steep hillside.
And, of course, there was a thunder/lightning storm heading in when I reached the ridgeline. Luckily the wind blow it just past my location. But I certainly rushed looking at the Bench Lakes, seeing only 2 of the 5. I then ran almost the whole way back since I had not put my rain fly on my tent when I left to hike and there was some rain. Oh hell I was tired and sweaty when I got to camp. A large family group had set up camp closer to the shore line and had a fuck ton of food left out. Which I felt relief for regarding my food, haha!
I filtered more water at Grand Mogul Creek at a part of the creek where a tree had fallen. The root base had small boulders in it and was at least 12' across. HUGE! The creek took out the bridge to Grand Mogul and Lily Pad trails. I relaxed by the lake shore and read my book and just did not much. My body was beat. But I was so happy for the experiences I had on my trip.
I was also excited to catch the shuttle back. My body/leg ached. And I desired a shower. I rode the shuttle back and was sad to see the adventure end. I drove to Trudy's Kitchen in Idaho City to have a burger. And could not eat hardly anything. I drank lots of coffee and water and sat in the corner. I told the waitress I was stinky and did not want to offend anyone, hahaha! I neglected to count my calories while I was packing food for the trip and thus did not consume enough food to healthily sustain me. I was always hungry. Luckily I was only out for four days, so nothing drastic needed to be done.
