Our Trek to Sawtooth Lake.

As I mentioned in my last post, we decided to take a nice long hike our first full day in camp on the Boise National Forest. Katie had scoped out several possibilities, and really liked one that took off above Stanley and headed up into the mountains to a place called Sawtooth lake. It was about a 5 mile hike each way. Kim and I have been working hard on our fitness and walking, so we readily agreed. I will tell you that 10 miles is a long way to walk especially uphill, at high altitude (the lake was near 8,000 feet). So we got up early the next morning so we could be up at the lake before the real heat of the day.

It was about a 45 minute drive back towards Stanley. We turned off the highway at Iron Creek, and drove another 5 miles to the trail head.

This is the map that was at the trail head. The red star indicates our location,and it just doesn't seem far at all to Sawtooth Lake....

We unloaded there, and filled our day packs with snacks and water. After a hike we had taken about a month previously with Steve and Sherry Padfield, Kim and I beefed up the water ration, carrying several bottles each including a big (32 oz) one. After a few obligatory pictures, we were off. Within about 10 minutes, my legs were already starting to feel fatigued, and I wondered how this was going to go. I think that as you age and lose physical conditioning, you make up for it by being in denial! Some might call it being "tough and experienced". Some might call it being stupid. Whatever, we were in for the whole enchilada, and I wasn't going to complain, or quit until we got to the lake!

Here we are all fresh and ready for a nice day hike!

The good news was that the trail wasn't steep. It was actually quite a gentle grade, but it was ALL uphill with an occasional steeper section especially as we progressed upwards. The first third of the hike was underneath the forest canopy. It was early yet, and the shade made it nice and cool. When we left the forest, and got on the more exposed sections of trail, the views were spectacular. The peaks and ridges were incredibly sharp and rugged. You can really see why they named them the Sawtooth Mountains.

The view from the trail after we broke out into more open
vistas. This definitely must have been "Sawtooth Ridge"
don't ya think?

Our first objective was Alpine lake. This was a smaller lake that the map showed just below Sawtooth lake. I kept looking up ahead and trying to catch the granite bowl like features that usually indicate a lake. We did come to a large open bowl, but it was bisected by many small streams and covered with alders instead of a crystal high mountain lake. I kept thinking Alpine Lake was just just over the next rise. The trail continued to steepen.

This log bridge crossed one of the small streams that coursed
down through the large granite bowl. I did fine until the
 last step off the log, then nearly did a header right into the creek.

We continued to climb, and climb, stopping occasionally to sip some water. We encountered a hiker coming down the trail and asked how far we had to go. She said we were getting close to Alpine Lake, and that after we needed to stay to the right across a snow field to find the trail to Sawtooth Lake again. I think Larie asked after we had gone ahead for a few minutes: "Did she say we have to cross a snow field?" "That's what I heard!" A short time later we rounded a bend in the trail to see Alpine Lake. In my secret thoughts, I had been planning on taking a refreshing swim when we reached this milestone. However, when we got there I saw that it was quite a hike DOWN to the lake from our route to Sawtooth, so I decided to conserve my energy (and legs), took another sip of water, and stepped on out with the rest of the crew.

Alpine Lake was quite a bit lower than the trail when it came
 into view. It was a beautiful site though, and gave us encouragement
for completing the hike.

 So, onward and ever upward, the trail was unrelenting. We climbed through a series off switchbacks until the trail disappeared into a snowfield. Remembering the young female hiker's instructions, we looked to the right for footprints. Upon closer inspection there they were. Kind of hard to see at first because the snow was so hard and compact they were very shallow. The top layer was just starting to soften making the traverse fairly easy. In a hundred yards or so the trail reappeared, and we were once again on Terra Firma.

Here's Kim, crossing our first (yes there was another one ahead)
snowfield.

It wasn't much farther that we spotted a lake. This must be Sawtooth! We bee-lined straight down to the water and then realized that this was way to small. It turned out to be a necked down outlet from the main lake, but we were close! Now we had to turn around and hike back up to the trail. Soon after, we were crossing another snowfield. It couldn't be much further.....could it??

Katie and I trudge across the second snowfield. We were very close now!

We walked over a small rise, and up a rocky chute where we scaled some boulders to finally reach our objective. There it was, the lower end of Sawtooth Lake. It was the 7th of July, and there was still snow and ice in the water. It was a beautiful sight. Just looking at it in person made the day's journey worthwhile. We continued around a point to find an overlook and a place to have lunch.

Our first glimpse of Sawtooth Lake. Cold crystal clear water
still partially covered with snow and ice from last winter.

There is something special about sitting down to a nice lunch out in the forest. When you have reached a difficult objective on a challenging hike, it is fabulous. As our heart rates came down, and we started munching and sipping water, we also drank in the incredible view. Mt. Regan towered in the distance, and was reflected in the icy blue waters of the lake. It was a welcome respite, and I definitely ate a little slower knowing that we were only halfway on our day hike.

Mt. Regan looms above Sawtooth Lake. You can see the ice at the south
end of the lake has persisted in the mountain's shadow. This photo was
taken from our lunch spot.

All good things must end, and the time came to pack our trash, take a swig of water and head back down the trail. 5 miles to the trail head. It was all downhill of course, but that can be tough on the knees. Especially OLD knees! One good thing about the trip back down was that we were familiar with the trail, so it was easier to keep track of progress. We made a little better time than the trip up as well.

This kind of looks uphill but it's not. I'm heading
 down the trail from Sawtooth, and approaching
 Alpine Lake which is down at the foot of that peak in
the upper right.

We got back down to within a mile and 3/4 and took a break by a sign at the fork in the trail. We all took a guess on how long until we got back to our truck parked at the trail head. Larie estimated 45 minutes, and that turned out to be the winner. It is always great to see the light glinting off the windshield of your vehicle through the trees as you approach the end of your trek.

We were glad to be getting close to the end of our adventure for the day. It
had been a wonderful hike, but mt feet were telling me it was time to drive for a while.

Once back at the vehicle, we downed the last few swiggs of our water, dumped our day packs in the bed of the truck and headed back to camp. It had been a very arduous day, but we were all in after glow. Once we got back, we decided to take advantage of the nearby hot springs because it really sounded like the right thing for our sore muscles. Unfortunately, when we checked it out, the trail that lead to the mineral baths went down a fairly steep trail into the distance. None of us felt like exploring downhill to find out more about the spring. So we went back to camp and grilled up some tri-tip and veggies, and washed them down with some tasty red wine. A great end to a great day!

That's All!