Snowyside Pass

Twin Lakes from Snowyside Pass

The fourth day of my 10-day backpacking trek saw me hike over a pair of mountain passes, 9,303-foot Sand Mountain Pass and 9,435-foot Snowyside Pass, in order to cross the Sawtooths and reach the canyon where my resupply waited. The day began at Edna Lake, gained 900 feet to Sand Mountain Pass, lost 700 feet to Toxaway Lake, gained 1,100 feet to Snowyside Pass, and finally lost 900 feet to Alice Lake over about 9 miles.

This post picks up the trail from my lunch spot on the shore of Toxaway Lake, a breathtaking place where I wished I could have spent a night (or longer) during the trip. From the rocky ledge where I sat for a long lunch, I could see the three-headed crown of Snowyside Peak.

Snowyside Peak (left) as seen from the shore of Toxaway Lake

A confusing network of social trails covers the northern shore of Toxaway Lake, and I followed several to dead ends before finally relocating the main trail. The trail curves around the western shore of the lake before traversing a marshy area at the lake’s inlet. A muddy hop across the creek led to a slight climb up a wildflower-covered hillside. To the north, the mountains rise above the meadow, including ruddy Sand Mountain.

View north across a meadow toward Sand Mountain

From here, the trail climbs steadily as it heads southeast into a narrowing canyon beneath Snowyside Peak. The nearby creek tumbles down the hillside in a long series of cascades and chutes. The mostly open canyon floor is littered with rocks and boulders once a part of the massive mountain. A series of small lakes sit in depressions about a mile below the pass.

Clouds began to gather overhead, though mostly for dramatic effect. This was one of the best days for photography on the trip. The trail grew rockier as I neared the pass, as the views back to the north rewarded every step, and every pause.

View northwest from just below Snowyside Pass

I was expecting the trail to make for a low point just east of the summit. However, the trail kept drifting north, and climbing, the evident result of a rerouting of the trail. I was actually a little nervous about this pass, as sometimes snow clings to its northern face deep into the summer. This revised route would avoid the shadowy area where the snow might remain, picking a more east-west path over the ridge. While I doubt there was any snow on the old pass route, there remained large patches of snow on the mighty peak.

The crown of Snowyside Peak

It took about two hours to hike to the pass from Toxaway Lake’s northern shore. The final pitch was a steep series of short switchbacks, gaining nearly 400 feet almost straight up the northwest-facing rockface. The pass itself was a narrow notch in the massive mountain wall.

Snowyside Pass

Crossing the pass, the views become downright incredible. The Twin Lakes lie like vast glittering jewels at the feet of a curtain of steel gray teeth. The trail makes a slow, gently descending traverse of a huge ledge high above the lakes, eventually passing them by. It was difficult to focus on the narrow, rocky trail with the lakes and peaks distracting me.

The forbidding mountain southeast of Snowyside Pass, across the Twin Lakes

As the trail swings farther around to the east, views improve down the canyon, with mightly El Capitan dominating the skyline.

El Capitan (left), as seen from near Snowyside Pass

The rerouted trail does not go to the Twin Lakes. It provides aerial views only — spectacular though they are — as it gets no closer to the shore than 100 feet of elevation. A side trail leads down to the lakes. I opted not to visit them, as the day was getting late and I wanted to get to camp at Alice Lake.

Before turning away from the gorgeous Twin Lakes, I took one last glance back toward the pass. Indeed, there was snow where the old pass route crossed the mountain.

Looking back at Snowyside Pass and Snowyside Peak

Twin Lakes From Snowyside Pass, SW09-0815-5556R, UTM 11T 0663905 E 48678510 N NAD27; Snowyside Peak and Toxaway Lake, SW09-0815-5495R, 0662749 E 4869464 N; Looking Back at Sand Mountain, SW09-0815-5510R, 0662360 E 4868694 N; View Northwest From Just Below Snowyside Pass, SW09-0815-5536R, 0663678 E 4867492 N; Crown of Snowyside Peak, SW09-0815-5539R, 0663663 E 4867448 N; Snowyside Pass, SW09-0815-5543R, 0663675 E 4867451 N; Mountains Southeast of Snowyside Pass, SW09-0815-5547R, 0663759 E 4867445 N; El Capitan From Snowyside Pass, SW09-0815-5554R, 0663842 E 4867480 N; and Looking Back at Snowyside Pass, SW09-0815-5564R, 0664388 E 4867534 N; Sawtooth Wilderness, Sawtooth National Forest, Idaho | ©2009 Jeff Blaylock

Potentially related posts:

• Sand Mountain Pass
• Lakes of the Sawtooths, Part 2
• The Two Passes
• Farewell to the Sawtooths
• I Love Me Post, Idaho Edition
• Lakes of the Sawtooths, Part 3
• Lakes of the Sawtooths, Part 4