Mount Everly looms above a marshy meadow fed by Benedict Creek.

The second day of my backpacking trek across the Sawtooth Wilderness would get me to the high country and, eventually, out of the long slog through the thick vegetation and fallen trees that marked the previous “forgettable” day. It would also be a day during which I would see more bears than people.

I would start this day — August 13 — about four miles short of the previous day’s goal, Smith Falls. The South Fork Payette River Trail made one of its rare visits to the namesake river at a place I dubbed “Waterfall Bend,” and it was here I had set up camp. In the predawn chill, I returned to the rocks overlooking the dozen-plus cascades to drink a protein shake. As I sat there, listening to the singing waters, a small black bear trotted along the other shore. It glanced in my direction once, then did a double-take before bolting away from the river. I didn’t have my camera handy — and it wouldn’t have mattered as it was still fairly dark — but this was otherwise a perfect bear encounter.
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Tags: aug09 idaho trip, backpacking, boise national forest, campsite views, clouds, creeks, fords, lakes, mount everly, mountain vistas, rock slide lake, rock slides, sawtooth wilderness, south fork payette river, stormy skies, waterfalls