The ridge between unnamed peaks is reflected in the waters of Upper Baron Lake.

A good night’s sleep made the difference. As the ninth day on the trail began, to a nice sunrise, I felt refreshed, but also a tad bit sad. There would likely be just one more night on the trail. I finished short of where I needed to be — the Baron Lakes — in order to have much of a chance of completing the route I’d drawn up. Today’s hike had two distinct parts: a 900-foot climb to Baron Divide, then a 3,600-foot descent to the junction of Baron Creek and its north fork. At that point, I’d have one final choice to press on, or return to the trailhead.

Far fewer fish were dancing this morning as the sky gradually brightened. The peaks surrounding the lake began to glow pink as the unseen sun rose. I scrambled across a makeshift log bridge and hopped over boggy areas to reach a good vantage point across from my campsite. From there, I watched morning come, first to the high peaks, then to the forest, and finally to the lake.
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Tags: alpine lake, aug09 idaho trip, baron creek, baron creek trail, baron divide, baron lakes, boise national forest, boulders, canyons, creeks, lakes, monte verita, mountain passes, reflections, sawtooth mountains, sawtooth range, sawtooth wilderness, warbonnet peak

A knife's edge of sawtoothed peaks rims the vicinity of Cramer Divide.

At the end of this, my 8th day on the trail and its 10 hot miles, I began writing in my notebook with a simple assessment of my condition: “Backpacking fatigue has set in.”

The previous night was a practically sleepless one. The narrow spit of level land I occupied beside Hidden Lake combined with an uneasiness as I felt all evening and the awful unseen but definitely heard terrors the mind pictured causing several loud, unexplained and nearby noises. I had tied my Ursack close by, instead of hiking up the steep hillside, and now surely a bear was trying to get into it, ripping into the log. I was raised by a sudden, loud rushing sound, occasionally repeated. In the darkness, it sounded as though it were right behind my head, where, less than 30 feet away, the Ursack was wedged between logs and lashed to the smaller one. Then there was a loud splash. Was the bear gone, swimming across the lake? Was it something else?

I hardly slept from there, as each noise, real or imagined, became another bear.

At first hint of light, I got up and surveyed the situation. Expecting to find my bag of food dangling by its cord, I instead discovered the Ursack was completely undisturbed. It wasn’t a bear ripping into anything. In fact, it wasn’t a bear at all. It was a rockslide, across the lake. The mountains lining this narrow valley echoed their sounds, and my mind transformed them into a fearsome bear. Wearily, I chuckled, and quickly broke camp, eager to leave. I was on the trail by 8 o’clock.
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Tags: alpenglow, alpine lake, aug09 idaho trip, boulders, cliffs, cramer divide, cramer lakes, hidden lake, lakes, mount cramer, mountain passes, rock spires, sawtooth mountains, sawtooth wilderness, snowyside peak, sunsets, trees

The trail is clearly defined between the unnamed pass behind me and Sand Mountain Pass in front of me.

August 18, 2009, was my seventh day on the trail in the Sawtooth Wilderness. It was a balmy 34 degrees at sunrise along the shore of Imogene Lake. I would need to hike about nine miles today to reach my goal of Hidden Lake. In between was a pair (or three, depending on one’s perspective) of mountain passes and a high canyon between them. Part of me still wanted to tackle Mount Cramer, but practicality squelched that pretty quickly. Besides, the sunrise was too beautiful to ignore.
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Tags: aug09 idaho trip, campsite views, clouds, edna lake, hidden lake, imogene lake, lakes, meadows, mount cramer, mountain passes, payette peak, reflections, sand mountain pass, sawtooth wilderness, sunrises, trees

January: The Last of the Leaves

Continuing a tradition from the past couple of years (2008 | 2007), I’ve picked 12 photographs to sum up 2009, one from each month. They’re not necessarily the best photos. They’re just indicative of how the year went.
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Tags: camping, crawdaddies, crossfit, elk, fall foliage, holiday lights, jeff, jeff's dog chisos, jeff's house, mountain passes, rocky mountain national park, sawtooth wilderness, tcu, the moon, year in review

Approaching Snowyside Pass

The fourth day of backpacking in the Sawtooths required me to traverse two high mountain passes, as I moved from the “main loop” as I called it to the Pettit-Toxaway Loop, where my resupply awaited near the shore of Pettit Lake (Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3). Previous blog entries cover much of the hiking to and over Sand Mountain Pass and Snowyside Pass, so this entry will cover the rest of the day and put the passes in context. It is August 15, my fourth day on the trail.

I awoke to a cold, clear morning. The rain and clouds of the previous day were gone. It was 32 degrees at sunrise. The plants on the ground were covered in frost, but the air was dry. It was a very cold start to the day, and I didn’t get off to a particularly quick start. My campsite was located on a high mound separating Vernon and Edna Lakes, a site chosen in a successful attempt to thwart the mosquito hordes. I packed up and hit the trail about 8:15 a.m. Well, I picked my way down the mound’s steep back side until reaching the trail, which I followed past the horse train’s camp and on to the glorious shore of Edna Lake.
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Tags: aug09 idaho trip, boise national forest, edna lake, lakes, mountain passes, sand mountain pass, sawtooth national forest, sawtooth wilderness, snowyside pass, snowyside peak, toxaway lake, twin lakes

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.
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Tags: aug09 idaho trip, clouds, lakes, meadows, mountain passes, mountain vistas, rocks, sand mountain, sawtooth mountains, sawtooth national forest, sawtooth wilderness, Snow, snowyside pass, snowyside peak, toxaway lake, trees, twin lakes

Toxaway Lake and Snowyside Peak

Sand Mountain Pass was the first major pass along my Sawtooth Wilderness backpacking route. It divided the main loop from the resupply loop. It is 4 miles from Edna Lake (8,404 feet) over the pass (9,303 feet) to Toxaway Lake (8,323 feet), one of the most spectacular in the Sawtooths. Indeed, as seen above, the approach to Toxaway from the pass is breathtaking.

I started the day packing up my campsite on a high point between Vernon Lake and Edna Lake. I hit the trail around 8:15 a.m. and quickly reached Edna Lake. I knew I would return to its shore in a few days, so I paused for a quick look and then began an immediate climb. The trail remains about 60 feet above the lake and about 0.1 mile from the shore until it meets the trail to Sand Mountain Pass.

The trail turns away from the lake and climbs gradually, eventually reaching a drainage, which it follows for some distance. The pass is evident on the valley’s steep head wall, a depression straight ahead. It was a pleasant hike in the early morning light, though the sun was in my face (and the camera’s).

Sand Mountain Pass, as seen from its western approach

Tags: aug09 idaho trip, lakes, mountain passes, mountain vistas, reflections, sand mountain, sand mountain pass, sawtooth range, sawtooth wilderness, snowyside peak, toxaway lake