North Erickson Lake Trail

 Rating: 🌲🌲🌲


Distance, in theory - 9.8 miles. Elevation gain: 2,312 ft. 

This was the hike that wasn't successful. You will note that this hike only gets 3 pine trees out of five. The main reason for that is we never did make it to the lakes. Sigh. We lost the trail and never made it to the planned destination. I was annoyed, so I only gave it a 3 tree rating. But, there was a silver lining. This inspired Leti to get the alltrails.com pro feature, which allows you to download the map on your phone. We have used the feature many times on our hikes since that time. So, maybe it was all for the best. Maybe this hike gets a 3.25 trees.  

This hike, despite the lack of a trail, was very pretty. And hot. Not a lot of shade going on here. Do this hike on a cooler day. Leti and I set out after viewing Russ Urry's cabin foundation. So, we hiked right in the heat of the day. There were a gazillion people at Smith and Morehouse, but luckily not a lot on the trail. For the win! 

For as hot and as dry as it was, we passed a lot of streams, and saw a lot of flowers that grow only where there is water. As seen below. 

This lovely flower is called monkshood. It only grows where there is water. And, it really does look like a monks hood. If you can imagine. 

Leti on a nice, practically natural, bridge. Lots of water all around this. 

Leti at one of the many stream crossings on this trail. 

We almost made it to the lake, we think, and then the trail died. Left. Was gonzo. Took a hiatus. We hiked around in circles for a bit. We tried to find the trail. And, we didn't. It was some interesting bushwhacking for sure! Once we decided that trail was hopelessly lost, we decided to turn around so we too didn't become hopelessly lost. A good decision. We headed back down the mountain feeling just a little dejected at not finding our destination. But, a day on hike, even when lost, is a lot better than a bad non-hiking day. It was another adventure in the books! 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kane Lake in the Great State of Idaho

Image
Rating: ⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘ The sign lies just a little. It was a little more than 3.5. And no, this isn't my picture. I may have stolen it because I forgot to take one. (Theft. Lying. This is starting out to be a great post.) Length: 8.5 miles (which is also a lie according to my watch. More like 7.5 miles) and 1784 elevation gain, which seemed right to me.  Sorry to start off by mentioning lies and theft. This was actually a very lovely hike! It got a 5 flower rating out of 5 flowers! The road to the hike, although quite sketchy in parts, was worth the drive. We hit the trail around 4 p.m. (after a white knuckle 5 miles on the questionable dirt road previously alluded to) and were in for a lovely, lovely hike. The wildflowers, the rock walls, the diverse scenery, and the pet dog we acquired for the last quarter mile of the hike was a great experience!  As we climbed up, we noticed really majestic rock walls. Little did we know this would just keep getting better and better. We also noticed so
Read more

Sawtooth Hiking Vacation - Version: I think we are on the trail.

Image
 When most people think of the perfect hiking vacation, Stanley, Idaho, does not immediately come to mind. And yet, Leti and I found Stanley to be a perfect hiking destination. We could easily get to multiple trailheads. There were not masses of people everywhere. And, downtown Stanley was only a short one minute drive from our Airbnb. Perfect.  Red Fish Lake 🥾🥾🥾🥾 Red Fish Lake. 5.8 miles. 886 vertical feet. Date hiked: July 24, 2023 - Oh Pioneers!  Because we were a little short on time, we decided to take the boat shuttle to the other side of the lake and hike back to the lodge. The shuttle was pleasant. And, it was raining ferociously! So, to start off, we just couldn't see very much, which was a little depressing. Hence, the four boots.  I found a poncho in my backpack. #luckyfind I stayed somewhat dry on the hike. Leti was not dry on the hike until it stopped raining, which was about half way through.  Me wearing the poncho that saved me from being totally wet. The rain wa
Read more

Mount Baldy and Sugarloaf Peak Loop

Image
🥾🥾🥾🥾  Leti pointing to Pfeifferhorn (which she hiked a few weeks later) from Mount Baldy Mount Baldy/Sugarloaf Loop: 7.3 miles. 2,988 vertical feet. Date hiked: Aug. 13, 2022 This hike seemed somewhat doomed from the start. But, in the end, it turned out to be a lovely hike. First, we hiked up a road. That's just bad. Hiking up something you can drive up is no bueno. Second, we heard what we thought was an avalanche control boom, which made exactly zero sense. No snow. We learned later that it was a meteor entering planet Earth. And, it was heard all over the Salt Lake Valley. Third, the helicopter about made us crazy. At first, said helicopter looked so cool. And then, said helicopter kept going up and down the mountain. They aren't exactly known for their silence. Said helicopter was carrying steel posts (or metal somethings) for the skiing season. Luckily, that helicopter finished the job before we made it to Mt. Baldy. But, the solitude we were looking for took a while
Read more