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

 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

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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 was a real surprise for everyone. There was no rain in the forecast. Zero percent. And, it rained heavily while we were driving to Red Fish Lake and through the first few miles of our hike. After the rain, the view of the mountains were just beautiful. As we hiked, and the clouds departed, the views of the mountains around us were spectacular. The lake was just beautiful. The water was so perfectly clear and blue. Just lovely. 

Here I am at the end of the hike. The rain was torrential, the flowers beautiful, and the trail basically flat. 

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Alpine Peak. 12.8 miles. 3,421 vertical feet. Date hiked: July 25, 2023

As you can see from the picture above, Alpine Peak makes you feel like you are at the top of the world. This was the beginning of the "I think we are on the trail" experience we had on this vacation. This hike was lovely, minus the missing trail and the really steep parts, which is why this hike gets four boots out of five. 

The beginning of this trail to Sawtooth Lake is pretty easy. The elevation isn't deadly. The trail is easy to identify. The temperatures were great for hiking. On the way up, we passed three older gentlemen who were backpacking out after camping at the lake. They were very funny. We asked if they went to Alpine Peak. One of the fellows went to the saddle, which I thought was pretty impressive. The other guy had exactly zero interest in the saddle or the peak.  We found him to be pretty wise. 

We had breakfast at Sawtooth Lake. It was so pretty. As demonstrated: 

Sawtooth Lake from the saddle of Alpine Peak. 

This is a true glacial lake. The blue was just stunning. We saw a few people who decided to swim in the lake, which Leti and I concluded was a very poor choice. The temperature of the water, we are guessing, was about 40 degrees. Not well. We enjoyed the lake from above the water.

After we had breakfast, we decided we would aim for the peak. I still can't decide if this was a wise choice. But, we aimed for the peak. We turned off the trail to head up to the peak. There was literally no trail there. So, we walked up a dry creek bed. That was beautiful. The wildflowers were in full bloom! 

When we got to the top of the creek bed, we took note of the bowl ahead of us that we needed to ascend in order to get to the peak. It was quite steep. 

The peak in the distance, looking across the bowl. The ascent was a four limb activity. 

When we arrived at the saddle, we thought our troubles were somewhat behind us. And, this was partially true. The saddle was a walk in the park in comparison to the ascent, but it still wasn't easy. Because there was no trail to follow, we guessed as to which side of the ridge we should be on to ascend. And, that worked out okay. We eventually made it to the top, and we were scared out of our minds. There were some pretty lakes that we could see below us. And that was lovely. But, I was happy to take a few pictures and head back down. 

Leti descending the bowl. This camera angle gives you the right idea about how steepness here.

We found that to descend the bowl, it worked best if you planted your feet in the dirt, got in a sitting position, and slid down. We both did this, and we didn't fall, mainly because we were basically seated. After we descended the bowl, we felt so relieved! We took a few pictures of the lake to celebrate!

Sawtooth Lake from below the upper bowl. 

Leti walking down the creek bed. It's steep, but much more manageable.

Wild flowers all along the dry creek bed. So, so pretty. 

Once we met up with the visible trail again, we both breathed a sigh of relief! It was nice to be on less steep ground. We lunched at the lake and took a few pictures. It was lovely. And then, we headed back down the trail. The rest of the hike was a piece of cake. It wasn't very crowded, the temperatures were perfect, and the hard part was behind us. 

As a side note, when I got home, I showered. And, it was at about that time that I noticed two ticks! One had started to drill into my knee. The other I brushed off, not knowing it was on me. Both met a watery grave via the toilet. Punks. 

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Thompson Peak (behind the lake). 12.5 miles. 4,117 vertical feet. Date hiked: July 26, 2023

Thompson Peak was a real trip. The beginning of the trail was basically flat, which I hate because that means the end is going to be really steep. And, the beginning of the trail was through sagebrush. Considering my tick experience from the day before, I was on high alert. 

After about 3 ish miles, the trail started to go up. We got to the lake, pictured above, ate lunch, and decided to go on. At this we played the route finding game because there is no trail. We found our way behind the peak and started our ascent. There was a snowfield to cross. As demonstrated: 

Leti going across the snowfield. We could easily see the trail. 

When we got above the snowfield, we had to go up. The first picture gives some scale to what we climbed up. 

Leti in the midst of Thompson Peak.

Leti is to the left side of the picture. From here we went to the right up to the saddle, and then up to the peak. Getting to the peak required all four limbs. That was an experience.

 

Me crawling to the top. Literally.

Picture from the top. That's quite the drop off there. And, so, so beautiful. 

We didn't stay long at the top. We enjoyed taking pictures at the top. We loved the view. It is so, so vast. 

And then, we headed back down. 

This view is halfway down the peak. I love the high mountain lakes. So beautiful.

This is about how I hike - I don't have both oars in the water. Lack some coordination. Klutzy. It's fun.

After passing back through the snowfields, we were on our merry way down the mountain. The last three miles felt like 7. And, the end of the hike is not too pretty. Sigh. But, we were grateful we hit the peak. And, we were grateful to be back at the car. 

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Cabin Creek Trail. 6.7 miles. 1,663 ft. Date hiked: July 27, 2023. 

Since we had a long drive home, we decided on a shorter hike. This hike was just perfect for that. And, we mainly stayed on the trail. #revolutionary When we got to the lake, we decided that we needed to make our way up to a second lake. Of course, there was no trail for this, but Leti our trusty guide, got us there without any problems. #mapandguideforthewin

The upper lake was beautiful. As demonstrated. 

We had the upper lake to ourselves, which was lovely. After taking some time to take it all in, we snapped a few photos and headed to the car. And like that, another hiking vacation was in the books!