Four of us headed out for 7 days in the "Tooths". This was the first time there for all of us. I can easily say this area gives anywhere I have been a run for its money. It very easily held its own to the Sierra, Winds, and anywhere in Washington I have been. We had an absolute blast.
Day 1: Dropped a car off at Pettit Lake Tin Cup trailhead and headed up to Iron Creek trailhead to start the week. After a couple lazy miles up the trail toward Sawtooth Lake we split off and made our way up the kinda on-kinda off trail to Goat Lake. Weather was a bit iffy with some thunder moving in so we decided to set up camp at the far end of the lake instead of pushing up in to the Lake 8865 basin.
Day 2: Awoke to blue sky and headed out for a few days of off trail bliss with no other souls to be seen. This was a very satisfying and challenging day. We went up in to Lake 8865, over Thompson Pass, down from Thompson and back up over what we called Stephens Lakes Pass. Ended the day at one of the Stephens Lakes at a great camp on a penninsula.
Day 3: Woke up to a few rain drops but by 8am we were under blue skies. We made our way down around from Stephens Lakes back to the trail briefly. Headed by Baron Lakes and up and over Baron Divide. Before arriving at Alpine Lake, we ditched the trail again and started making our way up Warbonnet Lakes Pass. The last notch before the final push over the pass we were nailed with a thunder storm. Hunkered down under a Tyvek ground cloth and 15 minutes later the sun was out again. Made our way down to Warbonnet Lakes passed the Feather Lakes. The Feather Lakes were a highligh. Absolutely beautiful. Beyond Feather we went by Blue Rock and McWillards until arriving to camp at the shores of Oreamnos Lake. Another great camp spot.
Day 4: Another beautiful sunny morning had us pack up and head out to Packrat Lake and then up and over Packrat Pass. During this trip we tackled quite a few sketchy spots but this pass was in my opinion the sketchiest. Really steep with loose scree and sand. We were going hand over fist to the top. Once at the top we started making our way down to the Upper Redfish Lakes. From the lakes down to where we met back up with the trail, it was pretty crappy bushwacking. By the time we hit the trail we were pretty glad to be out of thick we had been battling. We stopped for lunch at Cramer Lakes and sat around resting our feet, eating and looking at the waterfall. After lunch we headed up and over the Cramer Divide and down to our camp at Hidden Lake. This was our least favorite camp of the trip. Maybe because there were people around and we were getting used to having the whole place to ourselves.
Day 5: Another sunny morning. Hit the trail with the idea of going to Ingeborg Lake. But embracing the flexibility of our trip we decided to stop at the unnamed lake at the top of the crest between Lake Edna and Ardeth. We had some beta that this lake had Greyling in it and we all wanted to try our hands at fishing for them. Had the lake to ourselves with a really great camp. Awesome swimming lake. With it being so early still we decided to scramble up and over in to Tenlake Basin to check it out. This proved to be the best decision of the trip. Tenlake Basin is truly one of the most special places I have ever been in the backcountry. We spent hours wandering, fishing, and swimming. A magical place!!
Day 6: Woke up, broke camp and headed all on trail down to Bowknot Lake just below Toxaway Lake. Found a decent and private camp but by this time we were in to the super-highway area of the Sawtooths and after having the whole range to ourselves all week, the amount of people and the noise made us ready to head to the truck in the morning.
Day 7: Just a quick hike out to the truck followed by a burger in Stanley before a brutal 13 hour drive back to Snohomish due to many highway closures in Oregon and Washington due to the wildfires that erupted while we were gone.
If you are tossing around the thought of a trip to the Sawtooths, DO IT! This was an epic trip. We had great weather, great solitude, great fishing, and great swimming. We assembled a perfect foursome of guys and had a blast playing Gin-Rummy every night after dinner until the stars came out and then spent the evenings watching the meteor showers late in to the night. This trip is why we all love what we do.
