Sawtooth Idaho hike

[Randall Dee]

Hey All,

No great thru hike to report, but I was lucky enough to spend a week with my wife in the Sawtooth Wilderness of Idaho last week. We caught the shuttle boat at Redfish Lake and after departing, headed up to Cramer Lakes for the first night. The next day we headed up through Cramer Divide and camped at Hidden Lake. From Hidden Lake we went on to Virginia and Edna Lakes where I enjoyed some fine fishing at Virginia. From there, we headed on up and over two passes to Imogene Lake, with it’s very scenic treed islands. This was the only time the weather threatened and we took shelter in a tight cove of trees by some large rocks. We laid over a day here and I got a chance to scramble on up to the unnamed upper lakes above Imogene to prospect for trout. Otherwise, the weather was beautiful. From Imogene, we headed down to Hell Roaring Lake to camp. It was Friday at this point and with this lake being only 2 miles from a trailhead, we decided to hike on and we made camp at Decker Creek. This ended up being a lightly used trail (no groovy lakes to see). The trail was difficult to follow at some points and as a result as we lost the trail and ended up on a different trail and hiked about 7 miles out of our way before finally ending up back at Redfish lake.

It was our first time in the ID Sawtooths. I’ve wanted to check them out for a long time, and they are really spectacular with some incredible rock formations. The photos are just point and shoot quality digitals but the scenery makes up for the quality……

http://picasaweb.google.com/speyguy/SawtoothIdahoHike

[Craig Burton]

Wow, I'd always heard of the Sawtooths but never exactly knew what they were all about. Great pictures. Now I hope I can make it out there someday!

[Sam Haraldson]

There was a great article about climbing in the Sawtooths a couple issues ago in Alpinist. Thanks for the short report and revealing photo.

[Tom Clark]

It looks like a great trip, and you're right about the scenery. I've never been there, but now it's on my list. How many nights were you out? You had some nice campsites.

Thanks for sharing!

[Randall Dee]

Sam…yes, we did see a few climbers going in and out. I don't climb, but it really looks like a climbers wonderland.

Thomas….to answer your question, we were in for 7 days/6 nights.

[Rodney]

I have been interested in checking out the Sawtooths. Your photos show their amazing beauty and nature. My interest is even greater now. Thanks.

I love the tarp set up you have for your dog!

[Joshua Billings]

Looks like another great place to walk. Nice photos. Thanks for sharing.
Josh

[John Paul Reid]

That is absolutley the best picture I have ever seen of the sawtooths.

[Dondo .]

Wow, what a photo. Thanks for sharing it. That is some rugged country.

[t.darrah]

This is the area my brother and I started backpacking when in High School, to this day it is my preferred destination. We had some truly epic adventures mostly due to inexperience and surplus quality gear.

Idaho offers some truly spectacular hiking opportunities. My last trip there I saw one person in eleven days and that was on the last day as I neared the outbound trail head.

[Nathan Leniz]

The Sawtooth area is an amazing outdoor recreation area. Not only are the waters full of fish (for the most part) and the scenery breathtaking, there are also an abundance of natural hot springs in the area if you know where to look.

I grew up only a 100 mile drive from the area and had the fine pleasure of making the Sawtooths my "growing up" hiking home. If anyone is looking to visit there, I highly suggest completing the 100 mile or so round trip hike from Stanley to Atlanta and back. It is very much worth the effort. One of the coolest waterfalls I've ever seen is along the north fork trail of the Boise river (the river looks like it falls through a hole in a rock, and there is a little hot springs at the base if you are brave enough to look!). Also, as you approach Atlanta (make sure you visit the town, it's really fun!) you'll encounter some excellent hot springs. Make sure you visit Chatanooga. It's at the base of a cliff, and there is a little hot water waterfall that flows into it off of the cliff face. It's also located about 20ish feet away from the Boise river. Beware of skinny dippers, and don't be surprised if you catch a local bathing there.

I am seriously envious of your picture, it is gorgeous. There are only a few places that I've visited that compare to the area in my opinion, and all of those are in Alaska.

Sorry to ramble, seeing the picture got me really excited, and I miss that area terribly.

[Justin McMinn]

I noticed some people were referring to picture as singular. Don't miss the link to the Picasa gallery.

http://picasaweb.google.com/speyguy/SawtoothIdahoHike

[Randall Dee]

I had no idea that this thread had been resurrected. Thanks for complements on the photo. It came out nice for a point and shoot camera. Someday I hope to own a nice DLR. All the credit really goes to the Sawtooths. I'll be back there for sure.

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