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| Sawtooth Lake in the Sawtooth Wilderness near Stanley |
Clouds
and light rain followed us all the way from McCall to Stanley but the drive was
very scenic. We found a campground near
Stanley Lake that was still open and then drove to the ranger station to check
on trails and weather conditions. The
ranger told us that the trails were on the muddy side from recent rains and
more rain and thunderstorms were on the way.
We were a bit disappointed that we wouldn’t have picture perfect
weather, but we’ve never been ones to object to getting a little wet.
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| Turning aspens near Stanley Lake |
It
was a cool evening so David made some ‘Chili Blanco,’ a delicious white bean,
chicken and green chili soup. Light rain
was falling as we went to bed and the next morning dawned with heavily overcast
skies but it was not raining. We decided
on a shorter hike in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness just in
case those thunderstorms rolled into the area.
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| Fall grasses along the Marsh Trail, Frank Church Wilderness |
We
hiked the Marsh Trail near Lola Creek into the Frank Church Wilderness. This area had experienced a fire in 2012 and
there were areas with many blackened and downed trees. But the rivers and the fall grasses in this
part of the wilderness were so beautiful.
We thoroughly enjoyed the hike and marveled at how gorgeous everything
was even though it had been burned. I’m
not sure if we are becoming more accustomed to seeing the results of fires and
have accepted them as the new ‘norm,’ but I do know our thoughts about forest
fires have changed. Once we would not
have really wanted to walk through a burned forest or thought it very beautiful.
When
David and I were young and both visiting our first forests, it was so rare to
ever see a burned forest. Fires were put
out as quickly as possible and Smokey the Bear was everywhere admonishing us to
do our part to prevent forest fires. In
fact, I can’t remember ever seeing a large forest burn until we visited
Yellowstone about 25 years ago. But with
warming weather in the west, recent droughts and changes in forest service fire
suppression policies, we have seen the result of all too many fires. I guess all of us must get use to a new forest now, one with fire.
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| Maya was the perfect colors for 'camouflage' in the burned forest |
After
our morning hike in the Frank Church Wilderness we visited Stanley Lake and
hiked a few miles on the Stanley Lake Trail in the Sawtooth National Recreation
Area. The clouds hung low and we heard
rumbles in the distance, but the rain held off and we managed to finish the day
without getting more than a few sprinkles on us.
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| Stanley Lake |
The
next day we were not quite so lucky. We
hiked in the Sawtooth Wilderness on a 10.5 mile round trip trek to Sawtooth
Lake. Again the day started out with thick, heavy clouds. The first 5 miles were dry but once we
reached the lake rain started to fall.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a heavy rain, but it was cold and steady. We ate our lunch at the lake and then headed
back at a fairly brisk pace. Sawtooth
Lake and the lake next to it, Alpine Lake were both impressive and beautiful
high mountain lakes. It was a shame the
weather wasn’t better or we would have lingered much longer.
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| The Sawtooth Mountains on the trail to Sawtooth Lake |
Our
rain gear kept us dry except for our hands.
They were so wet and cold that we almost feared frost bite, but then the
rain let up and once we dried off our hands began to warm. As we descended from the mountains the rain
gradually stopped and the last couple of miles were quite pleasant. Even so, we were looking forward to warm
showers and a hot meal back at the RV.
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| Reflections in Alpine Lake |
The
weather was supposed to be getting a little better as the week went on and we had
been thinking of staying longer. But we
had noticed that our RV refrigerator was not cooling very well. In fact, the last couple of days the
refrigerator was less than ‘rodeo cool’ so we bought a cheap Styrofoam cooler
and ice.
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| Another view of Sawtooth Lake |
To
make a long story somewhat shorter, we decided to head to Boise since it was fairly
close and try to get the refrigerator repaired.
Alas, it proved very frustrating.
I don’t know if hunting season was the reason or what, but every place
we called couldn’t work us in for weeks.
We spent the night in Boise and David called all over Idaho, Wyoming and
Colorado and nobody had openings for weeks.
Very reluctantly we gave up our plans to go to the Grand Tetons and
decided to make an appointment in Colorado for the following week. We would have time for a few stops and hikes along the way.
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| Coming down from Sawtooth Lake in the rain and fog |
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| White-bark pine, a relative of Bristlecone pine, grows near Sawtooth Lake |
So
even the carefree life can have its frustrations. To complicate things a little more, my dad
had a fall. Fortunately nothing was
broken but he is very sore and banged up.
It is probably best that we are on the way home. Although our fall isn’t quite turning out as
we hoped, we are still having a good time and count ourselves so very
fortunate. There will be more fall
leaves to see on the way home, I am sure…
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| Sawtooth Wilderness - 'Before' |
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| 'After' - a little worse for the rain... |
David's
Stats:
Days Hiked 2
Total Miles Hiked 20.23
Ave. Miles per Day
10.19
Total Elevation Gain 2,615
Ave. Elevation Gain per day 1,308
