Sawtooth Mountains Backpacking Trip Report- Idaho

Last week I visited Idaho to do some backpacking in the Sawtooth Mountains with Caitlyn and my friends Kyle and Angi.  I've had my eye on the Sawtooths for awhile now, so it was great to finally cross this one off my list!

Cait and I flew into Boise where Kyle and Angi graciously picked us up at the airport before we headed north to the small town of Stanley, Idaho where we stayed at the Stanley High Country Inn - a popular jumping off spot for hikers into the Sawtooths.

The area was a bit smoky, with forest fires burning in areas around the Sawtooths.  You can see a bit of the haze in some of the photos.  The dry and hot conditions continued while we were there and we did not have any rain while out.

The balcony from our room!

You can just see the mountains in the smoky haze

The next day we were up bright and early driving the gravel road to the Hell Roaring Trailhead where we would start our trip.

Everyone did great the first day, and we made it to Hell Roaring Lake in excellent time! We decided to press on to Imogene Lake.

The "Finger of Fate" at Hell Roaring Lake.

We found a small spot on the eastern shore of Imogene Lake and set up camp for the first night.  We were so heated up from the hike that we went for a quick dip to cool off in the frigid ice water!

No bears, but we did have to contend with determined squirrels and other small mammals!

Imogene Lake was beautiful, especially when the sun was just coming up, casting a pinkish hue to the jagged peaks surrounding the lake.

Our second day we had some serious climbing to do to get to Lake Edna for our next two nights.  This photo doesn't do this pass justice, it is actually quite daunting, towering about 1000ft above where we stand in this picture.  We got our fill of "switchbacks" on this day!

Gray-crowned Rosyfinches were a welcome sight on the climb over the pass.

This is the view from the top of the pass.  You can see the switchbacks winding back and forth below us.  The spot we were standing looking up at the pass in the earlier photo is at the edge of the far trees in this pic.

The bird of the trip for me was this Prairie Falcon that I spotted hunting the Pikas in the talus slopes below the pass.  A life bird for me!

After getting over the first pass we had to climb 600ft down only to climb 800ft back up to go over Sand Mountain pass.


The team at the top of Sand Mountain pass.

After a long day of hiking, we made it to Edna Lake, where we decided to stay for two nights to rest and recuperate.  This was a beautiful little lake and we got a prime site right at the end of the lake with a great swimming area!

This toad shared the swimming area with us.

We played many games of Euchre.  Unfortunately the guys lost.

On our "rest day" we hiked up to Hidden Lake where we ate lunch surrounded by the splendour of the Sawtooth Mountains.  I wish we had a bit more energy, and we could have camped here for the two nights.  The lake was beautiful, and we had it all to ourselves!

California Tortoiseshell

 On our fourth day, we decided to head back to Imogene Lake in preparation for exiting the wilderness area on the fifth day (due to our flight which had been bumped ahead a couple of hours).  We got up really early to do the hardest part of the trek back in the cool of the morning.

Clark's Nutcracker

 This panoramic is one of my favourite shots of the trip; the small trio huddled together on the edge of the mountain surrounded by the vastness of the wilderness.

Imogene Lake was noticeably busier this time, as we were now running into weekend warriors out for a couple of days.  Kyle and I decided to do a further hike up to a few alpine lakes that were off-trail.   Despite going quite a ways from Imogene Lake, we still bumped into quite a few people including some old guy who had busted his kneecap open scrambling on the talus scree and a nutty couple trying to help their dog navigate the boulders and crevasses of this rugged landscape.  I don't think I will be back to the Sawtooths, they are a bit over-busy for me.

Kyle and I had a brief scare while climbing up to the lake, when a good sized boulder broke off and started rolling down the mountain valley towards us, eventually splitting into a few pieces before getting too close.

This trip report and pictures only scratches the surface of what was a really good trip with great friends.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and did really well, and we are all excited to do it all over again somewhere new!