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Base Camp
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- Statistics:
- Date Hiked: September 5,
1999
- Miles Hiked: 8.0
- Elevation Gain: 1,720'
- Hiking Partner(s): Chuck Bauman
- Description:
- Although my next two hikes aren't
located in the Inland Northwest, they were great walks that need to be included
on my web. Becky, Taylor, and I decided to go to Boise for the weekend to
visit Kathy (Erhardt) & Chuck Bauman. Chuck is also a hiking enthusiast
like myself and he lined up a couple of great hikes for us. This one was
located in the Sawtooth Mountains of south central Idaho, and the one we did the
following day was just outside of Boise.
- The wives took off for Sun
Valley (ID), and
Chuck and I headed out on our hike. The trailhead for Alpine/Sawtooth
Lakes is only three miles off the main highway approximately 7 miles northwest
of Stanley (ID). Unfortunately because of the easy access, you run into a
lot of company on the trail including people of all ages, shapes, and
sizes. Regardless of the traffic, the Sawtooth Mountains are an
exceptional site to see.
- It was three miles, 1 hour, and 15
minutes to Alpine Lake with very moderate elevation gain. From here, it
was another mile to Sawtooth Lake and about 700' in elevation gain. It
took us another 25 minutes to get to the upper lake, which is the biggest in the
Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The highest point I have been at in
northern Idaho was a 7,530' peak near Big Fisher Lake. Sawtooth Lake was
at 8,438', and this was in the bottom of a bowl. On the far end of the
lake stood Mount Regan at 10,190'. There are approximately 40 peaks over
10,000' in the Sawtooth Mountains.
- Again, I was very pleased with this
hike that Chuck organized for me, and hopefully I will be able to make it back
down to do some more backpacking with him.
- Maps:
- Click here to view a 2D map of
the area where this hike is located.
- Click here to view a
second 2D map of
the area where this hike is located.
- Click here to view a
3D map of
the area where this hike is located.
- Photographs:
- Before we got to the trailhead, Kathy,
Chuck, Becky, Taylor and myself stopped at this lookout
for a quick late
morning picnic. Mount Regan is the second peak to the right of my big
head.
- Chuck took this picture of me down at
Alpine Lake. We stopped here for a breather and then quickly moved on
after we heard a bunch of yuppies talking about their investment portfolios.
- This is another shot of Alpine Lake
from the switchbacks on the way up to Sawtooth Lake.
- Here I am at Sawtooth Lake with Mount
Regan in the background.
- Here's Chuck after we just got done
eating some canned salmon. The way Chuck was gawking at all the female
hikers in sports bras, I am surprised he didn't sprain an ankle on this trip.
This particular picture was actually the "Featured Photo" in
REI's website photo gallery at one time.
- We had big plans for sitting in
some hot springs and having another picnic on the way home.
Unfortunately, we ran out of sunlight so we just quickly checked out the
hot springs and had our picnic in a campground
parking lot in the dark. The glaring trunk light wasn't
exactly the same as a soft warm campfire.
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