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trailmo Member
Joined: 05 Sep 2015 Posts: 22 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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trailmo
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Wed Sep 14, 2016 4:26 pm
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After a friends fun birthday weekend in Twisp I headed out for Stanley to start my fall vacation. Originally I had planned on a 7 day loop but it got shortened to 6 days as I rolled into the last camp before 2 and there were unfortunately quite a few people around so I bailed for ribs and a beer in town.
Overall stats: 6 days, about 66 miles, about 18,550 gain and loss. Here's a link to the route I took
Route map
Day 1: 5 miles, 1400 gain, 600 loss. Rolled into Tin Cup Trailhead around 3 and after taping my big toenail into it's approximate previous location, headed up the trail to Farley Lake, I was making pathetically slow progress and wondering if it was the sudden elevation change or the fact I'd spent a day and a half in my car working on a party size bag of jalapeño chips... Pleasant camp above the lake with one other party. There was a good rockslide off a peak on the other side of the lake for dinner entertainment.
Parks Peak
Day 2: 17 miles, 4000 gain, 5300 loss. Hiked from Farley up and over to Imogene and Hell Roaring Lakes then up and over to Redfish Lake on a trail that apparently doesn't get much travel and was quite the slog-fest, didn't see anyone past Hell Roaring Lake until the next morning. Stayed at the campground all by myself at Redfish Lake, the $6 was worth it for the picnic table and bathroom, felt very luxurious!
Edith Lake Looking back towards Edith and Farley Lakes First peek of Imogene Imogene Imogene pano Outlet at Hell Roaring Lake Sawtooth Valley and the White Clouds
Day 3: 8.75 miles, 4850 gain, 3000 loss. Hiked from Redfish Lake up to Alpine Lake then up and over to Upper and Lower Baron Lakes, one of my favorite areas of the trip. Met some nice folks from Boston/Ireland at the pass above the Baron Lakes who kindly gave me a shot of whiskey Had a beautiful but windy and slightly smokey camp on the strip of land between the upper and lower lakes. Had the upper lake all to myself.
Heading up Redfish Lake Creek Alpine Lake Baron pass Upper Baron Smokey camp at Upper Baron Lake Last light and Lower Baron Lake View for pudding time
Day 4: 11.5 miles, 4000 gain, 3900 loss. Up from Upper Baron Lake down past Alpine Lake again then up the Redfish Lake Creek up to Cramer Lakes then over the Cramer Divide down to another private lake camp at Hidden Lake. Hiking up into the Cramer Divide was really awesome, I felt like Frodo heading up Mount Doom. After the Cramer Lakes area Hidden Lake was a bit boring but it was nice and quiet except for the fish that kept jumping and taunting me for not bringing my pole.
Elephant Perch Middle Cramer Lake Upper Cramer Lake Looking back at Upper Cramer Mount Cramer Hidden Lake
Day 5: 7.75 miles, 2000 gain, 2200 loss. Had a nice easy day from Hidden Lake to Vernon Lake. After setting up camp went up to Lake 8866 and scrambled up into the Tenlake Basin. A bit tricky to get up there with lots of cliffing out, missed my route on the way out and ended up, (after apologizing to my boss and partner as I had told them "of course I won't do anything risky where I won't be easily found") scrambling/down climbing a big slab system that was a little sketchy. Saw a few people wander by my camp in the afternoon but had the lake to myself again.
Chilly morning ice on Hidden Lake Smokey morning Edna Lake Vernon Lake Lake 8866 Ardeth Lake Tenlake Basin Tenlake Basin Tenlake Basin Not the recommended route Lake 8866 Lake 8866 Smoke starting to creep my way
Day 6: 16 miles, 2300 gain, 3700 loss. Hiked from Vernon Lake up and over to Toxaway Lake then up and over to Twin and Alice Lakes. Was going to scramble Snowyside but couldn't see a route that didn't look like it presented serious problems, apparently the large cracks that you see from the pass above Twin Lakes are really easy when you get there they just look bad. Something to do for the next time I get down there! Rolled into Alice Lake before 2 to strong winds, out of gummy bears, and there were more people than I was now used to or wanted to share the lake with (maybe 10... I had become quite the lake snob by then) and so I decided to head back out a day early for some barbecue.
Sand Mountain Pass Toxaway Lake Toxaway Lake Toxaway Lake Small tarn above Toxaway from Pass between Toxaway and Twin Lakes Pano from the pass Pano from the pass Twin Lakes Fall colors starting to show Alice Lake Alice Lake pano with El Capitan El Capitan El Capitan Sawtooth Valley Back side of Parks Peak
All in all an excellent trip, amazing scenery, lucked out on the weather with sun every day, the only thing I regret is not packing a fishing pole, they were jumping like crazy every night!
As I pulled out of the trailhead I started planning my next trip and my back brakes started to make horrible noises, luckily there's a nice shop in Ketchum that fit me in the next day and I got a good excuse to stay in the valley a little longer and catch up with a friend in Boise.
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kenbee Member
Joined: 15 Nov 2010 Posts: 104 | TRs | Pics Location: seattle |
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kenbee
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Wed Sep 14, 2016 5:12 pm
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Nice! Looks like another place I'm going to have check out at some point. I like your thinking as well: Too many people around? Bail for ribs and beer!
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olderthanIusedtobe Member
Joined: 05 Sep 2011 Posts: 7708 | TRs | Pics Location: Shoreline |
Excellent! The Sawtooths are great. I've done the Toxaway/Pettit loop and Baron Lakes in-and-out via Redfish Lake (with a water shuttle from the lodge). Looks like a really nice loop that included both of those plus quite a bit more.
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awilsondc Member
Joined: 03 Apr 2016 Posts: 1324 | TRs | Pics
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Nice loop! That's some serious lake bagging! I earned my chops in the Sawtooth range in my early 20's. I miss that place. Thanks for the memories!
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JimK Member
Joined: 07 Feb 2002 Posts: 5606 | TRs | Pics Location: Ballard |
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JimK
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Wed Sep 14, 2016 10:10 pm
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Great trip report! You hit many of my favorite places. I've done most of your route but not the Hell Roaring Lake to Redfish Lake section. Two of my favorite spots are Cramer Divide and Ten Lakes Basin. Ten Lakes is well worth a day of exploring alone. Glen's Peak above is not a difficult scramble.
There is a pretty easy way off the ridge down to Ten Lake Basin though it is easy to get into much harder terrain. You bring back a lot of good memories. Here is one of my shots of Ten Lakes Basin.
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Snowdog Member
Joined: 21 Jul 2006 Posts: 1028 | TRs | Pics Location: on (& off) the beaten path |
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Snowdog
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Thu Sep 15, 2016 8:48 am
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Love love love the Sawtooths- thanks for sharing.
'we don't have time for a shortcut'
'we don't have time for a shortcut'
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call-151 Member
Joined: 26 Jul 2006 Posts: 59 | TRs | Pics Location: Vancouver, BC |
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call-151
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Thu Sep 15, 2016 3:22 pm
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Enjoyed the report and following along on the map. Thanks for posting!
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wildernessed viewbagger
Joined: 31 Oct 2004 Posts: 9275 | TRs | Pics Location: Wenatchee |
Very Nice ! I was looking at a loop in there earlier this year with a trip up Sunnyside Peak with my daughter but the scheduling didn't work out.
Living in the Anthropocene
Living in the Anthropocene
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Treehugger5 Member
Joined: 23 Sep 2012 Posts: 407 | TRs | Pics Location: Spokane, WA |
Fantastic trip! Great pictures. I have a friend visiting from New Jersey in two weeks, I have a Montana trip scheduled but in case the weather is iffy I'm looking at alternatives. Is there a shorter version of this loop you could recommend? ( We only have Tues -including drive time- through Friday--again, driving day).
Elrond's Rocket of Rivendell~ hiker and runner extraordinaire
Elrond's Rocket of Rivendell~ hiker and runner extraordinaire
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Distel32 Member
Joined: 03 Jun 2014 Posts: 961 | TRs | Pics Location: Edmonds, WA |
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Distel32
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Mon Sep 19, 2016 12:27 pm
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trailmo Member
Joined: 05 Sep 2015 Posts: 22 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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trailmo
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Mon Sep 19, 2016 12:53 pm
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JimK wrote: | There is a pretty easy way off the ridge down to Ten Lake Basin though it is easy to get into much harder terrain. |
Haha I probably breezed right by it. I had looked up how others had gotten in there but maybe I started in the wrong place, I guess I'll just have to get back there and try again
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trailmo Member
Joined: 05 Sep 2015 Posts: 22 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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trailmo
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Mon Sep 19, 2016 1:00 pm
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Treehugger, this was actually my first time in the Sawtooths so I'm not sure I'm the best for trip recommendations. All kind of depends on how much mileage/gain you want to do, I probably could've gotten this done in less time but I enjoyed my reading by the lake time.
Just taking a peek at the map maybe you could go in Grandjean, up to Ardeth Lake, loop up past Edna Lake to the Cramer Divide, then head back out to Grandjean via Alpine/Baron Lakes, I met a group doing that trip plus adding the loop to Sawtooth Lake. There are fun little side trips you could take to other lakes/scrambles along that route as well.
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hooker Member
Joined: 02 Jul 2006 Posts: 303 | TRs | Pics Location: Nez Perce County |
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hooker
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Sun Dec 18, 2016 8:12 pm
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Love It!
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Backpacker Joe Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics Location: Cle Elum |
Ive looked at your map, but I cant seem to figure it out. Can you give me a "basic" route to the trail head from Washington State. Wonderful trip by the way.
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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trailmo Member
Joined: 05 Sep 2015 Posts: 22 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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trailmo
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Mon Dec 26, 2016 11:16 am
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