Page 3
Day Three
The second night was about the same temperature as the first. Frozen ground but my thermometer bottomed out at 37 degrees in the tent on my many checks when woken up. We had breadfast then took a short walk over to the view down to Middle Cramer Lake. A bit farther is the outlet creek from Upper Cramer. It drops in a waterfall into the middle lake. Interesting to see from the top. for the third straight day we had blue skies though there were cirrus clouds that soon went away. They were a sign of the change we knew was coming.
We packed up and were on the trail by the crack of 11:00. Since we only had about 4 miles downhill and 2 miles uphill to Alpine Lake the late start was not a problem. We quickly reached the middle lake and saw a tent. These two hikers were the first we had seen since the trailhead.
The trail down to the low point at Flat Rock Junction is very gentle. Do I see a pattern here? The junction is at 7400'. As with our whole route the recent snow had recharged the many small creeks that would normally be dry this time of year. All were still easy rock hops. As we descended the forest changed. The open barrens up high gave way to much more under brush. It began to look a little like the east side of the Washington Cascades.
Last year I crossed the creek near the junction on a long skinny log. It is now gone. We did a long rock hop and crossed with dry feet. The junction is a few minutes down the trail. Like all junctions this one has a sign. Like most it does not have mileage numbers. This would be our fourth climb of roughly 900'. Like all the rest it is very gently graded. After the long day before the easy grade felt good. At a slow steady pace we climbed u to Alpine Lake.
The route up is hard to fathom. From our descent from Cramer Lakes the other side of the valley appeared to be nearly vertical. From the junction it looked to be vertical above. The route switchbacks aboves and below granite faces and slabs to keep gaining elevation. It finally flattens out in the basin of Alpine Lake.
The shore is mostly barren as many hundreds of tents have been set. There are several sites that have been roped off for revegetation efforts. We were the only ones at the lake so finding a site was no problem. It was only about 1:30 when we arrived. We emptied our packs into the tent and repacked for a day hike. It was time to go for our fourth 9100'+ pass.
The main trail passes the lake and begins gentle switchbacks up the slope. We reached a good sized tarn with a sharp pointed peak behind it. The map showed three tarns in close proximity. A little higher we passed the second one. A small pond was now a muddy depression. As usual the obvious pass above us was not the right one.
As we ascended the views became better and better. Baron Divide is at 9120'. It was a nice 800' climb from Alpine Lake. Made better by the lighter packs. Baron Lakes are right below the pass but trees blocked much of the view. After a short food break I decided to head up the ridge to the left of the pass. The ridge to the right looked to be much more difficult. The ridge provided a fun scramble from one side to the other and back.
The ridge took me above the trees and provided a great view down to the lakes. I could also see Alpine Lake and all three tarns. The sun shining on the snow tinged peaks was quite a sight. Suzanne joined my on the ridge. There was just enough snow to make the right side scramble look iffy so I tried the left. I made it to about 30' below the summit but while the scramble looked possible there was too much exposure for me.
We dropped back to the divide and discussed what to do now. I was getting a bit tired but Suzanne was up for a descent to Upper Baron Lake so down we went. The trail down some 600' on "gently graded trail" with many switchbacks. There was a little snow on the trail but it was no problem. In only 35 minutes we were down to the lake. Suzanne had spotted a tent on the other side of the lake We headed that way to get a good look down to Baron Lake.
There were four backpackers at the lake. That tripled the number of people we had seen. Many photos later we headed back up the trail. It did not take long to reach the divide. On the way we met two more backpackers heading down to meet the others at the lake. It was getting cool at the divide but I stayed with short sleeves and shorts. It was chilly coming down. This might be the last time I will be wearing them for many months.
Down at the lake we had lots of time to eat and get set for the next day. In case we awoke to rain we were ready to break camp fast and get moving. As I went to hang the food I realized that I had left my nice two rope with pully good hanger back at Cramer Lake. All that effort to untangle it and I left it in the tree! Suzanne had some shorter rope and we managed to get it hung. For the day we hiked about 11 miles with 2300' of gain.
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The second night was about the same temperature as the first. Frozen ground but my thermometer bottomed out at 37 degrees in the tent on my many checks when woken up. We had breadfast then took a short walk over to the view down to Middle Cramer Lake. A bit farther is the outlet creek from Upper Cramer. It drops in a waterfall into the middle lake. Interesting to see from the top. for the third straight day we had blue skies though there were cirrus clouds that soon went away. They were a sign of the change we knew was coming.
We packed up and were on the trail by the crack of 11:00. Since we only had about 4 miles downhill and 2 miles uphill to Alpine Lake the late start was not a problem. We quickly reached the middle lake and saw a tent. These two hikers were the first we had seen since the trailhead.
The trail down to the low point at Flat Rock Junction is very gentle. Do I see a pattern here? The junction is at 7400'. As with our whole route the recent snow had recharged the many small creeks that would normally be dry this time of year. All were still easy rock hops. As we descended the forest changed. The open barrens up high gave way to much more under brush. It began to look a little like the east side of the Washington Cascades.
Last year I crossed the creek near the junction on a long skinny log. It is now gone. We did a long rock hop and crossed with dry feet. The junction is a few minutes down the trail. Like all junctions this one has a sign. Like most it does not have mileage numbers. This would be our fourth climb of roughly 900'. Like all the rest it is very gently graded. After the long day before the easy grade felt good. At a slow steady pace we climbed u to Alpine Lake.
The route up is hard to fathom. From our descent from Cramer Lakes the other side of the valley appeared to be nearly vertical. From the junction it looked to be vertical above. The route switchbacks aboves and below granite faces and slabs to keep gaining elevation. It finally flattens out in the basin of Alpine Lake.
The shore is mostly barren as many hundreds of tents have been set. There are several sites that have been roped off for revegetation efforts. We were the only ones at the lake so finding a site was no problem. It was only about 1:30 when we arrived. We emptied our packs into the tent and repacked for a day hike. It was time to go for our fourth 9100'+ pass.
The main trail passes the lake and begins gentle switchbacks up the slope. We reached a good sized tarn with a sharp pointed peak behind it. The map showed three tarns in close proximity. A little higher we passed the second one. A small pond was now a muddy depression. As usual the obvious pass above us was not the right one.
As we ascended the views became better and better. Baron Divide is at 9120'. It was a nice 800' climb from Alpine Lake. Made better by the lighter packs. Baron Lakes are right below the pass but trees blocked much of the view. After a short food break I decided to head up the ridge to the left of the pass. The ridge to the right looked to be much more difficult. The ridge provided a fun scramble from one side to the other and back.
The ridge took me above the trees and provided a great view down to the lakes. I could also see Alpine Lake and all three tarns. The sun shining on the snow tinged peaks was quite a sight. Suzanne joined my on the ridge. There was just enough snow to make the right side scramble look iffy so I tried the left. I made it to about 30' below the summit but while the scramble looked possible there was too much exposure for me.
We dropped back to the divide and discussed what to do now. I was getting a bit tired but Suzanne was up for a descent to Upper Baron Lake so down we went. The trail down some 600' on "gently graded trail" with many switchbacks. There was a little snow on the trail but it was no problem. In only 35 minutes we were down to the lake. Suzanne had spotted a tent on the other side of the lake We headed that way to get a good look down to Baron Lake.
There were four backpackers at the lake. That tripled the number of people we had seen. Many photos later we headed back up the trail. It did not take long to reach the divide. On the way we met two more backpackers heading down to meet the others at the lake. It was getting cool at the divide but I stayed with short sleeves and shorts. It was chilly coming down. This might be the last time I will be wearing them for many months.
Down at the lake we had lots of time to eat and get set for the next day. In case we awoke to rain we were ready to break camp fast and get moving. As I went to hang the food I realized that I had left my nice two rope with pully good hanger back at Cramer Lake. All that effort to untangle it and I left it in the tree! Suzanne had some shorter rope and we managed to get it hung. For the day we hiked about 11 miles with 2300' of gain.
Cramer Campsite |
Morning Reflection |
Another Reflection |
Middle Cramer Falls |
Peak View |
Colorful Forest |
Dinosaur? |
Flatrock Junction |
Alpine Lake |
Tarn |
Baron Lakes |
Alpine Lake Below |
Baron Divide Peaks |
Baron Trail |
Nearing Baron Lake |
Baron Lake View |
View Of Divide |
View South |
First Tarn |
Dinner |
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Sawtooth Mountains Report
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