8-15-09
For our first
day in Idaho Gary and
I chose an acclimatization hike up to over 9,000'. Driving from sea
level in Seattle to 5900' at Sun Valley in one day was a start. For
this trip the trail head is at 7700'. It was only about a 20 mile drive
as many hikes are close to town. We were the first car to arrive though
another came in right after us. They were trail runners and passed us
by quickly.
The trail begins with an immediate creek crossing. Even in mid August it was still wide and deep. We found a small wet log to get across. At first we were on an old road though that soon turned to trail. The route climbed steadily at a nice grade. There were several logs across the trail as this does not seem to be a high priority trail.
Wildflowers were much more plentiful than I was expecting. Most were flowers I see often in the Washington Caacades. Indian paintbrush, lupine, aster, and others. There was one that I have not seen before. A white lily with purple dots inside. It showed up in the Sawtooths too.
Forest gave way to meadows as the trail worked up into a large cirque basin. Rock and a little snow above and the meadows all around. We crossed the basin and then climbed up the wall to our left. The forested ridge led us down into another basin. More meadows and flowers. One more climb gave us a view of our destination. High ridge is across this last basin.
The trail lost only a little elevation then crossed a shale field. The footing through the rock was fine. We finally reached the final ridge top after a net gain of 1700'. The view from 9400' is quite good. Mountains surrounded us including the higher peak, Point 10459, right above us. There were afternoon high clouds moving in but they did little to minimize the views.
Having been at sea level just 30 hours earlier, shortness of breath was noticeable. We did not move as quickly as usual but climbing htat high did help us with the backpacking trip that began the next day. We had planned on just the 1700' net gain listed in the guide book but climbing over those ridges brought our gain up to 2500'.
Considering this trip starts right out of Sun Valley it does get you up high fast. It was also amazingly empty for such a nice trail to views and with flowers so close in on a Saturday. Not that we were complaining. It was a much better hike than we had expected. The next morining we were off to the Sawtooths for our one way backpacking trip.
Click on thumbnails to get larger pictures.
Trips - 2009
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The trail begins with an immediate creek crossing. Even in mid August it was still wide and deep. We found a small wet log to get across. At first we were on an old road though that soon turned to trail. The route climbed steadily at a nice grade. There were several logs across the trail as this does not seem to be a high priority trail.
Wildflowers were much more plentiful than I was expecting. Most were flowers I see often in the Washington Caacades. Indian paintbrush, lupine, aster, and others. There was one that I have not seen before. A white lily with purple dots inside. It showed up in the Sawtooths too.
Forest gave way to meadows as the trail worked up into a large cirque basin. Rock and a little snow above and the meadows all around. We crossed the basin and then climbed up the wall to our left. The forested ridge led us down into another basin. More meadows and flowers. One more climb gave us a view of our destination. High ridge is across this last basin.
The trail lost only a little elevation then crossed a shale field. The footing through the rock was fine. We finally reached the final ridge top after a net gain of 1700'. The view from 9400' is quite good. Mountains surrounded us including the higher peak, Point 10459, right above us. There were afternoon high clouds moving in but they did little to minimize the views.
Having been at sea level just 30 hours earlier, shortness of breath was noticeable. We did not move as quickly as usual but climbing htat high did help us with the backpacking trip that began the next day. We had planned on just the 1700' net gain listed in the guide book but climbing over those ridges brought our gain up to 2500'.
Considering this trip starts right out of Sun Valley it does get you up high fast. It was also amazingly empty for such a nice trail to views and with flowers so close in on a Saturday. Not that we were complaining. It was a much better hike than we had expected. The next morining we were off to the Sawtooths for our one way backpacking trip.
 Creek Near Start |
 Cirque Above |
 Creek Bed |
 Entering First Basin |
 Looking Back |
 Indian Paintbrush |
 Big Peak - Maybe Borah? |
 Second Basin |
 Basin View |
 Road Far Below |
 Gary On High Ridge |
 Higher Peaks |
 More Peaks |
 Point 10459 |
 Trail To High Ridge |
 Heading Back |
 High Ridge |
 Dead Trees |
 Green Basin |
 Snow Cave |
 Small Flower |
 Unknown Lily |
 Another Look |
 Carpet Of Lilies |
 Back To The Creek |
Trips - 2009
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