Grand Sawtooth Loop (almost)

Jen and I (Mary) set out on our hike into the Idaho Sawtooth Mountains from the Grand Jean trailhead at 1020 AM on Wednesday, August 11, 2010 (Day 1). We started in a light drizzle, with rain gear on and ominous clouds. This loop would typically start up to the Trail Chain Lakes and require 7-8 days. Due to having only 6 days available, we opted to cut a corner, and hike up the Baron Creek Trail to Baron Lakes. 1 hour and 20 min into our hike, we had the weather improve, so we stopped to get out of the rain gear.

We hiked until 4:30 PM, getting into camp (large enough for one tent and one small tarp) in time to break camp just before the weather turned south again. We covered 9 miles and climbed more than 2,500 feet our first day.

We woke on Day 2's (Thursday's) morning to fog in the valley. What a beautiful setting for our breakfast!

We started hiking Thursday at 9:30 AM, and broke for an early snack at Baron Lake. Again, so beautiful!

We resumed our hike, and quickly came to switchbacks, 30 to be specific. Good climb with great views at the summit. We hiked beyond Alpine Lake after a brief break, and continued on to middle Cramer Lake. We got the best spot for camp, in my opinion. We got into camp about 4:30 PM again, covered about 9 miles, and climbed approximately 2700 feet.

Day 3 (Friday) proved to have been the coldest night, with reaching 35 degrees inside the tent. This made it very very challenging to get out of the down sleeping bag in the am. As a result, it waas 1040 AM by the time we hit the trail! Wow! We hike until about 3:30 PM and set up camp at Lake Vernon. We did switch up and over The Temple, which is a great summit, a lot of talus along the trail, and amazing little wildflowers along the way! We saw some beautiful lakes along the way: Hidden Lake (quiet, large lake), Virginia Lake (a bit marshy, but the fish were jumping like crazy), and Edna Lake (a large beautiful lake which is fairly heavily used). We were the only people camped at Vernon Lake, and were a quit hop skip and jump south of Edna Lake. Day 3 stats included 8 miles and approximately 1500 vertical climb.

Day 4 (Saturday) began with waking a little earlier than the previous day. We began hiking at about 9:45 AM, and had many many lakes to view for the agenda. We immediately began to climb to Ardeth Lake and beyond. After the 400 ft climb we descended 600 feet to Spangle and Little Spangle Lakes. Very pretty, with Little Spangle having limited but worthwhile views. We then climbed again, up to Lake Ingaborg at 9000 feet. This is a very large lake with ample camping. We then descended for the remainder of the day, to Rockslide Lake, Benedict Lake, and eventually Benedict Creek. This is where we set up camp, after about 10 miles, 1500 up and 2500 down. The camp location wasn't with the breathtaking views we had earlier in the day, but was a good camp with a stream next to it. Obviously heavily used by horse traffic with the evidence on the ground though.

Day 5 (Sunday) we began hiking at about 9:40 AM. Temperatures were warmer with the lower altitude. We did get a good start, reaching Elk Lake at 5 miles down the trail in 2 hours. We had a decision as to wear to terminate the day's hike. Elk Lake was the last camping spot for another 7 miles, and that was only 4 miles from the car....we just decided to hike, enjoy the day, and end up where our feet take us (when they need the rest). While ejoying Elk Lake, we were able to observe 4 wolves in the distance, one large whit wolf and 3 gray wolves. Fabulous viewing! We eventually got hiking again. Steady downhill the whole way. When we reached 12 miles, the water around camp was not easily located, it was hot weather, and the camp site wasn't what we were hoping for overall. It was still early, so we continued down the trail. About a mile later, we took a dunk in a very cold spring (Taylor Spring). Boy that felt great! The sun had heated us so, and that was the rejuvination we needed, along with a snack. We continued on down the trail, eventually returning to the Grand Jean trailhead. We covered 16 miles, and descended over 2600 feet.

We got out the chairs, sat down, and cracked open a cold beer from the 5 day cooler! Then off to the Sourdough Lodge for a burger and onion rings. We drove back to Boise, surprising Larry by arriving home at about midnight a full day early!