Sawtooth Mountains Hiking

Previous: South Dakota to Stanley, Idaho

July 5

Sawtooth Mountains Hiking

Eight hours after leaving Kemmerer, Wyoming we were getting closer to the Sawtooth range in Idaho.

As we got nearer to Stanley, Idaho at the foot of the Sawtooth Mountains, we drove Rt. 75 along the Salmon River. While driving this segment we noticed people bathing in hot spring pools down below the road in the Salmon River. We made a mental note to try to get back here later, because right now, around 6:00 p.m. we needed to find a place to stay, preferably a campground.

Our plan was to camp at the Iron Creek Campground because it would allow us to walk to the trailhead of some hikes we were planning to do.  Very luckily, we snagged a site at this first-come-first-served campground.  We were lucky because there are only 9 sites at this campground, and even though downtown Stanley is tiny, it is a very busy central hub for adventure in the Sawtooth Valley. We got site #2, which was nice and private, we couldn’t see our neighbors, and it backed up along a fast-flowing creek. We could get a glimpse of a Sawtooth mountain peak as well.  We set up camp around 7:00 p.m., as a grouse walked by checking us out.

We had dinner at the campsite.  A cold night was predicted so we prepared the bedding appropriately. Good thing, too, since it plummeted from 80 degrees to 45 degrees overnight.  Brrrr!

Off to bed.

July 6

Sawtooth Mountains

After a good night’s sleep and then breakfast at the campsite, we walked about 5 minutes to the Iron Creek trailhead for the Alpine Lake Trail and Sawtooth Lake Trail. This is basically one trail with the option to stop at Alpine Lake and turn around, or continue on to Sawtooth Lake.  Our objective was Sawtooth Lake.  We started the 11-mile round trip hike at 9:00 a.m.

The hike was spectacular due to non-stop amazing mountain views.  It is obvious why they are referred to as the Sawtooth Mountains.  The jagged peaks and ridgelines resemble the teeth of a saw.  The trail was clear and easy to follow, and moderately challenging for most of the 4.5 miles to Alpine Lake.

Each lake was a spectacular destination on their own as both were sparkling and surrounded by mountains. There was snow in spots along the perimeter of both lakes but a lot more at Sawtooth Lake which was about a mile past Alpine Lake. We rested and had lunch at Alpine Lake.

 

That lunch break at Alpine Lake helped us with the last hard mile up to Sawtooth Lake. That one-mile hike to Sawtooth Lake from Alpine Lake was the most difficult part of the hike. There was a lot of scrambling to do, and it was a challenging elevation ascent. Fortunately, there were switchbacks all along the hike. There is a small lake which the trail leads to just before Sawtooth Lake, and it fooled us at first.  We thought this was Sawtooth Lake, and we kind of thought it was underwhelming.  So, we kept walking the trail, and about 10 minutes later we arrived at THE LAKE!!  It was obvious that this was the destination…WOW! Sawtooth Mountains Hiking at is best!

This was a truly exhausting hike, but 7 hours later were back at the campsite.

Salmon River Hot Springs

At the campsite, we rested a short while then headed out to hit one of the roadside natural hot spring pools we saw when driving in to Stanley. Searching down the embankment from the road we soon found an unoccupied pool and enjoyed a good long soak in warm mineral water in neighboring Sunbeam, Idaho along the Salmon River on route 75 (near mile marker 201).  The scenery was beautiful and we met a very nice, interesting, and adventurous couple from Gruene (Green), Texas, Craig and Beth, who joined us in the hot spring pool. We stayed for about a half hour….ahhh! Perfect way to recover from a tough hike.

We then went back to Stanley. Stanley reminds me of an old gold mining town, rugged, seemingly unorganized and undeveloped.  But it is only that way in appearance.  There are some fine restaurants and eateries in town.  We found dinner at the Stanley Supper Club. It was very busy in Stanley, and half the restaurants close Tuesday and Wednesday, so we were lucky to score seats at the bar after a short wait. The food and service were both excellent!  They had quite an eclectic menu including homemade pasta and bread.  We chatted with the guy sitting next to us who was from San Francisco.

We got back to the campsite around 10:00 p.m. where we stargazed a bit, then off to bed.

 

July 7

Stanley Lake and Lady Face Falls

Breakfast at the campsite.

We took the car toward Stanley Lake for the trailhead to Lady Face Falls, a 5-mile round trip hike. There was plenty of parking at Stanley Lake, which sports a couple of popular beaches.

After about 1/3 mile of hiking, we heard thunder and saw dark sky coming in so we decided to wait a bit.

We killed time with lunch in Stanley at the wonderful, rustic,  Stanley Baking Company and Cafe. With not many places to choose from, and a lot of people apparently also waiting for the skies to clear, there was a long line to order food. While in line we saw our new friends Craig and Beth from the hot spring pool in line behind us, and so we had lunch together. Great food and fun conversation.  After lunch, the skies were blue again, so we headed back to the trailhead at Stanley Lake.

The hike to Lady Face Falls was about 3 miles. The hike was nice, with some beautiful forest scenery. As we approached the falls, we needed to scramble along the boulders and outcropping pines of the steep riverbank slope to actually see the falls. We eventually ended up all the way down at the river, but we never actually saw a full view of the thunderous falls. We unfortunately only saw parts of it, but it was still impressive and it was a fun (and scary at times) scramble down.

 

Upon returning to the trailhead, we changed into our swimsuits and hopped into adjacent Stanley Lake to cool down (well, I did). It was in the mid-80s and sunny with little shade on the hike, so I was looking forward to it.  There were other people swimming and fishing along the sandy shore.

I was fine with the cool waters of Stanley Lake, but Em was yearning for the hot spring pools again. So, we headed back through Stanley toward the mineral hot spring pools along the Salmon River. We stopped at a different pool from the night before. This one was called Cove Hot Spring. The pool is way down an embankment barely visible from the road. There was nobody there. The water was comfortably warm and the breeze was balmy. We basked in our own private Idaho natural hot spring pool for about half an hour. It was sooo soothing.

Then back to the campsite for some chicken soup, beers, and a camp fire. We stargazed and then off to bed for our final night at the wonderful Iron Creek campground.

July 8

Woke up to 39-degree temperature!! A 60-degree drop from the day before. Dang!

We leisurely had breakfast at the campsite and folded up camp.  But as we began heading out of Stanley we accidentally discovered really great coffee at a kiosk called Peaks and Perks in a parking lot in Stanley. We wished we had noticed this before…we would have had coffee (and probably breakfast) there every morning! Outdoor picnic tables only…but man, what a view!

Sawtooth Mountains Hiking done….on to Washington!

Next: Lewiston/Clarkston and Lake McMurray