Snow in July !!

[dkerr24]

Here's a few teaser pics from my dayhike to Sawtooth Lake in Idaho:





The Sawtooths received a heavy snowfall and combined with a late melt... Sure beats 102F back in Oklahoma!

Darin

[rauburg]

Too cool, literally! I bet that the cool weather felt great. Can't wait for the full repair.

[homerboy2u]

Amazing pics Dkerr...and specially, when you appreciate them from the land where deodorant does not last more than 8 hours on.

[PacingTheCage]

Great photos!  I'll be in the Idaho panhandle in about 48 hours!

[dkerr24]

A few more pics I took on our return...  we stopped in Moab, UT on the way home.  Moab is awesome!  We'll definitely get back there with our mountain bikes and do some exploring...







Darin

[dkerr24]

Hike to Sawtooth Lake - July 18, 2011

The hike we chose was about a 12 mile round trip.  We started early, as the drive from our hotel in Boise was about 3.5 hours.  The Iron Creek trailhead is about 2.5 miles off the main highway that runs through Stanley, ID.  The drive up was very scenic once we got up into the forest NE of Boise.  The temperature at the time we arrived at the trailhead was a comfortable 60F and sunny.

The plan was to hike up the Iron Creek trail, going to our destination at Sawtooth Lake with is about 8600 feet elevation.  Once there, we would boil some water and have a MH Dinner. 

I heard some reports there was still some snow near the top, but 'some snow' was a slight understatement! 

Some of the pine trees at the lower elevations near the trailhead were dead… not sure if it was some sort of insect attack, or some type of disease.  Sad to see so many dead trees.

After about a mile of hiking, we came to the entrance into the wilderness area. 



Shortly after that, we came upon a nice flowing stream.  My cousin's husband warned me I may have to wade across this stream, but the trail ran parallel to the creek.


The only place we had to cross this creek already had logs laid across.



After climbing a number of switchbacks, we came upon Alpine Lake. 



A short spur trail leads down to the lake, but we decided not to hike down it, wanting to get to Sawtooth Lake.


Shortly after passing Alpine Lake, we came across our first snowbank.  Little did we know there was much more to come.



You pass a lower Sawtooth lake next.  I'm not sure if it has a separate name, or is just considered part of Sawtooth lake.



Crossing a much larger snowfield led us up to the main lake itself.  In areas of the snowfield, you could hear water running under your feet, making me a bit concerned we could fall thru the snow into the icy water below.



The color of the water was amazing… it reminded me of the clear waters of the Carribbean at Cozumel.  However, the water temperature here was just barely above freezing.





I was a bit worried we might run into some summer monsoon rains and have to leave the top early, but nothing ever appeared.  The entire roundtrip took about 6.5 hours, with about an hour break at the top for lunch.

Another shot of the smaller lake just below Sawtooth Lake:



And back at the trailhead:



We took the south route out of the mountains, through Ketchum.  That route took about an hour longer to return us to Boise.

The weather in Boise was awesome all week... sunny every day with lows in the low 50's (!!) and highs near 90F!  I'm ready to move to Idaho!   

[homerboy2u]

Yes sir...keep those pictures coming. Darin.

[MilesOfTexas]

Wow, awesome images!  Thank you for sharing!!!

[ambersdad]

Great shots. 

I just got back from Rocky Mountain National Park and the Pine Bark Beetle is decimating the pines there.  I stayed a few nights on the west side in a campground with no trees because the park service had cut them all down. 

[dkerr24]

My only regret of that trip is not spending more time in the Sawtooths.  We only had 1 day up there.  The rest was spent visiting family in the Boise area.

The 24+ hour drive was quite a long one...but one of the side benefits was that we stopped in Moab, UT (for our first time) on the way.  Moab is now on our map as another place to vacation.

Darin

[mule ears]

I spent a summer in Moab working for the NRCS doing soil survey (mapped the entire La Sal mountains) and have spent quite a bit of time there in the 70's.  I will be back there in Nov. for the first time since 1979 and am looking forward to seeing the changes or not 

[Terlingua50337]

ME, when I was a kid we used to vacation in Colorado every year (mid 1960's to mid 70's) at a little lake on the Western Slope. There were places if you climbed the surrounding hills you could see the Manta La Sals about 80 miles away. They were always snow capped, even in July.

[dkerr24]

I think that's what I liked about the Moab area... there is so much to do within 50 miles.  Hike, bike, river rafting, hiking in the La Sal mountains.
Moab itself has grown, but the center of town still has that small town charm, with plenty of shops and places to eat.

I can see why it is a mountain biker's paradise!

Darin

[Al]

I think that's what I liked about the Moab area... there is so much to do within 50 miles.  Hike, bike, river rafting, hiking in the La Sal mountains.
Moab itself has grown, but the center of town still has that small town charm, with plenty of shops and places to eat.

I can see why it is a mountain biker's paradise!

Darin

Those trails were created by 4 wheelers long before gaining relatively recent popularity for Mountain biking.  Plus as noted there is an incredible amount of ground to be covered!  So if you see a Jeep coming up behind you, please respect them as I hope they respect you . . .   Those trails wouldn't be there otherwise. 

I can't think of a better place to rent a 4-wheel drive vehicle except perhaps the San Juans of northern New Mexico or Southwestern Colorado.

Al

[mountaindocdanny]

Nice pictures! It was a pretty epic snow year up here. 2011/2012 is shaping up quite different, much, much warmer and drier.