White Clouds: Chamberlain Basin

Looking at Castle Peak, on top of Blackman Peak

Every Summer before I head back to school my father and I head into the White Clouds for about four days and fish like mad men. This year we went from the Stanley side into the Chamberlain Basin. Right as we left the car I was going to climb Blackman Peak while he started up the trail and we would meet at Chamberlain Lake that evening. When I got done climbing Blackman Peak, I was beat. I should have never climbed it with a 40 pound pack on but once I dropped down into Fourth of July Lake my legs were back.

Chamberlain Lake with Castle Peak

Washington Lake

Once I got to Washington Lake, I sat and had lunch and then I decided to do a little fishing because I was going to go over the ridge between Washington Lake and Chamberlain Lake so I would be way ahead of my dad since he followed the trail and went all the way around. Fishing wasn't much good at Washington Lake but all I saw was a lot of smaller fish and a ton of frogs. Once I got to Chamberlain Lake the fishing was on, 16 inch cuttys about every 10 minutes and it got even better after dinner. I even got tired of it and when to Upper Chamberlain Lake and it was still good.

Chamberlain Basin

Castle Peak

Castle Peak from Little Boulder

Castle Lake

Old Miners Cabin

Castle Peak left, Merriam Peak right

The next day we planned on going all the way to Quiet Lake but we were going to play it by ear and we ended up staying at Baker Lake which wasn't bad since we stayed awhile at Castle Lake. When we hiked over the pass from Chamberlain Basin into Little Boulder Creek I finally encounter my first mountain goat, which was great to finally see one know I just need to find one in Wildhorse or Fall Creek. This day was more about relaxing and getting some fishing done which we did at Castle. The fishing was good wherever we fished and whatever we fished with. Also when we came off the pass we hiked right into an old miners cabin and some old mining pits that you could walk down into. I was talking with some older people from my internship last semester and they ran into the same cabin and then said that they actually stayed the night there.

Since we stayed the night at Baker Lake we had a short hike to Noise Lake, which is an absolute amazing lake to hike to and an even harder lake to take a panorama of. Half the lake is surrounded by a 200ft cliff and the rest is covered in thick trees. We only stayed here for a quick bite to eat and eventually left after I got about twenty fish in 30 minutes. We knew we wanted to spend all are time at Quiet Lake since it holds much bigger fish. When we got to the lake we dropped are packs and instantly began fishing. Once we dialed in on what they were taking it was a hayday. I never had a day where my forearm got tired from fighting fish all day and decent size fish. The picture below was one of the smaller ones that I caught and my dads biggest fish from a high mountain lake coming in at 22 inches. When it got closer to evening the thunderstorms rolled in and sent us for the tent. After about an hour in the tent it let up a bit so I tried getting out to fish more and then got hit by another rain storm that had be pushed under a rock for a good hour and then I gave up and took my soaking body back to the tent to wait it out. Thank goodness for my air mattress to keep me off the wet floor and my compression sack for keeping some of my clothes dry for the next day out.

Quiet Lake

View from Patterson Peak

Castle Peak from Patterson Peak

The last day we left Quiet Lake pretty early and wet. A lot of my clothes, tent and sleeping back were still wet but what can you do about it. We headed up to Four Lakes Basin and then over the ridge down into Fourth of July lake. Once I got myself to the ridge I dropped my bag and hiked back down to grab my dads bag then left that at the ridge. I still had some time so I thought I would climb Patterson Peak and then meet up with my dad on the way down. This was an amazing trip that I would love to do over again every year. I would love to take some of my friends along for the ride and show them were I grew up as a kid. I believe the first time I went to the White Clouds was when I was five years old when my dad took me and I know I will be doing the same thing with my kids. The White Clouds will always be my favorite place to hike and I hope I can continue to drag my father back in there because he's the only thing that drags me out.

Top of Patterson Peak

Wildhorse #8

My Favorite Pine

I decided to head up to Wildhorse #8 the night before, I had a day were I had nothing to do but had to be in Mackay on Saturday for a race. So on Friday (8/16/14) I got up early to avoid the heat and the smoke that has been rolling in during the day. I got to the trail-head at about eight o'clock, and started hiking soon after. This is a pretty difficult hike to a very remote lake that not many people go to or have heard of it so I was on my own which was nice because I made pretty good time. When I got to the fist lakes (Wildhorse #5, 6, 7) I just hit the sun and it perfect temps to start rock hoping up to Wildhorse #8.

Some of the reasons I wanted to goto this lake is because I have heard and seen pictures of golden trout that have been caught there and it was also one of the lakes that I have not gone to yet. When I got up past the waterfall it was just a short hike to the lake. The only signs of life at this lake where goat tracks and hair, but not a single fish was left in that lake. Either they died of old age, winter kill or thy just weren't meant to live in that lake. After fishing for about two hours I gave up and called a day. It wasn't a total bust the views are out of this world and finding that tree was the best part.

"It's kind of like the quest for the holy grail, who gives a shit what the grail is, it's the quest that is important. The transformation is within yourself, that's what's important."

--Yvon Chouinard

Wildhorse Lake #5

Wildhorse Lake #8

From the waterfall, looking at Wildhorse Lake #5, 6, 7

Wildhorse Lake #8, Looking North

Sawtooths: Redfish Lake to Hell Roaring Lake

I know it has almost been a year since my last post and I have so many more posts to do before I start into this summer, so Im going to knock them down one at a time.

Setting Up Camp

Alpine Lake

One of the Views Heading Up

Last July my friends, my dad and I took our annual trip to the Sawtooths which lasted five days and four nights. The trip started when we boated across Redfish lake, from there we headed on our way to Alpine Lake, which is where we stayed for the first night. The hike up was not bad at all, it was good to walk at a slower pace and just enjoy each others company while we took in the sites and sounds that the Sawtooths had to offer. Once the trail split into to two there was a big incline that my dad and some of other guys had some trouble with. So I went ahead and got our campsite picked out. Once the rest of the gang got there we just relaxed for bit by taking a short swim in the freezing waters of Alpine Lake. After dinner we all had the idea of getting out our weapons of choice to slay some fish, which I only caught a few brook trout and then I finished the night by watching my dad hook up on about every other cast.

The next day we got up early packed all are gear up and headed down to where the trail split into two yesterday. Getting to Crammer Lakes was one of the easier days on the trip since we had to hike down hill for the first part and then we had a slow incline of about 4 miles up to Lower Crammer Lake. We knew that the trip that day was short so we took it easy and enjoyed the trail.

Breaks all always needed

Middle Crammer Lake

As we hiked up the trail we ran into some boy scouts that were coming out and the first few scouts that we saw were wearing ladies stockings. We all looked at each other with a confused look on are face, as they pasted we just brushed it off thinking that it wasn't what we really saw. As we continued we ran into more scouts in stockings, from the point we knew something was up but no one in the group mustard up the strength to ask them "whats with the ladies stocking"? For the rest of the day we made references to Saving Silverman, thinking that the Scout Leaders where making them wear the, good times. Once we got to the Middle Crammer Lake we set up camp and then it started to rain so we all took some naps. After it stopped raining we fished for brook trout that you could see come off the bottom to hit your fly, the best thing about fly fishing on clear mountain lakes. When we got tired of fishing it warmed up enough to do some swimming and I have to say that this lake was by far my favorite lake to swim in. It was warm (maybe because of all the rain), crystal clear and it had a beautiful waterfall flowing into it. Fun fact this is where Justin got the trail name Stumpy.

On top of the waterfall

The next was consisted of going over Crammer Divide, dropping down into Hidden Lake and then hiking into Edna Lake. Once we got over Crammer Divide (Highest Point of the Trip) everything drains into the South Fork of the Payette River. This day was probably one of the toughest days that we had but the views where well worth the lactic acid build up.

Looking Down into Hidden Lake

Brotherly Love on Crammer Divide

Hiking Up Crammer Divide

Edna Lake

When we got down to Hidden Lake we stopped for some water and a quick lunch break. From there we only had about another two or three miles to go until we reached Edna Lake. Edna Lake is one lake that holds monster fish, I'm only saying this because its a 15 mile hike back in there either way you go. Last year when we hiked the Sawtooths we day hiked to Edna Lake and the whole group saw seventeen inch cuttys and twenty inch rainbows. When we camped there this year we saw two rainbows that had to be pushing two feet. For the record Edna Lake has the biggest fish that I have ever seen in a high mountain lake. Good luck on catching them because I only had one chance at the two footer and pulled the streamer out of his mouth. But overall fishing at Edna was pretty good, I know Shayne caught a few on his fly rod and I caught a fat caught that probably came in at sixteen inches.

Morning Sunrise on Edna

The the fourth day god sent his army to Imogene Lake. We woke up early and packed up camp so we wouldn't be stuck in the heat going over the few passes that day. This was also a longer day but we needed it be a long day for us to get out the next day with a decent time. The fourth day mostly consisted of hiking and talking to people on the trail. Once we rolled into Imogene we had the hardest time finding a camp site since it was the weekend. But when we did find a campsite we were all beat and just ready to eat and relax. Once it warmed up we went swimming like we did at every lake that we encountered and then we spent the rest of the night slaying fish, no big ones just a lot of them.

Good Times

Imogene Lake

Imogene Lake

The fifth day, the last day of this great trip was coming to an end. I don't think anybody wanted to go back into the modern world but what we did want was a big greasy bugger, so that was are motivation to leave. I remeber when we were hiking out on about mile five all I could think of was the bugger. Once we hiked down into Hell Roaring Lake the trail turned into dust that just caked all of us to the point where we had to hike ten feet apart. We also ran into a lot of people probably close to fifty plus people that were heading into Hell Roaring Lake for the day. All in all, the trip was a blast and I wouldn't trade those memoirs/good times for the world. Oh yeah we stopped in Sun Valley for the Greasy Cheese Bacon Bugger. Can't wait for the next trip with these guys.

Hell Roaring Lake

Getting Grizzly with Stumpy