THE SLOW PARADE

Our first backpacking trip on the west side of the White Clouds was a great warm up. It was a short, fairly easy hike that got us used to carrying packs and helped us acclimate to the altitude. Our second backpacking trip, on the east side of the White Clouds, really ramped up the difficulty. Our plan was to hike in to Sapphire Lake in the Big Boulder Lakes Basin. We would spend two nights there, with a layover day to explore the lakes and maybe climb a peak or two.

We arrived at the Livingston Mill Trailhead late Wednesday morning, after a long, bumpy drive up a narrow forest road. Livingston Mill is the site of an old mine. Many of the old buildings are still standing. TRUMP is written in huge letters on the roof of one of them, which seems appropriate for a failed business and a potential superfund site. Apparently the current owners of the mine have an adversarial relationship with the U.S. Forest Service, which owns most of the surrounding land. You can read a brief history of the mine at http://archives.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005119060#.YVxz6ZrMJPY.

The large parking lot was pretty busy, which was a bit surprising for a Wednesday morning. We finished packing there, signed the trailhead register, and started hiking. The weather looked more promising than what we’d dealt with on our previous trip. It was a sunny morning, and the smoke wasn’t bad on the east side of the mountains.

We encountered the first two of many creek crossings early on. These were minor tributaries. Most of them have footlogs, but some of those “bridges” are sketchy. I chose to rock hop most of the crossings. Christy used the footlogs, as her shoes aren’t waterproof, but she has better balance (and a much lighter pack) than I do. After the crossings, we climbed high up onto the hillside above the creek. We could hear the creek roaring down below. Big Boulder Creek has numerous waterfalls, and that stretch of creek might be worth exploring.

The first stretch of trail is open to motorcycles, but we didn’t encounter any. We left that trail at a major junction and our first crossing of Big Boulder Creek. Then we climbed steeply away from the creek again. After some rolling terrain, we reached a small aspen grove, where we stopped for lunch. The guidebook by Matt Leidecker mentions a couple of waterfalls down in the canyon below. I decided to check them out while Christy rested.

Easy off-trail hiking led me to the creek. My GAIA GPS helped me navigate to the base of the lower waterfall, which is just upstream from the confluence with a major southern tributary. This waterfall is scenic and photogenic, but getting photos was a challenge with steep terrain, partly sunny conditions, and a Gorilla mini-tripod to work with.

I continued upstream from there, passing above a slot canyon that begs to be explored. A sudden downpour hit, but I pressed on, following the rim of the canyon. The rain stopped, but the wind was howling when I reached a precarious view of the upper waterfall. I took a couple of photos from the brink of the cliff before a second downpour hit. I hurried back to the trail, which was a direct, easy off-trail hike from the upper viewpoint. I hurried back down the trail to rejoin Christy.

While I was gone, numerous groups of backpackers had passed Christy. We were surprised to see so many other hikers in the middle of the week. We found out why later. We stopped at another waterfall to get water, and encountered a guy with a couple of pre-teen boys. He told us that they were part of a group of 47 (!) that were spending three nights at Walter Lake. This was a blatant violation of the rules for the wilderness area, which limit group size to 10 people. Apparently they arrived in numerous vehicles, and probably signed the trailhead register separately. I felt sorry for anyone else that was camping at Walter Lake, as they were about to be surrounded by a massive group of pre-teen and teenage boys.

We left the waterfall and struggled up a steep hill to a junction. The trail splits here, with one path leading to Walter Lake and the other heading to Island Lake. It’s possible to hike to Sapphire Lake from either of those lakes. There is a steep, unofficial trail from Walter Lake up to Sapphire Lake, but access from Island Lake sounded a bit more iffy. We decided to hike past Walter Lake despite the crowds.

We joined a slow parade of men and boys struggling up the trail. I heard the sound of waterfalls on Big Boulder Creek, but the trail stays well away from the stream in this stretch. It was getting too late for off-trail exploration, so we continued on to the lake. We followed the trail around the lake, dodging people setting up camp at every available spot. There were a few people already camped there, and they had no idea what was coming. At one point we encountered two guys on horseback from the large group heading back down the trail from the head of the lake. They were grumbling because a group had set up camp at the “designated horse campsite”. It was hard to miss the irony of two people upset about the crowds when they were part of the problem.

Shortly before the far end of the lake we picked up a faint path leading up Bighorn Creek. The trail was hard to follow, though there were a few cairns scattered around. We stayed on the River Left side of the creek, which was a mistake. Apparently the trail switches to the other side of the creek at some point. We missed the point where the trail leaves the creek, and continued too far up another faint path leading to Sheep Lake. I realized our error before long. At that point, I made the questionable decision to bushwhack cross-country in the direction of the trail. This was a little rough at times, but it worked. We dropped down into a small tributary drainage and found the trail on the hillside above.

We were delighted to find the trail, briefly. Our joy ended quickly as we struggled up an incredibly steep path covered in loose scree. Descending this trail would involve a lot of sketchy footing. We enjoyed some nice views from the upper part of the trail, and eventually reached the top of the cliffs near Hook Lake. The trail faded away, so we skirted around the north end of Hook Lake on a faint path. From there, we headed cross country towards Sapphire Lake. This stretch was much more difficult than the map suggests, due to numerous rock outcroppings and other obstacles. We aimed for the Sapphire Lake outlet, but as we neared it, we spotted a group camped there. Christy decided to rest while I scouted for a campsite.

I wandered around the east side of Sapphire Lake for a bit. I found several possible spots, and eventually found one that I liked. It was well away from the lake, but only a short walk to a great view of the water and the mountains beyond. The next day we discovered that the best campsites on Sapphire Lake are farther up the east shore, closer to the inlet.

Prior to our trip, I had debated whether to bring the tent or hammocks. We prefer sleeping in hammocks, but Sapphire Lake is near tree line, and I wasn’t sure if there would be adequate trees. In the end, we decided to play it safe and brought the tent. It was a bad decision, as there were plenty of trees for hammocks along the east side of the lake.

We arrived late that evening, exhausted from a long, tough hike. My guidebook stated that it was a 7 ½ mile hike, but that was severely understated. Both of our GPS tracks indicated that it was over 9 miles, one way. Sapphire Lake was beautiful though, and quiet. The group at the outlet appeared to be the only other people in the area. There’s a lot to be said for going just a little farther than the rest of the herd.

THE HOWLING WIND

We had a big agenda on Thursday. I wanted to explore some of the other lakes, and climb a peak or two. D.O. Lee Peak (11,342’) was my primary goal. I was also interested in adding on the next mountain to the north (11,263’). The ideal route for our hike would take us to Cirque Lake, and then up to the gap between the two peaks. We would climb D.O. Lee Peak first, return to the saddle, and then climb Peak 11,263’. From there, we could descend the east ridge above Slide Lake, Neck Lake, and Sheep Lake.

The hike up to Cirque Lake was easy. Cirque Lake is a gorgeous glacial blue just above treeline. There is one clump of small trees near the outlet, but the rest of the lake is rocky and barren. We followed the east shore of Cirque Lake before stopping to filter water. This was a mistake. The glacial silt clogged up the filter, and it took forever to get clean water. The wind was howling across the lake, and we wondered how much worse it would be climbing the ridge to D.O. Lee Peak. Was climbing the mountain a good idea?

While we were waiting, we decided to explore The Kettles. The Kettles are a group of small glacial meltwater ponds in a basin above Cirque Lake. Christy led the way, following a ridge separating The Kettles from Sapphire Lake, far below. I eventually caught up with her, in a sea of rubble. We were walking through giant piles of glacial debris – basically just piles of small to medium sized rocks. We eventually reached a view of one of the ponds, which wasn’t very exciting. Later, we discovered that the best view of The Kettles is from high above, on D.O. Lee Peak.

We returned to Cirque Lake, retrieved our water, and contemplated the route ahead. We spotted a faint path heading up the ridge south of the northwest inlet stream. The wind was still howling, but we decided to at least try it. We followed the path up a steep climb, then across the ridge and down to the inlet stream. We climbed the inlet stream past a run of cascades to the top of a bench. We filled a Nalgene there with unfiltered, cold glacier water and took a couple of swigs before resuming the hike.

We continued up a ridge heading north, towards Peak 11,263’. After a hearty climb, we curved west on an obvious goat path towards the saddle between the two peaks. The wind found us again at the saddle. The wind was violent, but we were reluctant to turn back. There is a good climbers trail along the narrow ridge, so we followed it. The climb was mostly easy – the only challenge was keeping the wind from blowing us off the mountain. The difficulty increased just before the summit. The last bit required some scrambling with a little exposure. This route is rated class II, but really it is class I most of the way, with some easy class III at the end.

We defied the wind and scrambled to the summit. The view from here is spectacular. It was a sunny day, and the smoke was only bad in the Sawtooth valley. Views of the Sawtooths were obscured, but the views in the other directions were fantastic. The best was the view back down to Cirque Lake, The Kettles, and Sapphire Lake. There is a sub-peak to the south (11,314’), and we noticed a solo hiker on its summit. It looked like he was looking for a route over to the main summit. It looks like an easy walk on the topo map. In reality, the ridge in between is a series of peaks and notches. Traversing that stretch would require some serious scrambling.

We hung out on the summit for a while before heading back to the saddle. I wanted to climb the peak to the north and descend the east ridge, but I was worn out from fighting the wind. We decided to head back to camp and relax by the lake. We enjoyed a pleasant evening and headed to bed early after a tiring day.

THE OTHER WRONG WAY

The hike up from Walter Lake to Sapphire Lake was steep and loose, and we weren’t enthusiastic about going back down that way. We decided to try descending to Island Lake instead. I had only a vague description of the route, but it looked less steep on the map. This turned out to be a classic case of avoiding a bad route but choosing a terrible one.

We packed up early Friday morning. We faced a long hike out, and then we needed to find a place to car camp that afternoon. I was concerned about finding a spot on a Friday afternoon in a popular area.

We followed a good trail below the Sapphire Lake outlet before contouring around the north side of Cove Lake. The path grew more faint, but we were able to follow it to Cove Lake’s outlet stream. This creek is a beauty! All of its rocks are covered in bright green algae. It looked like a mossy stream in the North Carolina mountains, but the green was neon.

We reached a junction a short distance downstream. A trail continues down the outlet stream, but we turned and headed up over a minor ridge. From there, we followed a series of faint paths down towards the Island Lake inlet stream. We avoided the bottom of the valley, which is a vast talus field. Faint paths led us onto a bench high above the valley, which eventually ended in a cliff. We had to backtrack a couple of times to find a route to scramble down. We eventually found our way through, and ended up down by the stream a short distance above the lake. We navigated through some talus before reaching the lake shore.

There was no trail or apparent route from here. My guidebook describes the trail up to Island Lake, and the route above Island Lake, but doesn’t mention a route around the lake itself. Access to the west side is blocked by a huge cliff that drops straight into the lake. I noticed a scramble route that climbs high up that cliff to a bench. I thought it might be possible to climb up there, traverse across, and descend the far side. It looked daunting though. Instead, I decided to scout the east side. I jumped across the inlet stream and bushwhacked through some willows. I found a faint path beyond the willows, and reached a good view of the west shore. The initial cliff looked like it might be passable, but it wouldn’t be easy. Worse, there was a second cliff just beyond the first one. That one looked like it might be passable along the lake shore, but it was hard to tell. The east side looked easily passable in the short term, but I was concerned about some cliffs farther to the south.

I rejoined Christy and we discussed our options. We decided to try the east side. The hiking was pretty easy all the way down to the namesake island. At that point, there is a large boulder field descending from the cliffs above the lake all the way into the water. Crossing it looked challenging, but our only other option was to return all the way around the lake and look for a route through the cliffs. We did notice that the lakeshore beyond the cliffs looked like easy walking. There are several campsites along that stretch of lake shore.

We slowly rock hopped through the talus. This was difficult and a little dangerous with a heavy, awkward pack on my back. We had to be very careful to avoid deep holes between some of the boulders. It was also tricky at times to determine the best possible route ahead. We made it through unscathed, but we were pretty worn out by the time we reached the far side.

We took a break to recover. Afterwards, we picked up the trail at the Island Lake outlet and followed it downstream. We stopped briefly to check out a waterfall, before descending to the junction with the trail to Walter Lake. There, we noticed that someone had stashed an entire fully-loaded backpack behind a tree. We guessed that one of those kids decided he wasn’t carrying the thing any farther, and that he could do without his gear for a few days.

The rest of the hike out was quiet and uneventful. We encountered several groups heading in for the weekend, and warned them about the crowd at Walter Lake. Back at the car, we had a snack and semi-cold beers before hitting the road. As we drove back towards the Salmon River valley, we noticed that the smoke had found its way to the northeast side of the White Clouds. The sky ahead was an ugly dark grey, despite the sunny weather.

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