Date: 09/22/2010
Description: Sawtooth Lake
Region: Off of Highway 21, ~ 4 miles SW of Stanley, ID.
Companions: Jasper
Distance: 13.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 2920 ft
High Point: 8980 ft
We woke up at Pettit Lake Campground and wondered over to the NE shore where I took some frigid sunrise shots.
Foggy sunrise on Pettit Lake.
From Pettit Lake we drove to Highway 75 and headed north and then west through Stanley to the Iron Creek Trailhead, another major trailhead into the Wilderness. Destination: Sawtooth Lake, the largest alpine lake in the area (almost a mile long)
The trail kept confined to a pine forest for the first two miles then began to climb above Iron Creek on the north side of the valley, arcing underneath a really impressive ridge of unnamed granite spires.
~8700' ridge of granite spires, viewed from the south.
The trail passes by a smaller alpine lake at about 4 miles and arrives at a small pond just NE of Sawtooth Lake.
Reflections of unnamed peaks on the Mt Regan ridge.
Just around the corner was Sawtooth Lake. The following view was what inspired me to visit the Sawtooth Range; I remember seeing it on Google Earth when I was stationed at the Theodore Decontamination Station in Alabama for the BP MC252 oil spill response last summer. I planned this whole trip on my breaks in the ERM temporary office.
Classic view of Sawtooth Lake from the NE shore, elevation 8430. Mt Regan (10,190') in the distance.
When dropping down to the lake, the trail went through a narrow rocky section:
Jasper with an unnamed 9424' peak in the background, taken from the NE shore of Sawtooth Lake.
We spent a long time hanging out on the shore and I set up my camera for a delay shot:
Matt and Jasper at Sawtooth Lake.
From here we followed the trail on the east side of the lake on the way to a large gradual saddle at the top of the Iron Creek valley.
The trail beckons....Mt Regan towers 1800 feet over Sawtooth Lake.
Upvalley from Sawtooth Lake. Hey, look at that perfect saddle in the middle of the shot....
The drainage divide between Iron Creek and North Fork Baron Creek. 8515 feet.
We headed for the saddle above Sawtooth Lake to the NW.
Mountain Dog with Mt Regan.
Jasper keeping an eye out on the SW shore of Sawtooth Lake.
Sawtooth Lake and Mt Regan from 9000 foot saddle.
This saddle marked the edge of a large burn that occurred fairly recently; everything to the west of here is burnt out.
View to the west from saddle above Sawtooth Lake.
Burnt snags and Sawtooth Lake.
Taken from just below the fire zone; the flames must have rushed up but not over the saddle.
This was our lunch spot; from here we began the long decent back to the trailhead. On the way I picked up a perfect chunk of Sawtooth Granite that currently sits next to my liquor cabinet.
Pettit Lake sunset.
Another perfect day in the Sawtooth Wilderness. The next day we ventured into the White Cloud Range across the Salmon River Valley; a higher but less rugged range.
Description: Sawtooth Lake
Region: Off of Highway 21, ~ 4 miles SW of Stanley, ID.
Companions: Jasper
Distance: 13.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 2920 ft
High Point: 8980 ft
We woke up at Pettit Lake Campground and wondered over to the NE shore where I took some frigid sunrise shots.
From Pettit Lake we drove to Highway 75 and headed north and then west through Stanley to the Iron Creek Trailhead, another major trailhead into the Wilderness. Destination: Sawtooth Lake, the largest alpine lake in the area (almost a mile long)
The trail kept confined to a pine forest for the first two miles then began to climb above Iron Creek on the north side of the valley, arcing underneath a really impressive ridge of unnamed granite spires.
The trail passes by a smaller alpine lake at about 4 miles and arrives at a small pond just NE of Sawtooth Lake.
Just around the corner was Sawtooth Lake. The following view was what inspired me to visit the Sawtooth Range; I remember seeing it on Google Earth when I was stationed at the Theodore Decontamination Station in Alabama for the BP MC252 oil spill response last summer. I planned this whole trip on my breaks in the ERM temporary office.
When dropping down to the lake, the trail went through a narrow rocky section:
We spent a long time hanging out on the shore and I set up my camera for a delay shot:
From here we followed the trail on the east side of the lake on the way to a large gradual saddle at the top of the Iron Creek valley.
We headed for the saddle above Sawtooth Lake to the NW.
This saddle marked the edge of a large burn that occurred fairly recently; everything to the west of here is burnt out.
This was our lunch spot; from here we began the long decent back to the trailhead. On the way I picked up a perfect chunk of Sawtooth Granite that currently sits next to my liquor cabinet.
Another perfect day in the Sawtooth Wilderness. The next day we ventured into the White Cloud Range across the Salmon River Valley; a higher but less rugged range.
