Date: 09/23/2010
Description: Fourth of July Lake
Region: Off of Highway 75, ~ 20 miles SE of Stanley, ID.
Companions: Jasper
Distance: 4.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft
High Point: 10,200 ft
After traveling 30 miles and gaining 5,400 feet of elevation over two days, I was ready for a really.....really easy hike. I hadn't quite obtained 10,000 ft up to this point and felt the need to do so as such elevations are extremely rare in the Cascades unless you find yourself on the glaciers of a volcano. So, the hike to Fourth of July Lake and up to a ridge topping out over 10K was very appealing. This hike is actually in the White Cloud Range, the next range to the East from the Sawtooths. We got a really early start and more than half the hike was still under a hard freeze from the previous night.
Fourth of July Lake, 9,365 feet. The peak behind, (10,700') is unnamed.
We had all the time in the world to hang out in this beautiful meadow so we spent a couple hours wondering around. I focused on getting different views of the lake and this peak while Jasper explored all the scents of a truly wild place. We found a very low energy inlet to the lake that Jasper loved jumping over.
Jasper jumping the inlet stream.
From here we started the ~800 foot climb to a high point on a ridge North of the lake, passing a putrid green puddle of a lake with no outlet. No photos necessary.
Fourth of July Lake and unnamed 10,700 foot peak from about 9,900 feet on a ridge East of Blackman Peak.
This was the first and only time on the trip we found ourselves (just) above treeline. From this pass we climbed East on the ridge to a ~10,200 foot highpoint.
Top of the world.
The Ants Basin from 10,200' ridgetop; the highpoint in the upper right is Lee Peak, 11,342'
Folded limestone on unnamed peak on the North ridge of Blackman Mountain. COOL.
The trail dropped down into this basin of high lakes...at this point I didn't entertain the idea for long as it would add about 1,000 feet of elevation gain to my hike. My feet were screaming. I was satisfied with the view from above.
This is my favorite shot from day three. This is Blackman Peak (10,300') with the Sawtooth Range in the distance to the West. You can see the trail losing all that elevation going down to Ants Basin. From here we retraced our steps back towards the parking lot.
We took a another long break once we got back into the trees; shortly after this shot Jasper took a big old nap. From here we pretty much walked straight back to the car, along the way I took a shot of the ridge we had been on only an hour past:
From the trailhead we drove back through Stanley and down to the West on Highway 25 to Highway 55. We went North on Highway 55 which follows the roaring Payette River. Awesome. We hit some roadwork and had to stop North of McCall, Idaho at "Last Chance" campground in the Payette National Forest. The next day we drove back to Seattle, 475 miles. The next morning dawned with one of the best Magnolia sunrises I have seen so far. Welcome home.
What a trip! This year's Jasper/Matt roadtrip is going to be every bit as epic and three days longer!
Description: Fourth of July Lake
Region: Off of Highway 75, ~ 20 miles SE of Stanley, ID.
Companions: Jasper
Distance: 4.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft
High Point: 10,200 ft
After traveling 30 miles and gaining 5,400 feet of elevation over two days, I was ready for a really.....really easy hike. I hadn't quite obtained 10,000 ft up to this point and felt the need to do so as such elevations are extremely rare in the Cascades unless you find yourself on the glaciers of a volcano. So, the hike to Fourth of July Lake and up to a ridge topping out over 10K was very appealing. This hike is actually in the White Cloud Range, the next range to the East from the Sawtooths. We got a really early start and more than half the hike was still under a hard freeze from the previous night.
We had all the time in the world to hang out in this beautiful meadow so we spent a couple hours wondering around. I focused on getting different views of the lake and this peak while Jasper explored all the scents of a truly wild place. We found a very low energy inlet to the lake that Jasper loved jumping over.
From here we started the ~800 foot climb to a high point on a ridge North of the lake, passing a putrid green puddle of a lake with no outlet. No photos necessary.
This was the first and only time on the trip we found ourselves (just) above treeline. From this pass we climbed East on the ridge to a ~10,200 foot highpoint.
Top of the world.
From the trailhead we drove back through Stanley and down to the West on Highway 25 to Highway 55. We went North on Highway 55 which follows the roaring Payette River. Awesome. We hit some roadwork and had to stop North of McCall, Idaho at "Last Chance" campground in the Payette National Forest. The next day we drove back to Seattle, 475 miles. The next morning dawned with one of the best Magnolia sunrises I have seen so far. Welcome home.
