Sawtooths 2017, Day 4

Alice Lake to Toxaway Lake

March 5, 2018

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Today was supposed to be a fairly easy and short day with only 5 miles and 900 feet of climbing. As you can see it ended up being longer than expected due to some avalanche debri on the northside of Snowyside pass(?). Still we were in camp by oneish in the afternoon.

Our route for an “easier” day which was made longer and more difficult by avalanche debri on the north side of the pass. (created with ridewithgps.com)

This was probably the coldest morning of the trip, at least by Darrell’s standards as he used his sleeping bag as a jacket to keep warm. Steve and I being from Minnesota did not see the big deal as it was most likely still above freezing. After having breakfast and breaking camp Steve, Darrell and I spent some time enjoying the morning light on the mountains behind Alice Lake. This made for some amazing photos as you can see. David and Vince decided to get going so they could enjoy a slower pace and more rest breaks.

Early morning at Alice Lake, making breakfast and breaking camp. Enjoying the morning light before hitting the trail. A rare backpacking photo of Darrell with his hat “on” (my preferred view after a few days on the trail!).

The trail up and over Snowyside pass was a manageable climb and it felt like we were to the top fairly quickly. The scenery on the way up was amazing with the Twin Lakes basin and the mountains surrounding it, and backwards views of the Alice Lake basin. One had to be careful as a misstep would cause quite a fall off the trail.

The trail and views climbing up past Twin Lakes to Snowyside pass. The bottom right picture shows us near the pass with Snowyside peak in the background.

The view from the pass in all directions was spectacular and Steve and I spend some time enjoying it and taking many pictures. As you can see from the pictures Vince, David and Darrell were braver than us and wandered out on a snowdrift to take some pictures. In reality I do not think Steve and I even thought about doing it.

The view back towards Twin Lakes and Alice Lake from the pass.

The view towards our destination from the pass (not the little lake you can see).

We were really blessed with amazingly clear skies during our trip considering that Oregon and Idaho had many large forest fires burning during this time. Of course what goes up must come down and we had to lose 1100 feet on our way to Toxaway Lake. The trail below the pass consisted of nice switchbacks that eased the pain of going downhill with a loaded pack. We made good progress past the series of small lakes below the pass (Lake 8779).

Enjoying the first half of our descent with wildflowers, butterflies, views, and rest breaks.

It was below the second lake that we ran into a snowfield that was obviously from an avalanche and a trail crew from the Sawtooth Society working to clear the debris. They do some great work in keeping the trails clear in the Sawtooths.

Avalanche over the trail making for some slower going. Darrell was nice enough to wait a good ½ hour and guide us through the last snow field and river crossing. The way the water flowed over the rock reminded me of backpacking in Yosemite.

Once Steve and I made it through the avalanche mess, with the help of Darrell at the end, we waited for Vince and David. The wait was twofold, it was time for lunch and we also wanted to help guide Vince and Dave through the last bit of the avalanche debri and how to cross the river. Once they crossed over we continued to enjoy lunch with Dave and Vince in the nice sunshine. Back underway, it was not long before we came to the first part of the lake. There were a few large group sites that were quite a ways from the lake.

First view of Taxoway Lake, bringing a smile to Vince and Steve’s faces.

From here the trail stays up a ways from the lake as it makes its way around the northwest shore of the lake. We caught up to Darrell at the trailhead to Edna Lake. From this vantage point if looked like there was some camping sites on a nice looking peninsula so we headed directly towards the lake down a fairly well worn trail. As we got close to the peninsula we could see that it was taken by quite a large group of people. Instead of heading back up to the trailhead we decided to continue around the lake looking for a campsite. This took us through a big meadow of wildflowers until we came to a large group campsite in the woods. After looking around a bit we decided to go a bit further to a more elevated site that had a view and was a bit more windswept to help keep the bugs down.

The wildflower meadow as we searched for a campsite. A nice elevated site with a view. The view from our campsite beach.

We spent the rest of the day doing some wash and washing up. Vince, Dave and Steve took a brief swim. Darrell went to catch some more fish, and had quite a bit of success.

Relaxing and enjoying the shorter day. Darrell fishing, a shot of a Bald Eagle that snatched a fish that did not survive the unhooking process. Some swimming and Vince and Dave enjoying the evening light on our beach. Some close up shots of the meadow wildflowers.

Overall an interesting day, a bit longer hiking than expected but still into camp in the early afternoon. Toxaway Lake is another wonderful and scenic lake in the Sawtooths.

Previous: Sawtooths 2017 Day 3

Next: Sawtooths 2017 Day 5

Photo credits: Richard Moore, Darrell Moore, David Moore, and Vince Stefanetti

keywords:Sawtooth Mountains, Alice Lake, Toxaway Lake, Snowside Pass, Backpacking, Hiking

description: Day Four of our backpacking trip to the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho, Toxaway Lake