Sawtooths 2017, Day 6

Imogene Lake to Farley Lake

June 20, 2018

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Day six looked to be the easiest hike of our trip with only 4.8 miles back over Imogene Divide and then downhill to Farley Lake.

Our route from Imogene Lake over Imogene Divide to Farley Lake. (created with ridewithgps.com)

Again there were no issues on the trail and we were treated to another beautiful day of clear skies after some morning smoke haze from surrounding forest fires was blown away by the wind. With such an easy day ahead we were a little lazy in getting up and going in the morning and broke camp a bit on the later side.

Early morning at Imogene Lake, as you can see there was a bit of haze in the sky from the forest fires. After breaking camp and doing the ritual foot taping we were ready to go. We go to enjoy the morning light on the meadow and mountains as we started our hike.

We backtracked our steps from the day before and stopped at the bottom of the climb up Imogene Divide to soak it in and wait for Steve who had to put new laces in his boots due to a broken lace. Good thing his father had some laces in his first aid kit. The first half mile of the trail is fairly flat and in the woods as you make your way around Imogene lake and along the meadow above the lake. There were wonderful views as the morning light hit the mountains to the west and southwest of the lake.

Darrell and I stopped in the shade to wait for Steve and enjoy the crystal clear views of Imogene Divide. The climb looked pretty tough, but was not too bad because of the well done switchbacks. I hung a bit behind Darrell and Steve as they started hiking to get some pictures of the climb.

With only 800 vertical feet of climbing this was not a huge climb day, but Imogene Pass does look pretty intimidating from the bottom. Once Steve caught up to us and we rested a bit more Darrell and Steve hit the trail. The climb turned out to be pretty tame as the trail had really well laid out switchbacks that kept the incline at a steady level. You did have to watch your step as the trail is through rock slide areas.

Some shots of our ascent up Imogene Divide.

Back at the top of Imogene Divide we were treated to the same beautiful views of the surrounding peaks and over into the Alice Lake basin area we enjoyed the day before. We took some selfies with Darrell in them to document our continued time in the Sawtooths. After sending a few text messages and attached low resolution images via a shaky 3G signal we were getting a bit cold with the wind and headed on down towards Edith Lake.

A group selfie of the “three” on Imogene Divide.

Repeating our steps, this time downhill, you are reminded how steep of a drop off it would be if you misstepped and fell. At the trailhead where we could have climbed up to take a look over into Edna Lake we decided that would be too much work and headed down through the upper meadow area to Edith Lake.

Some views from the hike down from Imogene Divide to Edith Lake.

The trail below Edith Lake to the trail junction was pretty steep in spots so Steve and I took it pretty slow and careful. When we got down to the trail junction we ran into a couple of young ladies from the Seattle area who had planned for a year to get ready to experience the full eclipse. After a lot of research they had decided on the Sawtooths and were headed to Edith Lake to get a campsite so they could see the eclipse happen over the Alice Lake basin area without the crowds. We told them what we knew about the camping areas we had seen around Edith Lake and continued on down the trail towards Farley Lake hoping that it would not be too crowded. I am always impressed with people that plan so carefully and I hope they got a nice clear view of the eclipse for their efforts.

Assorted shots of the outlet creek from Edith Lake as we crossed it many times on our descent.

The trail to Farley Lake from the trailhead was a gradual descent and crosses a very impressive rock slide area. We were also treated to views of waterfalls and the white cloud mountains on the way down. Steve and I talked about researching the white cloud mountains for a possible return trip.

The views from the trail on the way down to Farley Lake. A huge rock slide area, white cloud mountains, waterfalls, and a nice view up the canyon towards Toxaway Lake.

We arrived at Farley Lake to find a fair amount of people there already claiming campsites. After some scouting we found one near the lake that was big enough for the three of us, barely. It seemed that many of the folks we ran into were making their way up to Toxaway Lake for the eclipse. Once settled into our campsite area we went out on a peninsula to enjoy lunch and relax. Of course, none of us were surprised in not finding Vince and Dave at Farley Lake and assumed that they were just getting out of the wilderness and on their way to Boise.

Our private peninsula with Steve and Darrell waiting for a fish to bite, and they did, allowing Darrell to enjoy one last dinner of trout. Some other shots of Farley Lake. It turns out the peak just out of Farley Lake, Parks Peak, is 10208 feet in elevation. I spent the day lounging in the shade enjoying the views.

Yet another wonderful day with crystal clear skies and amazing scenery. Farley Lake was a nice place to spend the day relaxing although there were a fair amount of people there many of whom were day hikers. Things got quieter later in the day.

Previous: Sawtooths 2017 Day 5

Next: Sawtooths 2017 Day 7

Photo credits: Richard Moore and Darrell Moore

keywords:Sawtooth Mountains, Imogene Lake, Farley Lake, Imogene Divide, Backpacking, Hiking

description: Day six of our backpacking trip to the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho, Farley Lake