Ben
Member
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2014
- Messages
- 1,873
Still impatient for alpine backpacking, i went into the Sawtooths again the first full week end in june. The seventh and eighth. Really straight forward one night, out and back, but one of the biggest pay offs of the year. I was a little disappointed the week end before, but decided to go look at an other trail this week end any way. It was very worth it.
I went up to the Grandjean trail head again. It's closest to my home, and also the most familiar to me, which i value when doing some thing like adventuring into june. The first several miles of the trail are not any thing spectacular, and having gone over them more than five times in the last couple years they're a little boring to me. Snow showed up in patches on the trail below 7000', and was pretty much continuous above 7500'. Given all that, i've only included the high lights from this trip. If you want to see what snow looks like on a trail, check out the previous week end's trip report, South Fork Payette River
Grandjean is nice because you have very close access to different directions. Trail Creek trail immediately branches off toward a small handful of lakes before heading over a ridge to Sawtooth Lake. The Baron Creek trail branches off of the South Fork Payette trail after about a mile and a half. A ways up Baron Creek there is a shelf in the valley. It's about eight miles to there where you start ascending, and getting some better views.
Snow cover also became more substantial above here. The creek runs right over the shelf, forming Baron Falls, which you can see just left of center in the picture below.
And then looking back down the valley from above the falls. I like this spot quite a bit. It's probably a little ways below 8000' here.
Beyond here i was walking on snow almost entirely. I had snow shoes and used them some of the time. But the snow was pretty firm, and they weren't entirely necessary i don't think. I eventually did some substantial walking with out them.
Isaac came with me again. We managed to keep good track of the trail even though we couldn't see it.
Crossing Baron Creek.
Snow dunes in the creek's meandering.
Eventually i ended up wandering my way around a bit, not knowing where the trail actually was, but i had a good map. I knew where i was. Made my way up to Baron Lake.
Still frozen but the ring around it. I went up above it to the right and rested on some exposed rock there for a little bit before coming back down and continuing along.. The sun shine was great.
View from where i rested. I left my pack when i venture beyond here. I knew i'd just be coming back.
Looking across from the inlet to Warbonnet Peak.
Moving up above Baron Lake to Upper Baron Lake and looking back down at Baron. Warbonnet above it again, and Monte Verita on the left behind the trees. Isaac lower left, doing his thing.
Upper Baron Lake. The views really sang here.
Monte Verita in view on the left now.
As i'd come this far i figured i might as well keep going and see what more there was to see. I was here any way, and it was gorgeous, and there were even more views above me. It was still early after noon, and i rested a bit. It was warm out, really pleasant weather.
Looking back down to both Baron lakes in view now. The top of Monte Verita cut off.
Eventually i topped the Baron Divide, 9300'.
And looking over the divide, Redfish Lake Creek drainage on this side. Alpine Lake on the right, unnamed ponds on the left. The depression between the midground and the background is where Redfish Lake Creek resides.
The views at the top were even better than they look here. Really some thing special about the mountains with the snow still on them. The top of the divide is may be 13 trail miles from the trail head. i headed back down and found some bare ground above the falls where i slept on a tarp for the night. Not too cold, though i had the dog in the bag with me. Quick hike back out to the car the next day, home early. Totally worth the trouble.
I went up to the Grandjean trail head again. It's closest to my home, and also the most familiar to me, which i value when doing some thing like adventuring into june. The first several miles of the trail are not any thing spectacular, and having gone over them more than five times in the last couple years they're a little boring to me. Snow showed up in patches on the trail below 7000', and was pretty much continuous above 7500'. Given all that, i've only included the high lights from this trip. If you want to see what snow looks like on a trail, check out the previous week end's trip report, South Fork Payette River
Grandjean is nice because you have very close access to different directions. Trail Creek trail immediately branches off toward a small handful of lakes before heading over a ridge to Sawtooth Lake. The Baron Creek trail branches off of the South Fork Payette trail after about a mile and a half. A ways up Baron Creek there is a shelf in the valley. It's about eight miles to there where you start ascending, and getting some better views.
Snow cover also became more substantial above here. The creek runs right over the shelf, forming Baron Falls, which you can see just left of center in the picture below.
And then looking back down the valley from above the falls. I like this spot quite a bit. It's probably a little ways below 8000' here.
Beyond here i was walking on snow almost entirely. I had snow shoes and used them some of the time. But the snow was pretty firm, and they weren't entirely necessary i don't think. I eventually did some substantial walking with out them.Isaac came with me again. We managed to keep good track of the trail even though we couldn't see it.
Crossing Baron Creek.
Snow dunes in the creek's meandering.
Eventually i ended up wandering my way around a bit, not knowing where the trail actually was, but i had a good map. I knew where i was. Made my way up to Baron Lake.
Still frozen but the ring around it. I went up above it to the right and rested on some exposed rock there for a little bit before coming back down and continuing along.. The sun shine was great.View from where i rested. I left my pack when i venture beyond here. I knew i'd just be coming back.Looking across from the inlet to Warbonnet Peak.
Moving up above Baron Lake to Upper Baron Lake and looking back down at Baron. Warbonnet above it again, and Monte Verita on the left behind the trees. Isaac lower left, doing his thing.
Upper Baron Lake. The views really sang here.
Monte Verita in view on the left now.As i'd come this far i figured i might as well keep going and see what more there was to see. I was here any way, and it was gorgeous, and there were even more views above me. It was still early after noon, and i rested a bit. It was warm out, really pleasant weather.
Looking back down to both Baron lakes in view now. The top of Monte Verita cut off.
Eventually i topped the Baron Divide, 9300'.
And looking over the divide, Redfish Lake Creek drainage on this side. Alpine Lake on the right, unnamed ponds on the left. The depression between the midground and the background is where Redfish Lake Creek resides.
The views at the top were even better than they look here. Really some thing special about the mountains with the snow still on them. The top of the divide is may be 13 trail miles from the trail head. i headed back down and found some bare ground above the falls where i slept on a tarp for the night. Not too cold, though i had the dog in the bag with me. Quick hike back out to the car the next day, home early. Totally worth the trouble.
Have you seen Bob's epic Sawtooth Grand Traverse report here at BCP? If not I will go find it for you. Recommended.
