Boundary Creek Hike
After an hour of climbing the views began to open up
I've hiked most of the trails on the east side of the Sawtooth Mountains many times. I haven't done nearly as much hiking in the White Clouds, which are just across the valley. While the Sawtooths rise impressively from the Stanley Valley, the White Clouds are hidden behind foothills. Those foothills also mean that access roads to the trailheads are longer and rougher. One trail I had never done was Boundary Creek. Last summer I went to the trail head meaning to do it but there was a trailer parked there, which meant trail bikes or some other ATV's were out and about. That day I went to the Sawtooths instead. But recently I was talking to a friend who said that Boundary Creek was his favorite trail to show people the Sawtooths. He said the view across the valley was impressive. So I decided that I was going to brave the trail. This time when I reached the trailhead there were no cars there. It was a beautiful morning, fifty degrees, no wind and not a cloud in the sky. Perfect for hiking.
Wildflowers enhanced the view of the mountains
The trail doesn't really lead to a specific destination. It climbs out of the valley onto a high ridge. Eventually it crosses over and joins with a trail that drops down to a group of small lakes on the other side of the ridge. Another trail leads deeper into the White Clouds. A lot of people on AllTrails talked about going up to where the trail crossed the ridge. They said the saddle provided the best view and made a good turn around point - about eight miles round trip and a little less than three thousand feet of elevation gain. I figured I would start out and see how far I would go.
The first forty five minutes were in forest. Good trail but steady uphill. After about an hour there were some gaps in the trees. I'd climbed high enough by then that there were good views of the Sawtooths across the valley. About this time three guys on mountain bikes passed me going uphill. I never saw them coming down again so they must have connected with another trail to do some sort of loop.
Is that trash by the trail?
As I climbed higher I came out of the forest onto mostly open slopes. Now the view across the valley was quite impressive. As an added bonus, I was surprised to see that there were still quite a few wildflowers in bloom. I saw paintbrush, hulsea, penstemmon and quite a few others that I didn't recognize. And still the trail kept going steadily upwards. I just took it slowly but steadily. About an hour and a half from the trailhead a dog startled me by suddenly running up to me from behind. I looked back and saw a lone woman hiker overtaking me. I pulled off the trail to say hi to the dog (who was very friendly) and to let the hiker go past. But when she reached where I was she said she had gone to the saddle earlier in the week and was at her turn around point for today. Ok, so far I thought the trail was a good one but I don't think I would hurry back to do it again right away. Must have been a local.
Redfish Lake and the Sawtooth Range
Not much further up the trail I saw what looked like a piece of paper scrunched up and laying right next to the trail. I thought it was some kind of wrapper that a careless hiker had thrown on the ground. I picked it up, intending to be a good citizen and carry it down to throw it in the trash. It turned out to be a ten dollar bill. I guess this was going to be a good hike no matter what else happened.
The mid section of the hike had awesome views but higher up the trail went back into the forest. The views disappeared but the climbing didn't. I was feeling pretty good and decided to be stubborn and continue to the highest point of the trail. I wasn't that impressed. On one side, I could see sevearal small lakes quite a bit below me. All but one looked like just grassy ponds. They were in a wooded basin rather than an alpine setting. It didn't look like it would be worth losing the eight hundred feet required to go visit them and then have to climb back out on the return. On the other side I had to walk about fifty yards off trail to the edge of the ridge where I could see out across the Stanley Valley. Yes, I could see most of the length of the Sawtooth Range, but the view was partially obstructed because I couldn't really get clear of the trees. I thought the view below had been much better.
GPS results from AllTRails app
It just shows that you can't trust online reviews. Oh well. At least I could say I climbed all the way up and it was good exercise. And on the way down I could enjoy the view even more when I got to the open slopes as it was in front of me most of the way down.
I encountered only two people on the way down until the very end, when I passed two more a few hundred yards from the trailhead. That was amazing, doing a trail in the Sawtooth NRA on a beautiful August day and only encountering half a dozen people (and one dog). And it was a gorgeous day. It had warmed up to eighty six degrees by the time I got back to my car. That was a forty six degree swing since I had started five and a half hours before. Next was a pizza at Papa Brunee's in Stanley before driving back to Boise. I even made it home in time to watch my Milwaukee Brewers beat the SF Giants 5-4 on MLB.TV.
Now that's how you cap off a great day.
