my second backpacking trip: 3 days in the Alice Toxaway Loop in the Sawtooth Mountains
After I had to cancel my trip to GlacierNP (they cancelled the backcountry lottery), I found myself without a place to backpack. This would have been my second backpacking trip ever and I wanted it to be a 2-nighter. I scrambled to find a place to go (I also had to cancel my Alaska Denali trip) and came upon Idaho, the Sawtooth Mountains.
This was something I was planning to do next year, but I decided to book a quick trip to Idaho. It was eerie to find O’Hare airport basically empty; the flight to Boise was half full, the fight back to Chicago: only 15 people on the plane.
Up to Stanley, Idaho. For this trip I got a new backpack from Osprey for multi-day trips and this was going to be the definite test to see if I like backpacking or not.
The trip is very popular so I was expecting quite a few people fighting for campsites. There are no established campsites in there, you camp anywhere you want as long as you camp 100 feet away from the trail and lakes.
I started at the Petit Lake campground parking lot and the plan was to spend two nights at Toxaway Lake, giving me one day to day hike to other lakes northwest of my campsite. Well ……………….. all that changed 2 miles into the hike. I packed too much crap and two miles into the hike I was getting tired, tired. I reached the signup sheet post to register the hike and changed my schedule to one night at Toxaway and one night at Alice.
Now sure where I saw these falls, but they are nice:
I was still a few miles from the area I wanted to setup camp and I was realizing that I should have exercise my shoulder muscles and pack minimal crap (lesson learned). I was exhausted.
I eventually arrived to the area and started looking for campsites; I marked on my GPS potential locations. I did find one with a few campsites and put up my tent. I was pretty close to the lake and the views and weather were amazing.
I hiked like a day hiker, meaning I left early in the morning instead of later. That put me at the campsite at 2pm with plenty of time to explore, which I did. I tied my bear bag to a tree (the bag is black so I tagged it on my GPS), put on my camp sandals and moved up the trail. Now, I did complain about pack weight but the one item that I now consider essential are the camp sandals. They are very convenient, the allow my feet to breathe after a long day hiking in boots and if push comes to shove, they are sturdy enough to hike on them.
Another thing I figured out is the rations for food. I don’t eat during the day, even during day hikes. I just don’t feel like it and even though I have found some fruit bars that I can tolerate eating (GoMacro), I mostly don’t eat (no breakfast, no lunch). I see people taking the kitchen sink to hikes and plenty of food and all I can think is that stuff is heavy and I am only there for two days, so I am not going to starve to death. For me, cooking half of one of those pre-made meals is enough for dinner since I also took with me small tortilla wraps that I dipped into the food (that I think was a great idea), so another lesson learned is the food (less is better).
The weird thing, that I would later figure out, is that no one else was camping at my location. There were plenty of flat surfaces but no one came. The weather was perfect (cold, sure), so I didn’t put the rain cover on my tent and that allowed me to look at the stars at night.
The second day I awoke early and decided to leave camp at 9am (I can’t help it). The route to Alice Lake takes you over a mountain pass that has an added elevation of 9000 feet. One last look at Toxaway Lake:
The climb to the pass is not that bad, even though I was bitching about my shoulders the day before. You get to turn around and take a last look at Toxaway Lake:
The other side of the pass is spectacular. You just need to stop, rest and admire that view.
Now, it is all downhill until you get to Alice Lake, where I will camp and then explore the Twin Lakes. Physically, I was a lot better than the previous day, but still I failed to realize that taking a lighter load on an overnight trip in GlacierNP for 14 miles each day was not a fair comparison to carrying a full load and my heavy DSLR camera. First thing do to before the next backpacking trip was to get stronger.
I arrived at Alice and found a nice area close to the lake; didn’t bother trying to find the perfect place. Made camp, put on my camp sandals and visited the Twin Lakes.
This is where my decision to being my small iPad paid off big time. I found a rock formation that looked like a chair in front of the lake and spent time reading.
………………. and relaxing.
The peace of Toxaway was not going to be replicated at Alice. Apparently, everyone goes to Alice; there were lots of people looking for campgrounds and at least one group was doing that when there was barely any light. I don’t understand why the late arrivals, you are wasting the day. Maybe one day someone will explain this to me; I arrived early and did not find any people still at camp.
Finally, the third day I got up early and left camp before everyone else (remember, I don’t eat breakfast) and this section was mostly level, with one place where you were going down.
Arriving at Petit Lake I could see boats and paddlers on the lake. This area is popular (I did a lot more people at another lake while driving out, forget the name).
So, in conclusion, I liked it !!!!!
I know what to be light on next time I backpack and until someone explains this to me, I will leave early like a day hiker. The plan is to backpack at Denali State Park (state park, not the national park) for two nights next July. Fingers crossed !!!!