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Post by cweston on Jan 21, 2020 8:50:43 GMT -8
I've hiked extensively all over the western US, but somehow have avoided Idaho. @idahowalker and others, please educate me. What are some of the most awesome backpacking destinations? Anything in the Frank Church where one would hire a jet boat shuttle? That could be pretty cool.
I gather the most rugged mountain terrain is in the Sawtooths?
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Post by cweston on Jan 21, 2020 12:21:44 GMT -8
Thanks--that's great for getting me started. I usually head for the most rugged, most remote areas. In many places, those two things coincide, but I gather in Idaho the most remote is parts of the Frank just because of it's sheer size.
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kayman
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Post by kayman on Jan 21, 2020 17:17:19 GMT -8
My wife and I will be volunteers at the Sawtooth National Recreation Area Visitor Center this upcoming summer. I’ll know a lot more about the area at that time. Stop in and say hi or maybe we can get in a hike. I know one I’d like to do is the Alice Toxaway loop as maybe a 3 nighter.
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texasbb
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Post by texasbb on Jan 21, 2020 19:48:45 GMT -8
You beat me to the punch, cweston. I was planning to post a similar question about packing in ID. I've been poring over the Sawtooths in Google Earth. I'd like a nice overview paper map but can't find one. Any pointers anyone? The only hiking I've done in ID was a 5-day lake-bagging trip in the Seven Devils, which I enjoyed immensely.
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texasbb
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Post by texasbb on Jan 22, 2020 7:40:04 GMT -8
I use a Idaho Benchmark Road & Recreation Atlas as an overview map. I hadn't thought of trying one of those; thanks for the tip. I think I'll give it a try.
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markskor
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Post by markskor on Jan 22, 2020 12:25:53 GMT -8
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texasbb
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Post by texasbb on Jan 22, 2020 16:30:04 GMT -8
Appreciate the offer but I ain't registering just to look.
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Post by absarokanaut on Jan 25, 2020 11:39:32 GMT -8
CW,
Although beehivers make up the biggest contingent there are lots of great Idaho folks that post at backcountrypost.com.
About 30 years ago I did Castle Peak. Not a horrible scramble but beyond me at this weight now. The Whiteclouds are beautiful.
Idaho is wonderful but before you leave Wyoming behind have you backpacked the Northern Tetons? Very few folks get up into them North of Mt. Moran and there is awesome wildlife as well as caverns, nice lakes, and the most incredible glissade I ever did on what we called Shangrila Peak. Not a solo area IMO.
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Post by BorderCollieMike on Jan 27, 2020 8:39:50 GMT -8
Hope I'm not too late to the game. Thanks for the heads up @idahowalker.
The Sawtooths are probably the most classically spectacular area in the state. I had always avoided them because of crowding, but @idahowalker showed me some areas that were relatively low use and truly amazing. The trails in the Sawtooths are mostly well maintained; I imagine because that's where the bulk of the out-of-state hikers go. However, I'm even more fond of The Church (Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness). It requires more backcountry travel time to access and the roads are not always in great shape. But the payoff comes in fewer hikers and more wildlife. Also less trail maintenance. Some of my most awe-inspiring discoveries of special places were in The Church. The Church is the largest contiguous wilderness in the lower 48 (Death Valley doesn't count as it's made up of a bunch of individual, separate chunks). And the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness is the second largest. And these two wilderness areas are separated only by a single track dirt road (the Magruder Corridor) . So its a lot (1.3 million acres in the Selway, 2.4 million in The Church) of wilderness.
My number one backpacking area in Idaho is the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. It's closest to where I live, so it's the wilderness I visit the most. Access is not easy and most of the trails are no longer maintained on a regular basis. Travel is challenging and it is easy to get lost confused. The Selway has two wild & scenic designated rivers (Lochsa and Selway). The highest peaks are only around 8,000 feet. The reason the Selway is my favorite is that once you're off the rivers, it's rare to see anyone. A successful trip is one where you don't see anyone for four or five days. Lots of wolves, bear and elk. Except for the Yukon, this is the only place I've seen wolverine. Taken together, The Church and The Selway are about as wild as it gets in the lower 48. I've hiked them both all my (40+ year) adult life and my bucket list is still growing.
Bill
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Post by fiddler1 on Jan 27, 2020 12:51:31 GMT -8
I usually head for the most rugged, most remote areas. In many places, those two things coincide, but I gather in Idaho the most remote is parts of the Frank just because of it's sheer size. The Frank is definitely remote, and it feels like it. I was on a trail crew there in 2000 and fell in love with the place. Went back in 2005 and felt just the same. The wildlife is definitely a draw. In 8 weeks I remember at least 4 moose sightings (some with calf), 2 bears (uneventful), beaver, weasel, fisher, and plenty of elk and mule deer. Plus some probable mountain lion tracks. But really the draw is the never-ending sea of mountanins, valleys, and creeks. And oh, the thimbleberries... Monumental Creek is nice, you can do a nice almost-loop out of Big Creek up the West Fork Monumental Creek, with a little bit of road to connect the trails, lots of variety from lower canyon to alpine. Crooked Creek, Cold Mountain Ridge, Cold Meadows is all beautiful. Some significant fires have gone through so call and ask about particular trails. But even the burnt areas are interesting in recovery, if you can find some shade. If you are more interested in strictly alpine you would check out the Bighorn Crags, but I found the beauty of the Frank was in losing yourself in the vastness of the rolling mountains. It is very easy to go and hardly see anyone for days. Some of my most awe-inspiring discoveries of special places were in The Church. Yup, me too.
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Post by BorderCollieMike on Jan 27, 2020 18:37:31 GMT -8
Some significant fires have gone through so call and ask about particular trails. But even the burnt areas are interesting in recovery, if you can find some shade. This. Astute observation. Fires are common in Idaho, and are usually left to burn themselves out unless they threaten historical sites. It took me many years to appreciate how fire transforms a forest. My journey was complete a couple of years ago when I did a trip with @idahowalker and his wife out of Big Creek. One day we had planned to descend a long ridge into a secluded meadow. But the previous year a fire had completely scoured the ridge and left only charred fallen trees lying like pick-up-sticks, waist high, across the entire ridge. It made travel difficult and was too much for my border collie Mike to navigate. @idahowalker and his wife still wanted to reach & hike the meadow. So Mike & I decided to circumnavigate, take the long way around, and meet up at the end of the day. Mike and I were waiting at the creek when @idahowalker and his wife walked in later in the evening. They were carrying a huge stuff sack of morel mushrooms they collected on the hike down the ridge. And when they reached the meadow, they found it full of pairs of cackling,breeding Sand Hill Cranes. They stopped and spent the rest of the day just watching them. That's when I learned you can miss a lot if you try to avoid the burns. There was one other complete to-the-ground burn we had to navigate on that trip. It was hot and dry with little shade. But I still remember the contrast of walking through the ash and encountering a little bit of green here and there. The forest was already busy recovering.
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null
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Post by null on Jan 28, 2020 4:13:47 GMT -8
Is that across from Hells Canyon? What are the best months weather-wise to hike that area?
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Post by BorderCollieMike on Jan 28, 2020 6:19:28 GMT -8
Is that across from Hells Canyon? What are the best months weather-wise to hike that area? The Seven Devils are part of the Hells Canyon wilderness area. There are seven named peaks that sit directly above Hells Canyon. I think it's the deepest canyon in the lower 48. He Devil peak is around 9,300 feet and the Snake River, at the bottom of the canyon, is around 1,200 ft. Nice place to hike, as you can drive up to elevation from the highway. But it gets a lot of snow, and opening date depends on the snow pack. Usually, but not always, it'll be accessible by June-ish. The ranger station will know. My favorite time of year in the devils is September.
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texasbb
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Post by texasbb on Jan 28, 2020 7:52:36 GMT -8
Is that across from Hells Canyon? What are the best months weather-wise to hike that area? What BCM said. I did it June 10-14, 2010, and there was still some snow here and there, but only one spot that caused difficulty. I had to climb up maybe 150 vf on loose, moderately dicey stuff to get around this:
That was on the west side of the main loop. A lot of the Devils has burned in the last couple decades, so you'll spend a lot of time in the snags, especially on the main loop. I made it a lake-bagging trip so I was moving up off that loop frequently, sometimes on trails, sometimes not. The place is dry, prickly, and gorgeous. The view into Hells Canyon from the Dry Diggins lookout is spellbinding.
I've heard some of the creeks dry up in late summer, so be prepared to tank up for some distances.
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Post by ukpacker on Feb 1, 2020 5:09:10 GMT -8
I did a walk along a section of the Idaho Centenial Trail some years ago, picked it up by Montana border on highway 90 east of Coeur D'Alene and followed it south to Sun Valley ski resort. Most of it seemed quite remote to me . Passing back into Idaho after resuply in Hamilton Montana was the most remote because the trail shown on my map did not seem to exist. Climbed over lots of big downed trees stacked 123 on top of each other. Very hot too, temperatures in Bitteroot Valley up to 100f. Don't remember seeing much if any logging so even unprotected forest lands in the northern section were quite wild, just bigger tracks . Saw several wolf scats in the northern part of my walk only.Areas of the Frank Church... had a several burned areas . Worst areas for burned forest at the time were just north of Sawtooths, but that was some years ago now. Fires had obliterated the trail in many places. At the end of my walk I thought that if I ever returned it would be to explore the Sawtooth Recreation Area, it had great scenery with rocky spires rising above forest and mountain meadows, not so much if any burnt forest at that time.
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