The Sawtooth Slowpoke — Backpacking Technology

We had a great backpack in the Sawtooghts of Idaho, one we called the Sawtooth Slowpoke. We hiked 42 miles, with sufficient elevation gain and loss to count as a 50 mile hike for Boy Scout purposes. The backpack was from Petit Lake at the south of the range, to Sawtooth lake at the north of the range, which we hiked in 8 days, with one layover day.

Our first day we left Petit Lake and hiked past Farley Lake, to a small lake near the trail that cut off and headed to Edith Lake. That night Erik and I got to get my new Ti Tri Caldera Cone, an alcohol stove system we would be using for the whole trip. Erik and Barb taunted us with big fat steaks they had for dinner. We were tired this day, and headed to bed early.

The next day we headed toward Edith Lake, and over a pass and then down toward Edna Lake. It was a bit cloudy all day, but never rained. It was a wonderful day to hike. My pack for this trip was 18 pounds without food and water, and with about 2 pounds of food per day, I ended up with about 40 pounds. The REI Flash 65 pack did fine with this load. Both Keven and I had this pack and it was brand new to me.

Me and Barb near the pass to Edith Lake, with the White Cloud Peaks across the Stanley Valley behind us, with Farley Lake below us. At Edna lake the boys had some good luck with fishing, and we all got as much fish to eat as we wanted.

We cooked fish using coals and wood inside the Caldera Cone. It is made of thin titanium, and can use the alcohol stove, Esbits tablets, burning wood, or coals.

Edna Lake, from our camp the morning we headed for Cramer Lakes.  We hiked past long lake, and reached the scenic Cramer Divide about noon. — Edna Lake, from our camp the morning we headed for Cramer Lakes. We hiked past long lake, and reached the scenic Cramer Divide about noon.

Malcolm, Jim, Kevin, and Joe on top of Cramer Divide.

The beautiful Cramer Lake.  From Cramer we headed to Flatrock Junction, then up the slope to Alpine Lake.  From Alpine, we headed over the pass to Barrett Lakes, where we camped at the lower Barret Lake. — The beautiful Cramer Lake. From Cramer we headed to Flatrock Junction, then up the slope to Alpine Lake. From Alpine, we headed over the pass to Barrett Lakes, where we camped at the lower Barret Lake.

Lower Barrett Lake. From Barrett we headed down the trail for about 5 miles, and 2500?, then we headed up the trail about the same distance and elevation to Sawtooth Lake. As we neared the top of the grade to Sawtooth Lake, we were walking along a rocky trail with Ginger my dog right behind me, and 3 hikers close behind me. I saw a small Pika with a mouth full of grasses and leaves approaching. I stopped, and everyone stopped, and the little Pika approached us down the trail. When he got about 10 feet away he went around us on the rocks, and passed us going the other way. I think it was a juvenile, and I’ll bet he got an earful from his Momma when he got home. Here is the friendly Pike:

Finally, we got to our last lake, and the most spectacular lake in the Sawtooths, Sawtooth Lake.

This is Sawtooth Lake with Mt Reagan to the right.  We camped next to the small lake at the foot of Mt. Reagan.  We had a layover day here, and I hiked down to Trail Lakes. — This is Sawtooth Lake with Mt Reagan to the right. We camped next to the small lake at the foot of Mt. Reagan. We had a layover day here, and I hiked down to Trail Lakes.