Satin Jack Idaho Hike Pics

woodrat

woodrat

Joined
Apr 30, 2004
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One of the guys I work with, Gary, has made a quest to see as many peaks in Idaho as possible. He is into photography and likes taking panoramic shots from the various mountains he has climbed/hiked. He's climbed most of the highest peaks in Idaho, but continues to look for new territory. I saw some of his pictures and expressed an interest in going sometime. He had a trip planned for this weekend, and invited me to go along. These photos are from the Salmon River / Lick Creek Range area.

We spent the night in Donnely, ID and got an early start heading to the planned trail head outside of McCall, leaving well before the sun came up. It was 42 degrees, blue skies and calm. There was still quite a bit of snow in the mountain and we brought snow shoes in case we needed it to get to our destination (we wound up not taking them). The road out to the trail head had a few patches of snow that we easily got over. Then, at the road summit, we encountered a much thicker patch and managed to get my 1/2 ton Ford high centered on it. It took us the better part of an hour to dig enough snow out from under the frame to get the wheels back on the ground. The funny thing is, by the time we had gotten back from our hike, the snow had melted enough for a minivan had made it through....crazy.

Here's a pic of Gary working on digging us out (we took turns.....thankfully I had brought a shovel!).

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Here's a pic of Gary over the "stick" after we got the truck out......

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We started climbing about 8:00 after getting the truck free. The area must have had a forest fire in recent years, because a lot of the trees were dead. The area all around us had more green trees. We were feeling pretty confident that we were the first on this trail this season. There was no human sign / tracks on the trail.

This is after we had been climbing for a bit.

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This is a photo of Duck Lake.

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Here's my favorite backpacking knife, the SJ TAC. Big enough to handle anything on the trail, but not too heavy.

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There was a lot of elk sign in the area. Here's a track with the SJ for size.

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One of the few trail markers we encountered on the way up. That's Sawtooth Peak in the background.

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The SJ with a couple hiking poles I used (first time I'd used two poles - what a great way to hike!).

SJSticks.jpg
 
This is as high as we got. I would have liked to have gone a little further, but we thought better of it with the snow along the ridge.

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You can see there is still a fair amount of snow in some areas along the ridge. You wouldn't want to walk out on this area!

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Here's the SJ along the edge. It was a pretty good drop off from this point.

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Here's another shot from the ridge / saddle we were on.

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Here's the SJ with Hum Lake in the background.

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Here's a shot looking down from the saddle. There's a red spot in the snow that looks like a tree. We saw these spots in several areas on the way up. Don't know what caused them. I'm thinking it's some kind of pollen or something from the trees?

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Here's a creek being fed by snow runoff. The trails were very wet on the way to the top, and many areas the trail was completely snow covered, so we had to hunt to stay on it. This shot shows how green most of the area was.

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I took this shot walking back to the truck. Pretty rugged but beautiful territory.

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By the time we got back to the truck, it was 80 degrees. It was a great trip, but I'm feeling it today.

Enjoy!
 
Excellent pics.....I really miss Idaho, Oklahoma just doesn't have the scenery or the hikes.
 
sjhumlake.jpg
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Great picture. Thanks for the report.

I agree with you on the hiking poles. They can really help distribute the load and take stress off knees. I used a pair of Komperdells back when I would haul my little one around on my back. Not only was it easier on my knees; it was also safer since I always had at least two points of contact with the ground at all times. Much less likely to fall. I still use them when hiking steeper inclines.
 
These photos are what I consider my back yard!!!!
Living in Idaho all my life,I wouldn't trade it for the world
because of it's unforgivable beauty!!!:thumbup:
Great pics!!!!:D
 
Great pics and it sounds like it was a great hike too!! :thumbup:

I really like the shot of the SJ in the burnt log with the lake in the background. :cool:

Thanks for sharing.
 
Guyon said:
Great picture. Thanks for the report.

I agree with you on the hiking poles. They can really help distribute the load and take stress off knees. I used a pair of Komperdells back when I would haul my little one around on my back. Not only was it easier on my knees; it was also safer since I always had at least two points of contact with the ground at all times. Much less likely to fall. I still use them when hiking steeper inclines.
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Definitely easier on the knees........easier to climb over logs, walk across wet rocks, etc. Easier to decend and ascend.

Thanks guys...it was a good time...but I'm sore just climbing the stairs today:D
 
the red on the snow is borate, that area burned last year from there all the way down the south fork of the salmon, up the east fork of the salmon and up the main salmon river for over 60 miles. almost burned up my place.
the borate bombers dropped thousands of pounds of red borate on the fires. it is everywhere, on the ground, on the trees and blowing in the dust to this day.

Borate Bombers, Fire Fighting

or it could be the koolaid



.
 
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