Sawtooths

Stacy and I spent three days in the sawtooths, hiking and climbing. Our ultimate goal was a seldom climbed mountain: Warbonnet Peak 93 photos

August 18, 2019

Distance: 26 miles

Sunday, August 18

Stacy's Aunt and cousins accompanied us to Stanley, ID to take in the beautiful views.

The Ram Fam

Our first view of the Sawtooths

Getting a beer in Stanley

We took the next day to get our gear in order, find maps of the area, and do some final planing.

Monday, August 19

Boondocking in Stanley, ID

Tuesday, August 20

Beautiful views in Stanley

We got a late start due to a midnight mouse invasion of the van! They were eating our food!

The start of our journey was a ferry boat that took us 6 miles across the lake. Skipping all of the front country trails, depositing us right into the heart of the Sawtooth range.

Waiting for the ferry

Beautiful dock to catch the ferry at

Ferry is a strong word for this boat

Adam on the ferry

The fastest 6 miles on the trip

Approaching the mountains

Starting on the trail

Stacy starting out on the trail

Looking at the peaks along the trail

Boardwalks over the soggy parts of the trail

Looking up the climb

The first pitch was well within our comfort zone, so we solo'd up it to the start of what we'll call our Pitch 1

Stacy coming up "Pitch 0"

Pitch 1

Stacy coming up Pitch 1

Some scrappy little plants clinging to the mountain side

Pitch 2

Stacy leading up Pitch 2

Stacy resting and assessing her next moves

Waiting at the belay

Pitch 3

Great views from the top

Adam working up Pitch 3

Good hands and friction

Pitch 4

Top out selfie

Stacy looking over at Elephants Perch

Working our way up the valley

Looking back at Elephants Perch

Beautiful alpine meadow

The trail to Alpine Lake

Camp was by a pristine alpine lake. Spirits were high as we made camp and thought about tomorrow's upcoming slog.

Alpine Lake reflection

Moment Lenses at Alpine Lake

Adam at Alpine Lake

Mountains at sunset

Adam cleaning his feet

Dead wood at sunset

Alpine Puff Ball

Camp, and nothing more

Adam starting the fire

Camp fire at night

Adam sitting by the fire as the evening light fades

We stayed up and tried to keep warm by sipping hot tea as I took some of the best astro-photography shots of my life.

Glowing embers of our camp fire

Stars by fire light

The milkyway over Alpine Lake

Stars over our campsite

Milkyway rise over the mountains

Wednesday, August 21

Morning fog over Alpine Lake

We got a leisurely start as we didn't have too many miles to go. But oh man did we underestimate those miles...

Breakfast

Dead wood

Dead log sprouting grass

Now go up that

Adam working across the meadow toward the boulder field

The last time they were seen happy

Snow patches still in the coulir in August

Stacy looking happier than she felt

Adam getting ready for the final push to the saddle

Adam hanging out at the top of the Saddle

Looking back down the valleys and lakes we came up

Top of the saddle

The next saddle

Looking down at Warbonnet lake

Adam working down the boulder field toward Warbonnet lake

Stacy Descending the Boulder Field to Warbonnet Lake

Boulder Field around Warbonnet Lake

Feather Lakes and the Sawtooths

An Alpine Flower

Bead Lake and the Sawtooths

Granite Ground Around our Camp

Warbonnet Peak

Adam chilling in camp

Stacy setup camp and made dinner while Adam tried to get some water down and deal with some altitude sickness.

Our camp

Organizing Gear in Camp

Posing while quite altitude sick

Stacy's View from her Sleeping Bag

We slept under the foreboding hulk of Warbonnet peak. A sheer granite spike shooting out of the ground at almost 9,000' elevation.

We had alarms set for 5:00am, but nature had other ideas. Around 4am it started raining on us. Our open bivy seeming like not such a good idea now.

Thursday, August 22

The Face of Despair getting rained on at 4:30 AM

Stacy & the Boulder Field

Stacy & The Sawtooths

Adam Looking Up towards Warbonnet Peak

Looking down the other side of the saddle from where we came up

Adam tying in

Finally on route. The rain continued. At this elevation, and now above many of the other peaks, the wind was howling through the V slot we were belaying from.

Stacy at the top of the first pitch

Stacy belaying Adam Across a Ledge

Not many photos from these few hours. We battled with the route, the weather, the rock. Finally, hands numb, outer layers wetting through, our turn around time looming, we made the decision to descend. It's never an easy one, but we now had to hustle to make the last Ferry.

Looking out over the Sawtooths from Warbonnet Peak

Stacy Ascending the Scree Slope Above Warbonnet Lake

Looking down to Baron Lakes

Stacy Attempting to Glissade

We came over a different saddle than we came in on. Trying to find a better route. We failed. This slope was horribly unstable, just exhausting to descend.

We had been up since 4am, and moving since 6am. So we took a few moments rest and cooled our feet in this incredible lake.

Adam Relaxing at Baron Lake

Adam Dipping His feet in Baron Lake

Baron Lake Shoreline

Scree slope Above Baron Lake

Adam on the trail around Baron Lake

We caught the Ferry just MOMENTS before it left. And we ended up jogging the last 5 miles to get there in time. All told we covered about 13 miles, and 4,500' of elevation gain that day.

Stacy's Dirty Legs