Spectacular Week in the Bighorn Crags!

According to the Book Backpacking Idaho From Alpine peaks to Desert Canyons published by Wilderness Press, the Bighorn Crags feature some of the most spectacular peaks and lakes in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. And they aren’t kidding! This was our first excursion into the Frank Church Wilderness Area of Idaho and we were not disappointed. After finishing up another semester, this trip was a much-needed release from the hustle and bustle of every day life. My sister Debra was kind enough to watch Lisa for five whole days. Lisa seemed very happy when we returned so I’m sure she was well taken care of. Thank you Debra!

I've included a simple trail map for those who wish to follow along as I describe our hike in the spectacular Bighorn Crags (click on the map to make it bigger). We left Rexburg at about 4:30 am Monday morning and departed for the Salmon-Challis National Forest, which is located about 8 miles north of Challis, Idaho. After arriving in the Salmon-Challis National Forest, we then drove our Chevy Malibu through about 47 miles of gravel forest road. Because of the roughness of the road, and the inferiority of our vehicle, we were forced to travel at an average speed of 25 mph until we arrived at the trailhead near crags camp. When we arrived, we were extremely anxious to get off the road and hit the trail. The camp host was kind enough to point out some of the trails that had recently been rerouted on our USGS topo map. He also informed us that most of the passes were fairly clear of snow and that we shouldn’t have any problems as long as we hiked carefully. This came as a great relief as we had brought our snowshoes and trekking poles, not knowing if we should expect a repeat of Moose Lake back in late June. So we left our snowshoes in the car, and promptly began our five-day adventure in the Bighorn Crags.

During day one we hiked about 7 miles to Harbor Lake. The view from the pass near Fishfin Ridge of Harbor and Wilson Lakes is spectacular. As we ascended down into the cirque we were greeted by gorgeous mountain scenery and a horde of mosquitoes. We promptly put our single can of bug repellant to use only to discover that we did not have as much repellent left in the can as we had previously imagined. Oh well.

On day two we awoke to the sound of rain steadily falling on the rain tarp of our tent. Eventually it let up for just a little while, giving us enough time to boil some water for breakfast, and for me to climb to the top of the ridge to the south of Harbor Lake. From the top of the ridge, I noticed a better looking campsite near a small tarn southeast of Harbor Lake. I asked Susanna if we could move our camp to that spot, as we were planning on camping near Harbor Lake for one more night. Since the rain had momentarily let up, she consented. However, as we were moving our stuff it promptly began to drizzle again, but fortunately only for a short while.

After moving camp we began our day hike to Ship Island Lake. Ship Island Lake was beautiful, and the rock formations on the north side are spectacular. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring the camera with us, so no pictures L. Just before arriving at Ship Island Lake the weather decided to turn a little nasty on us and we were privileged to experience a high altitude mountain thunderstorm with plenty of lightning and thunder, and a little bit of hail to spare. We were glad to be off the pass and quickly took shelter in the forest, until the worst of it had passed. When we arrived at the lake we met some fellow hikers that we had previously met back at the trail head. They had set up camp near Ship Island Lake and somehow managed to get a fire going again after the storm. They were kind enough to let us warm up for a little while by their fire before heading off to explore the lake. At this point the storm lifted, the clouds parted, and nature smiled on us. We took some time to fish with the fly rod at the lake and came away very satisfied. Susanna and I both caught a fair amount of Cutthroat and Rainbow Trout on a number 20 Adams dry fly. Around 5:00 pm we decided it was time to start our 5.5-mile trek back to camp.

On day three we decided to hike about 4 miles to the Terrace Lakes. After some diligent searching we finally found a decent place to camp between the first and second lakes, and I took a nice 15-minute catnap while Susanna fished. The fishing here was quite good as well. We had such a good time fishing and swimming at the Terrace Lakes that we decided to stay here for day four as well.

On day four we slept in until about 8:45 am, which was nice. After eating breakfast we decided it might be fun to climb to the top of the ridge just south of the Terrace Lakes. I've included some fun pictures of our climb. The rest of the day was spent napping, swimming, and fishing at our leisure. If it weren't for the mosquitoes it would have been a day in paradise.

On day five we hiked out about 9 miles back to camp using the waterfall trail to cut through the valley. As we left the Bighorn Crags I had the typical bittersweet feeling of being grateful for the comforts of everyday life, but at the same time reluctant to leave the simple beauty and sense of focus that the wilderness can bring.

Good thing I’ll be going on another trip into the White Cloud Mountains of Idaho this coming Wednesday (7/30 – 8/2). Unfortunately, Susanna will not be accompanying me on this trip. However, two guys from church (Adam Robinson and Jeff Button) are excited to make the trip with me this time.