White Clouds Backpack

In early September, Scott backpacked with Matt, Aaron, Jimmy, Clint, Chance and Keith in the White Clouds Range of Idaho. The White Clouds Range sits inside the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, but amazingly the area is not currently designated as a wilderness area. It should only be a matter of time before this range is given protected wilderness status.

The White Clouds get their name from white color of the higher peaks. These peaks are made up of significant amounts of limestone and other light colored minerals like quartz, feldspar and mica. From a distance the white color of the mountains is nearly identical to the color of high clouds, thus the name White Clouds.

We didn't initially plan on going all the way to Idaho for this backpack. Our original plan was to backpack in Olympic National Park in Washington, but a forest fire closed the trail we were going to use. Our 2nd option was the Goat Rocks Wilderness in Washington, but unseasonably cool and rainy weather in the Pacific Northwest forced us to look at other options. Matt and Chance found us a great trip to the White Clouds and the trip turned out to be a very good choice.

From a photography standpoint, the light never quite went off like I wanted it to, but there are still a few outstanding photos from the trip. I probably got spoiled by the light a few weeks before in the Wind Rivers!

Here is a link to Matt's photos from the trip.

Sunday, September 5th - Day 1
Livingston Mine Trailhead (7160 feet) to Island Lake (9240 feet) - 6 Miles

The group on a bridge over Big Boulder Creek.

Jimmy and Keith on one of the several log bridge stream crossings

"Island Lake Sunset" - 2 exposure blend for dynamic range 1/10 sec and 1 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer. This spot was not far from our campsite at Island Lake.

"Campfire Under the Stars" 2 exposure blend - 30 sec at f/4, ISO 400 and ISO 800.
The stars on this trip were phenomenal. The Milky Way was about as clear as I have ever seen it.

The temperature the first night was quite cold and windy and we needed the campfire after the sun went down to stay warm. I hung my watch inside the tent vestibule and checked the temperature at 5AM. I was a little shocked when it read 24.2 degrees F...inside the vestibule. We estimated that the temp outside the tent was ~15-20 degrees. Everyone's water bottles and water bladders were frozen solid when we got up in the morning. I'm not sure how the Texas guys survived the night!

Monday, September 6th - Day 2
Island Lake (9240 feet) to Sapphire Lake (9888 feet) - 2.5 miles

Leaving Island Lake

Boulders! A huge boulder field above Island Lake.

Scott with Cove Lake in the background.

Cove Lake

Aaron and I spent the afternoon fishing Cove Lake and caught ~20 cutthroat trout. We kept a few of the bigger ones and had enough for a nice fish fry that evening.

Aaron with the day's catch.
Scott
Cutthroat trout.

"Milky Way Over Sapphire Lake" 2 exposure blend. 1st image taken during twilight to capture some detail in the mountain/lake, 30 sec at f/4, ISO 800. 2nd image about an hour later, 30 sec at f/4, ISO 1000

Tuesday, September 7th - Day 3
D.O. Lee Peak (11342 feet) and WCP-9 (11263 feet) Climbs

I got up early to photograph the sunrise over Sapphire Lake. Here are my 2 favorites from that morning. There was a beautiful stream rushing down into the lake that made for a nice foreground in these images.

"Sapphire Lake Sunrise" 2 exposure blend for dynamic range, 4 sec and 1/3 sec at f/16, ISO 200

"Early Morning at Sapphire Lake" 1/10 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer.

We spent the 3rd day of the trip climbing D.O. Lee Peak and WCP-9, swimming in Sapphire Lake (wow that water was cold!) and fishing.

Keith, Clint and Chance on the climb.

Clint below D.O. Lee Peak

Scott, Chance, Matt, Clint on the saddle between D.O. Lee Peak and WCP-9

Keith, Chance, Matt, Clint

D.O. Lee Peak

Matt and Keith near the summit of D.O. Lee Peak. They eventually made it to the summit while the rest of us stayed back and watched.

WCP-9

Scott, Chance, Clint Keith

Matt and Scott

Cirque Lake, Sapphire Lake, Cove Lake and Walker Lake

Looking out at the Sawtooth Range

Descending D.O. Lee Peak

Bighorn sheep....waaaay down below us in the basin

Descending D.O. Lee Peak

Clint, Scott, Keith, Matt and Chance on the summit of WCP-9.

Scott on the descent from WCP-9

Sapphire Lake

Matt, Jimmy and I fished again in the afternoon and caught a bunch more cutthroat trout. Aaron and Keith fished Sapphire Lake and caught a few as well.

That evening the weather started to change as a front moved into the area. The temperature started to fall and clouds began rolling in from the west.

"Alpine Storm" 2 exposure blend, 5 sec and 2 sec at f/16, ISO 100

Wednesday, September 8th - Day 4
Sapphire Lake (9888 feet) to Livingston Mine Trailhead (7260 feet) via Walker Lake - 8 miles

On our 4th day, we awoke to much cooler temperatures and threatening skies. We had the option of camping 1 more night, but instead decided to push out to the trail head. Aaron and I drove back to Portland that afternoon/evening and the rest of the group drove to Bend, OR.

Heading down the trail in the Walker Lake Basin.

Small stream along the trail

Walker Lake. You can't see it in the picture very well, but it is snowing.