This is a continuation of my September 2023 trip into the Sawtooth's. For part one, click here: Grandjean
After leaving Grandjean, I stopped off at Little Redfish Lake because I had camped in a nice little dispersed spot there before, and it is one of the only areas with cell service. BUT when I arrived, they were doing road work in that exact area, and my spot had been obliterated, foiling my plan. So I hung out by the lake for awhile, it was a rest day, and then eventually drove over to Decker Flat instead.
 |
| Little Redfish Lake. |
I had camped at Decker Flat previously as well, and it is a very nice area, although literally about 2 minutes out of cell range. The cell tower in the valley is not located very high in elevation.
The exact spot that I was in before was available...score....so I nabbed it. Just as I arrived, a skittish looking antelope, came down to the river for a drink, and then jumped in and swam across to the other side, in record time.
Decker Flat is a large open area beside the Salmon River, and Road 310 runs through it for miles, all the way over to Redfish Lake Road. Where Rd. 310 starts, there are plenty of great dispersed spots along the river, or you could also set up further down, near an irrigation canal, either way, there is easy access for stock water. RVers tend to like to be right along the very edge of the river, but there is also plenty of room on the other side of the road. There are no amenities other than some hitching rails, which outfitters use, at the road junction, which is a good place to park in order to ride the Hell Roaring Trail, as the actual trailhead does not have trailer parking.
 |
| An antelope swims across the Salmon River. |
Directly across the highway from Decker Flat is the 4th of July Road which goes up into the White Cloud Mountains. About halfway up is the Champion Creek Trailhead which was my destination for the following day. This road is very slow going, no matter what, but it had just been graded and ended up actually being one of the better roads I encountered during the entire trip.
Champion Creek Trailhead/Camp is free and has three back-in spots, that longer rigs can fit into, plus a couple of other spots alongside the loop road. There are hitching rails, star feeders, a loading ramp, and a bathroom. But no manure bin, and unfortunately no water. There is a creek that you could access via the main road, but it is not convenient. Like all trailheads in this area, there is a map on the kiosk.
 |
| Champion Creek Trailhead. |
This is a funny trail because it appears that it is going to head up into the mountains and start climbing, but it actually follows a ridge up above the road, back the way I had just driven in, which made me wonder why they put the trailhead where they did.....and then it drops back down in elevation.
Eventually it follows Champion Creek through a very pretty valley and then I got to a meadow area, where there were some hunter's tents set up. After that, the trail was suddenly not clear anymore, which didn't make a lot of sense, since one would think that Champion Lakes would be the ultimate destination. Since the uncleared part of the trail was in a burn area, it was a little frustrating trying to get around a few sections, but I made it! The map showed another shorter way, from the opposite direction, to get in to these lakes, and when I reached them, everything was cleared again, so it was just the middle section that was a pain.
 |
| On the Champion Creek Trail. |
 |
| Sawtooth views on the Champion Creek Trail. |
 |
| On the Champion Creek Trail. |
 |
| Lots of Aspens. |
 |
| Found an antelope skull. |
The first lake that I got to was actually the prettiest, then I went through a boggy area and continued on to the second lake, after which, I then had to go back out the same way.
 |
| Champion Lake. |
 |
| A boggy area between the two lakes. |
 |
| The second lake. |
 |
| One, of two, Beaver dams in Champion Creek. |
After creeping along the road back to the highway, I then drove over to my next destination, and proceeded to drive even slower, if that's possible, along the 2 or so miles of potholes to Tin Cup. Basically you just let the truck drive itself, at zero miles an hour, no gas pedal required.
When I got there I was surprised to see a major change, a grid of four steel corrals near the creek, that had not been there before.
 |
| New corrals at Tin Cup. |
Tin Cup Horse Transfer Camp has two very large nice steel corrals and a variety of hitching rails at the actual trailhead. There is a bathroom, a loading ramp, and a hand pump that used to have potable water, but it no longer works. Road 365 continues on with dispersed camping areas on either side, and Rd. 363 which is directly across from the trailhead, also has a few spots, and that is where I camped. Some sites are better than others as far as access to the nearby creek, in some cases you have to drag water for quite the distance. The new grid of corrals is situated in the best area, where there is a trail that leads to the creek. They are first come first serve, and when I arrived they were being used, so I set up my portable corral elsewhere.
 |
| Sunset at Tin Cup Horse Transfer Camp. |
On my last trip I had done the short loop ride that goes by Yellowbelly Lake, but I was not able to do Alice or Toxaway Lake because that year an earthquake had come through and uncleared the trails.
This time I set out in the morning not sure whether I would do them as two different rides or as a loop instead.
 |
| Pettit Lake. |
 |
| On the trail to Alice Lake. |
 |
| A lot of small trees got knocked over. |
I made up my mind once I got to Alice Lake, since it took way less time to get there than I had thought it would. I am very glad I did the loop, the middle part, in my opinion, is the prettiest section. I climbed up to Twin Lakes, then over Snowyside Pass, where another two unnamed lakes are nestled down below. I passed Toxaway and Farley Lakes and then since this ride is a little rocky, which slows things down, I went back along Yellowbelly, since I knew I could pick up the pace a bit on that section. This is a 21 mile loop, from the trailhead, but I added extra mileage to and from the horse camp, especially going back the longer way, and it took 9 hours.
 |
| Alice Lake. |
 |
| Alice Lake |
 |
| Alice Lake from above. |
 |
| Twin Lakes. |
 |
| Looking at a couple of unnamed lakes on the other side of Snowyside Pass. |
 |
| On the other side of Snowyside Pass. |
 |
| At an unnamed lake. |
 |
| Toxaway Lake. |
 |
| Farley Lake. |
When I got back, the horse people using the corrals had left, but at 9pm at night a couple of RVers pulled in very close to me. It was dark and they probably didn't realize how many other open areas there were. In any case I was giving my horse the next day off, which was good timing, since the next morning started out stormy with some rain showers, so I moved on to my next destination.
Stay tuned for the last installment of this trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment