Backpacking in the Seven Devils

Summer is passing us by, and we have hardly had a chance to get out of the store at all. So for our wedding anniversary we decided to break out the groovy Gregory backpacks our sales rep got us into last fall and do a backpacking trip. The Seven Devils are right in our backyard so they were the perfect choice for a destination.

Three weeks of planning got our gear sorted out and narrowed down (see bottom of this post for gear reviews, what worked and what didn't....) and our trip expanded from an overnighter to a 3 day adventure. Our goal was to take the climber's route from Windy saddle to Sheep Lake the first day, Sheep Lake to Dry Diggins Lookout the second day, and Dry Diggins back to Windy Saddle the third day.

Day One: The Scramble

We dropped Daisy off with Auntie Barbara at Happy Dog Inn and the kids off with Grandma and headed towards Riggins. We stopped in at the ranger station to buy a map of the He Devil Quad. They are very helpful at the Riggins Ranger station, it is well worth the stop if you are curious about the area at all. Back on the road we took Seven Devils Road to Seven Devils Campground, parked, and strapped on the backpacks.

The climber's route, or goat trail as some people call it, is not on any of the maps. Barstad's hiking book had the gps coords for it though, and a rough description of where it started. We took off on what looked more like a game trail than a hiking path, fairly certain we were on the right trail. We hit patches of snow right away. Here is a picture of Gordy cooling his, um, heels.

The trail just kept getting steeper and steeper.

Eventually we had to stop, catch our breath and have some of the excellent gorp we mixed up at home. Twice on the climb to the first saddle I had to take off my pack and heave it over, across, up to Gordy because I just felt like I would tip over backwards and fall off the mountain trying to climb with it on. The second time was because a big patch of snow was covering the trail and we had to scramble up some rocks. I could see where someone else had tried to climb the snow and sunk in about a foot & a half deep. Brrrr! Elevation at the saddle was 8,410 ft.
I think it took us 2 hours to reach Mirror lake. I'm a slow climber. This pretty green rock wanted to come home with me, but I already had 35lbs in my pack and Gordy could not be persuaded to carry it.

Here is a better view of Mirror Lake, with the Tower of Babel behind it. The yellow haze is from the Northern California wildfires. The next saddle to cross is pictured below. The lowest dip in the middle of the ridge line is called Goat Pass. We scrambled up and over, wondering where our path was.

Below you can see where the path becomes clear again. Around the corner was another hairy spot where I had to hand my pack off to Gordy. We had a choice between a leap across a gap or a scramble down & up. He did the leap. I handed my pack across and scrambled down & up.Devils Tooth. Below is our first peek at Sheep lake.

Another nice view of Devils Tooth.Can you spot the path here?Coming down into Sheep Lake. Devils Tooth in the lower left corner. Sheep Lake was gorgeous. We were pretty tired. We found a good campsite right as the mosquito's started really coming out. Got the tent set up and hid inside for awhile. The freeze dried chicken & noodle meal really saved us. Gordy put on his rain coat & a head netting for mosquito protection and boiled up some water. Pour it into the bag and 8 minutes later you have dinner. It was really pretty good too. We both slept fairly well.

Day 2: The Stagger We woke up pretty well rested, but my right eye was completely swollen shut from a bug bite. Looking out the tent screen there were several hundred mosquitoes staring in at us, so we rolled over and went back to sleep until almost 11. The second time we woke up the mosquitoes seemed to be mostly gone. We tried a breakfast recipe I had found on-line, which involved mixing a packet of freeze dried eggs & bacon with Idahoan instant potatoes. Whew, much too hardy for me. Gordy ate most of it (brave soul!) The coffee tea bags worked great though. We packed up camp and headed out. It was close to 1 pm so we were most likely not going to make our goal of Dry Diggins Lookout today. On the plus side, all the smoke and haze seemed to have blown off during the night.This is the east side of the lake. Looks like something out of Backpacker magazine. You can't see the swarms of mosquitoes that are following Gordy. They got worse at the south end of the lake when we started picking our way across all the loose rocks. Evidently the pools of water under all the rock is ideal mosquito breeding ground. We were wondering what the ranger had meant when she told Gordy there were "no mosquito problems". We were glad when we made it across the south end and were on stable, rock free ground again. A really deluxe camp site is set up at the SW corner of the lake, with a huge fire pit and room for many tents. The climb up wasn't too steep, but my legs felt pretty noodley from the previous day's climb. It was a slow climb up. Saw bear scat on the trail, but never did see a bear. Or goats for that matter.

Just over the pass from Sheep Lake, looking north. Gem lake was a beautiful teal color. Don't think we saw much of Shelf Lake. When we arrived at Basin Lake we decided we had reached camp for the night. It was the Plaza Suite of camp sites, with a huge fire pit (we didn't use) and a nice level spot for our tent. We set up camp and jumped in the lake. Or at least stood in it, letting our sore muscles chill. I guess I should have mentioned it to the fishermen that showed up an hour later, and couldn't seem to get the fish to bite. Oh yeah, right after we got dressed and started dinner it was like Grand Central Station. First a grandpa, two young boys and their dad show up with fishing poles. Then a guy on horse back. Then two guys wearing packs about the size of ours. One was very friendly and chatty and said they had camped the night before at Gem lake, climbed over to Appendix Lake, scaled He Devil and 5 other mountains, all today. He was like the superman of backpacking, but his companion didn't look nearly as enthusiastic.

Then the mosquitoes came out to play so we hid in the tent again.

Day 3: The Death March Our Mosquito friends were still partying when we woke up a bit before 8, so we decided to not make the late start mistake of the previous day. Skipping breakfast altogether (even coffee!) we packed up in record time and ran out of camp, with a cloud of mosquitoes behind us. We passed the camp of the fishermen and their big smoky fire. Smelled like they were cooking bacon, but we just took another nibble of our clifbars and kept on hiking. Lots of windfall along the trail, which meant climbing over and under the downed trees. We were unimpressed with Lily Pad lake's beauty in the morning light.

Ah, at last. The sign pointing to Windy Saddle. The mosquitoes were still thick so we decided not to stop for breakfast, but just kept on. We did stop for lunch at Sheep Creek, which was a really nice spot. Lots of downed trees, though. I did wonder how they get the pack animals through. Must have to bushwack around.

Hmm, can't seem to remember the point of this picture. This next one is the climb up from Sheep Creek. Not far past here we met a guy striding along with a big smile, and about 30' behind him a girl that didn't look nearly as happy. Both only wearing small day packs. First date? You have to wonder. This was 1 pm and 3 miles from the trail head.

The above picture is looking back across Sheep Creek at the pass right after the Windy Saddle turn off. Almost in the middle of the picture you can see a tiny white dot, which is a guy leading two pack horses. He caught up to us about 1/2 mile from the Windy Saddle parking lot.

Looks like I'm about to do a swan dive off the cliff.

There were so many wildflowers throughout the trip. Many I had never seen before. Still looking through my wildflower book trying to identify them.On the road back to the Seven Devils Campground from the Windy Saddle trail. The dip in the middle is where we climbed to Mirror Lake two days ago. All in all it was a great trip. The only negative being the mosquitoes! ARrrrg! Really need to think out our bug strategy for next time. We had one stick of Badger anti-bug, which worked great everywhere we put it. I had no bites on my arms or legs. My face and neck are another matter. User error I guess.

Can't wait to get out there again!