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!

Tuesday loop ride from the shop

With so many of the trails & higher roads still in muck/snow mode, for our first "Tuesday Ride" we opted for a ride out from the shop. Neither of us has really explored the roads in the south end of the valley much, so it was nice to ride somewhere new. We headed south through town until we hit Substation Rd and then hooked up with Walker Lane.

At about 3+ miles, we found ourselves facing 3 gates. 2 of them definitely looked like private property, and the third we just weren't sure about. So we decided to check out the new Walker Ranch Subdivision. A dirt road turns off of Walker and meanders west, eventually connecting to South End Rd. A helpful kiosk with maps tells you "you are here" and which lots are still for sale. It looks like a nice neighborhood, but the clouds of gnats that attacked every time we slowed down kept us moving along. Eventually we hit South End Rd and turned south, continuing onto forest service Rd's. Many of the roads up in this area are still muddy or snow covered, but this will be a great area to explore further this summer. A loop around to Fish Lake would make a great ride.

After we felt we had climbed enough, we turned around and took South End Rd back to the shop. A nice 11 mile loop, perfect for an early season ride.

Gordy's Epic Birthday Ride

Turned out to be not so epic. We drove down to Riggins looking for some sunshine & warmer weather. Our plan was to drive up Big Salmon River Rd, park at a nice picnic-ish area, and then ride bikes up the road from there. Completely forgot about the road construction going on. Turns out there are only select hours you can drive up now, because they are putting in phone lines and plan to make it a 2 lane road. We could go half a mile up the road, with a pilot car, but we opted not to. Progress, eh?

So then we head north of Riggins to FS road 241, heading up towards Cow Creek Saddle. It was beautiful up there.

We parked where the road started to level off, about 6 miles from the highway. Unloaded the bikes and checked out the scenery.

We heard a crashing noise in the brush and looked up to see an elk on the hillside above us. We also kept hearing an odd thumping noise that seemed vaguely familiar. Turns out it was ruffed grouse doing their spring woo-hoo look at me thing. That was very cool to hear. Then we peddled around a corner and saw this:

Arrghh! But Gordy gave it a good try.

Then we went home and had cake. Happy birthday Gordy!

Route of the Hiawatha- Tuesday July 24, 2007

Ok, the Route of the Hiawatha rails-to-trails ride is a little bit out of our area, but we felt the need to get out of town. It was a 5+ hour drive but totally worth it. Camera was not working so you will just have to check the website to see how gorgeous it is up there: http://www.skilookout.com/hiaw/

15 miles of mountain bike trail, going through 10 tunnels and over 7 trestles. Make sure you have a good light on your bike!

Little Mud Creek Loop- Tuesday, July 17

This Tuesday's ride may be my favorite so far. And we didn't even have to drive any where to do it! When our group was all gathered we just headed up Highway 95 to Little Mud Creek Road, approximately 3 miles. This was a little hairy, with the big semi's roaring past, but for the most part drivers were very courteous and slowed down or moved to the other lane to pass us.

At Little Mud Creek we turned off the highway and headed down the gravel road. Before we had gone too far a road maintenance truck passed us coming the other way. He was watering down the dust, which made our ride even more pleasant. We had trees to keep us shaded, and cows for scenery. When the road forked, we took the right hand branch, knowing it would eventually loop around to Kimberland. At this point we lost our nice shade and had a hill to climb. There are more forks in the road along this section, but we kept taking the right-hand branches and eventually were rewarded with a nice mile + long downhill section. There is a barbwire gate near the bottom of this, which could be bad if you were not aware of it.

After we had passed through the gate Gordy closed it after us. We climbed the short hill to the next downhill section, 1 mile to the clubhouse! Here we had a couple of cold beers and a nice swim in the pool. The perfect way to end a ride. Unfortunately we still had 3 miles of hot furnace head wind to get back to the store. Next time I think we will start and end at the pool!
This ride was approximately 14 miles round trip, and sorry, forgot to take pictures.