Ken and Tom Hike the Sawtooths

Over Labor Day weekend, Ken drove to Idaho to hike in the central Idaho mountains (Sawtooths and Frank Church River-of-no-return Wilderness Area) with our brother-in-law, Tom.  I was too tired after our long travels to go, so he took the trip alone. He has looked forward to this trip for the last couple of years since we were away.  He loves hiking in Idaho with Tom.  I'll let him tell you all about it:

Fresh and full of energy as we begin our trek. We rode a shuttle speed-boat from Redfish Lodge to the west end of Redfish Lake, where we donned our daypacks and began our hike into the Sawtooth Mountains west of the lake.

The peak in the Sawtooth Mountains known as Grand Mogul, the other side of which contains several high-mountain lakes (Saddleback Lakes) that we are hiking into with the hopes of witnessing some eye-popping scenery and catching a few fish there.

Redfish Lake Creek, along which we hiked, and over which we crossed in order to reach our destination lakes.

Tom and I as we reached the first lake. The rock formation behind us is called "Elephant's Perch" and is a world-renowned rock-climbing destination. While hiking the trail we saw climbers on the cliff's face and we met and talked with a number of others who were hiking the trail for that purpose.

Arrived at our destination! The next four pictures are of the largest of the Saddleback Lakes. Each picture is taken from a different place around the lake to give a better feel as to the beauty surrounding this spectacular lake.

Elephant's Perch in the background and Ken standing on a rock outcropping on the western edge of the largest of the Saddleback Lakes.

A north-facing picture of the lake, with Elephant's Perch looming above it and Braxon Peak and its neighbor peaks lurking in the background.

One of the nice Brook Trout that I caught. This one was not as brightly colored as some of the Brookies I caught and I wondered if it might have been a cross between a Brook Trout and a Rainbow Trout, both of which I caught in this lake. I always released each fish I caught. Most of the time I fished by dragging a fly behind a bubble, but sometimes I tried using a "Super Duper Lure", which gave me periodic success. 

On our second day of hiking, we Hiked into some lakes in the Frank Church River-of-no-return Wilderness Area. Tom had taken me to these lakes many years before. A wildfire had ravaged that area since our first hike into them, and there was another wildfire raging nearby on the day of this hike, as evidenced by the smoke which shielded us from the sun's full strength while we hiked through the burned-out forest. I look forward each Summer to the Idaho back-country adventures that Tom Morris exposes me to. He is always so kind and willing to take me along. I have many fond memories of hiking in the awe-inspiring Idaho mountains, camping alongside and fishing in the gorgeous Idaho high-mountain lakes, and soaking in the seemingly endless Idaho hot springs. Many times in those hot springs, we have soaked for an hour or two, well into the night; and watched the stars come out, the beautiful moon make its appearance, and the planes and satellites trek across the minefield of stars contained in the dark, lonely-feeling night sky of the Idaho wilderness. What a treasure of memories Tom has given me over the years. Have I ever mentioned that I am a blessed man?