As promised here is more from my latest adventure. So this time it was to Hidden Lake and West Fork Lake just south of the Canadian Border (8 miles south) near Bonner’s Ferry Idaho in the heart of the Selkirk Mountains. The Selkirks are a collection of rugged exposed granite peaks and talus slopes poking up above dark green subalpine forests of Ingleman Spruce and Subalpine Fir. Average elevation of this area is not all that high, peaks are in the 6500 foot range. The lakes I went to are around the 5500 foot elevation mark. All of the lakes have been well stocked with Westslope Cutthroat Trout and there are a lot of lakes to choose from.
For this trip I decided I could see three lakes in one trip. But only ended up seeing two. More on this later. In my investigation into this trip I thought the hike was going to be about 5 miles to the furthest lake. WRONG by way of GPS tracking it was 7.4 each way. I also new it was going to be steep but wasn’t really prepared for how steep. Here is a profile of the elevation profile over distance. Ignore the green that is a speed profile but the grey shows the elevation. I was not at all prepared for that. But I am proud of myself because I made it. Here is the details of the hike.
Took me 8 hours to cover the 7.4 miles. No land speed records set this weekend. At any rate when I hit West Fork Lake I decided all I had the energy for was to set up camp and eat and go to bed. I did make a couple casts and was shortly rewarded with about a 16" Cutthroat trout. I cooked it on a rock on the fire along with the rest of my dinner. Nothing tastes better than a trout you hiked to hell and back to catch.
To start my trip I stayed at a place called Dirt Oven Campground about a mile from the trailhead. To call this a campground is a real stretch of the imagination. It is just a place where people camp it has no facilities which is fine by me. It was a pretty spot in its own right.
The next morning it was time to hit the trail. The first lake you come to is Hidden Lake. Its 1.3 miles from the trailhead. I stopped there for a little break. then the steep climb began. But getting above the lake was quite a pretty view of a very typical Selkirk Mountains lake.
When you get to the ridge top you are greeted with a panoramic view of what the Selkirk mountains are like. Steep and deep country of rugged mountains and dark forests.
Once you get up and over the ridge and and get to the bottom of the canyon you run into a little cabin that used to be a Forest Service fire chaser cabin. As the story goes the original cabin burnt down and this new one was put up in its place very much a replica of the original. The Forest Service allows free use of the cabin year round on a first come first serve basis. I was lucky on Thursday no one was there so I got to explore it and eat lunch here.
The view from the porch was a nice mountain meadow
Once you reach the bottom of this canyon you get to go back up again on West Fork Creek And it is another beautiful granite valley with shattered and broken granite talus piles.
And then you get to West Fork Lake.
So I said I would explain why I didn’t see the third lake. From West fork lake it is another couple mile hike up to the top of the ridge where the lookout tower is and then back down a bit and over a saddle into the other lake. After the hike on Thursday I was beat. So Friday instead of killing myself again knowing I had to return back I took it easy and fished. I caught I don’t know how many fish. I ended up eating fish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Friday. I walked around the lake and also gathered firewood and took a nap. It was very relaxing.
Saturday the plan was to head back to Hidden Lake and stay the night there. Wake up Sunday and hike the last mile and head home. But I was so tired by the time I got back to Hidden Lake that the thought of setting up camp just to take it down in the morning for a mile hike didn’t sound fun. So I took a lunch break at Hidden and talked with and watched the Forest Service mule team bring in a load of gear for the trail crew who would be rehabilitating the trail to a nearby mountain top. After visiting with them I threw on the pack and made my way tot he car. Both pepper and I were exhausted. Even she had sore muscles and I had to give her a good massage when we got home.
But all in all while it taxed me physically it was a very pleasant and peaceful mentally relaxing trip.
I think Pepper was probably frustrated because her definition of camping and mine are very similar: walk a little while, sit on our a$$ and enjoy the scenery for a day or two, maybe fish a little, rinse and repeat 
Not walk up a mountain for two days and then turn around and walk back up another mountain to get out 