It was over a year ago when “holy moly,” blurted from my dazzled lips.  I had just seen what I will refer to as Sore Thumb Peak (because it sticks out like a sore thumb).  Driving at 75mph I grabbed a shot of the impressive White Cloud Range that was dominated by Sore thumb.  I knew I would need to return to conquer this peak someday.

Ten months later while browsing the thousands of pictures on my overburdened laptop, Sore Thumb Peak popped out at me from the flat screen.  I quickly fired up Google Earth, certain I could figure out what peak this was.  I was disappointed with the topographic nakedness that Google Earth had to offer. I narrowed it down to the possibility of ten different peaks, and then I shot off an email to some of my mountaineering buds to see if they were interested.

No reply from Dan #1, or from Dan #2, led me to stop asking Dans.  So I fired an email to the wise man of the mountain, Mike Wiser.  He was interested.  After securing a go date, we decided we should find out what the true name of Sore Thumb peak was.  More Google Earth searches and searching endless rock climber sites yielded nothing, nata, zero, and zilch. The day for the trip was coming and we had no idea where we were going except that we noticed the approach for the peak may be as far as 20-30 miles. This would not be possible to accomplish, as that would put it at 40-60 miles, plus a summit attempt in a day.

Friday came and it was time to stop searching for the name of the peak and pack some food and things that we would need to survive.  We decided to head to the Sawtooths.  Didn’t know what peak we’d climb or if we’d be camping out on the trail, but we left anyway.

Ironically we passed Sore Thumb peak in the dark. We pulled to the side of the road to see if we could see its mighty silhouette in the darkness.  Squinting through and searching the darkness, the only thing I saw was the billions and billions of stars in that creamy Milky Way belt.  Sore thumb peak was still evading us.

We continued till past one in the morning, realizing it was going to be a hard task to find a place to camp by the Sawtooths since neither of us had been there before. We started looking for a spot to lay our heads for the night.  Beer cans caught Mike Wiser’s peripheral vision, so he knew that good free camping lay up Mama’s creek.  In record time, we erected his Sierra Designs two man tent minus the fly.

Worn out from working my day job and farming at night my spine worked into a comfortable groove. As I looked up from under the Milky Way, my eyes began to stretch into endless space and contemplated the littleness of man, and the endless shimmering beauty of God’s creations.   My mind exploded as I tried to comprehend infinity and how many other Sore Thumb peaks must exist in the galaxy.  Though it was hard to comprehend, it did seem easier to comprehend than our earlier discussion about women.

Morning came we rolled up our stuff grabbed a bite and were off to the Sawtooths!  We wound along side of the mighty Salmon River. White rapids, ponderosa pines, and mountains dominated the landscape. The Sawtooths dominant granite peaks seemed to cut the skyline.  Stanley, Idaho lay before us.  We navigated ourselves to the ranger station to ask questions about different peak approaches. They handed us a crude map on white paper and a more detailed contour map.  Armed with this info we found our way to the trail head parking lot.  Peaking with excitement we assumed we needed to follow the trail around the Redfish Lake west shore.  Redfish Lake consists of some of the clearest water that can exist on this earth.  Its deep blue water calls to all to jump in and feel its soothing magic.

Never one to excel in a maze, I struggled to navigate the many downed trees and disappearing trail.  We both wondered why the trail was not better maintained.  After zigging, zagging, and dang near pole vaulting logs we decided to pull out the map. Good idea!  Deciphering the crude map, we both agreed that we were far below where we needed to be.

We naively began our 1200 FT scramble straight up the 30-45 degree slope.  We had been warned in the parking lot from a returning climber of the massive mosquitoes-if only we were so lucky.   Thousands of silk worms hung swaying with the breeze.  It wasn’t long till it seemed that I must have had a new silk outfit weaved around my person.  The ridge seemed to steepen then turned to shale, making a steep climb even harder.  I broke my stick in half that I had been using as a light saber to attack silk worms.  I put one half in either hand and planted each stick into the slope and pulled myself up the shale.  The 30-40 Lb pack I had brought to help me survive seemed to be doing the opposite.  Finally we made the top of the ridge to find a 3-4 foot wide trail full of yes, more silk worms.  As I took stalk of my surroundings the Sawtooths came into view.  I had a moment of reverence as my eyes more thoroughly searched their majestic slopes. 

Mike had pointed out on the trip the odd nature of man to want to be higher then everything or to go to the extents of space explore and become better.  Could this be the explanation of why, I wanted to climb Sore Thumb? As we walked a little further up the trail.  Out of the corner of my eye Sore Thumb stood majestically like a sentinel off in the distance.  I almost wanted to shake my fist at Sore Thumb.  It was almost like the peak was saying ha-ha I am over here and you just went up that slope for nothing. Oh the joy Sore Thumb must have had in my folly.  Regardless, I stood amazed at its sheer cliff and overall height even though it was 20-30 miles away it seemed to blow every things else away. 

Continuing on the trail we soon found ourselves at the 1^st of 5 bench lakes.  The view was great; it was a good ol’ classic mountain lake with dog tooth peaks reflected in its pristine waters.  Continuing upward to our goal to climb MT. Heyburn said by some to be the most majestic peak in Idaho we came to another of the bench lakes.  Exuding serenity the lake offered another moment of solitude.

Finally the trail disappeared.  The thick trees prevented my Garmin Etrex GPS from connecting with satellites, so large piles of rock placed on logs and boulders were the only trail markers. The trail seemed to stay between a large boulder field on the left and a small creek on the right. The absence of silk worms seemed to be replaced with a large population of Idaho sized mosquitoes.

We soon found the fourth bench lake after scrambling up a large boulder field. The lake was a wonderful site but it seemed Mt. Heyburn was getting further away instead of closer. It was about 4p.m our pre-arranged turnaround time was 6:00. The tail of two hearts began to play out as one heart wanted to climb Mt. Heyburn; the other wanted nothing more than to take a rest.

As I sat battling I noticed a large mass of logs compiled at our end of the lake. I suddenly blurted out        ’ why don’t we just make a raft’! Mike stood silent for a long moment then a smile came to his eyes and before I knew it he was in the lake choosing potential raft logs. The climbing rope we had brought for scaling the mountain was quickly cannibalized as lashing for our high mountain yacht! In waist deep water mike walked about 70 yards looking for logs. He finally found one. He sat upon it and began singing like a sailor as he splashed using his hands for paddles. His voice echoed of the nearby granite cliffs. When he got back we finished lashing our raft. A piece of wood that looked like a 2x6 with a bulbed end was split in half and used as our two paddles.

Upon final inspection we boarded our raft. We headed toward the other side of the lake, with boyish excitement. The water was incredibly clear. The temperature was surprisingly warm for a high mountain lake. The scenery was edifying. We finally stopped paddling for awhile in the middle of the lake. We discussed how funny it was that we both went to college in engineering and were supposed to be sophisticated and know all kinds of stuff, but instead could not remember much from school and were out splashing around in the water like eleven year olds. It was great to return to childhood for awhile, frankly I am not sure that either one of us ever will grow up. We are both kind of hopeless bachelors that go about to menace society or something like that.

The sinking sun helped reality to sink in, so we headed back for shore. Before leaving I made sure to enjoy the moment so the next time work is stressful and bills are the size of Mt. Heyburn I would have a happy place to go back to in my mind.

Scrambling back down the boulder field was a breeze; the hike back seemed to slip away. Of course the silk worms were still hanging out. When we got back to the ridge, I started to wonder why silk worms hang out on webs all day when Sore Thumb came into view. This time I pulled out my GPS got a heading and a Lat/Lon to help me identify the peak later.

Mike bounded from dead Tree to dead tree pushing on each tree attempting to push over the dead tree.  Mike hasn’t ever seen a dead tree that he thinks should still be standing. Finally proving that he wasn’t a tree hugger in disguise, Mike got purchase on a tree and pushed it to the ground.

Our Hiking adventure came to an end. Next we found that if we wanted a shower we would need 8 quarters. Since I had a 20 dollar bill and a debit card I did not have good enough money for the shower. Mike was in the same boat so we headed for the river and dunked our heads. It felt great; I just wonder how many silk worms became fish food?

All of the paid campgrounds were full, which was nice cause ¼ mile away there was plenty of free camping!  After downing an MRE, some jerky from a deer I shot last fall, dried fruit we hit the hay for the night.

The next morning we pointed Mike’s truck back to Logan. As we wound back along the Salmon, we saw a nice little hot spring Called “The Boiling Fountain”. The water on the uphill side of the road was hot enough to boil eggs, but we noticed the hot water came out the other side of the road in a culvert and made its way down to ring of rocks in the salmon river fashioned into a type of hot tub. Wish we would have known about this the night before, it would have been a great way to take nice relaxing bath!

After passing Mama Creek it wasn’t long till Mt. Borah (in the Lost River Range) and Sore Thumb in the White Cloud Range came into view. Mike suggested we line up Mt. Borah with Sore Thumb too make it easier to find the peak back at home. This time Sore thumb just couldn’t hide any more, no more tricks, no darkness to hide under.

When I arrived home it wasn’t long till I pulled up Google Earth again and Google maps. I put in a few lines from different coordinates and headings that we had taken to Identify Sore Thumb. Eureka!! Sore Thumb’s actual name was Castle Peak an 11,815 ft. beast, which is known as King of the White Cloud mountain range!

So instead of climbing Castle Peak we ended up building a raft in Bench Lake #4 nearly 30 miles from Castle Peak  in the wrong mountain range paddling around a couple of water laden logs tied together with climbing rope but it was great! I will attempt to climb Castle Peak again. I wonder which mountain range my next attempt will bring me to or country for that matter.

Coming from Ketchum;

Coming from Stanley; 

After arriving at Redfish Lake there are two options.

Option one is taking the motor boat across Redfish Lake for 15 Dollars a person per round trip. Return trips end at 7:00 P.M. Follow the signs to Bench Lakes. I did not take this route it is somewhat unclear if the boat ride will save distance but most likely it will save a half a mile at a minimum. This in round trip terms is one mile. It could save up to three quarters of a mile. I am not sure. I did a crude comparison on Google earth with the path feature and determined it would be around a half a mile. However, I do not stand by this number.

Option two is hiking from the Trail Head. Once you find the parking lot for the trail head look for the brown wooden sign that says trail. It will lead you to an overall map of the area that is very helpful. There are maps available at the visitor’s center.  Do not take the trail that skirts the lake. The trail is a wide trail that will bring you up to the top of the ridge on the uphill side of the lake.  You continue along this trail then it turns right from the main trail toward Bench Lakes.  Soon there will be a box which requires filling out a wilderness permit. Follow the directions and proceed to the lakes. They are not from here. The trail switch backs up the hillside gaining some elevation until the first lake is achieved. The Second Lake is no more than a few hundred yards up the trail from here. It is a bigger than the first. The Trail to the third lake is a bit sketchy and requires following rock piles as the trail becomes faint. The third lake is much smaller than the second lake and there was a noticeable increase in mosquitoes so break out that replant. It should be noted that GPS doesn’t work well here due to the vast amount of trees. The trail to the fourth lake is not any easier. It seems to stay between a rock field on the left and a stream o n the right. You will again find rock piles that will guide your way.  Keep stock of your surroundings as the trail is not easy to follow. Suddenly you come to the fourth lake the biggest and certainly most majestic. If you are lucky our raft will still be there. Enjoy!! If continuing, the trail skirts the lake on the left side. The good news is that at this point I updated my Facebook page and the GPS worked great! My phone service is Verizon and it pegged full bars! There is a fifth lake between this lake and the saddle. I did not travel beyond this point so it will be up to you to have fun and be safe.  More info can be found at http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/sawtooth/

Much of this is up to you, but I would recommend a good contour map and a compass. Mosquito repellant, swimsuit, camera, and some sandals for the lake. You will need good boots for the hike; I suggest wearing pants for protection.  Bring a cell phone; I had good luck in many areas. You will need to determine what other gear you may need.  

There are some showers near the trail head. Eight quarters are required to shower; I did not see a change machine.  We dunked our heads in the river but wished we would have headed up to the boiling fountain to take a bath. To get there take a left on to ID/75 proceed toward
Stanley then Sunbeam it will be around 14 miles.

There is paid camping at Redfish Lake. This was full so we headed to a free camping area not too far from here. Just head back to Id/75 turn left or right go a quarter of a mile and you’ve got it!