Strenuous Shmenuous

We took the boys backpacking in the Sawtooths a couple weeks ago. The hike itself was absolutely gorgeous we followed Falls Creek up to Falls Creek Lake. Falls Creek is really a long series of small and stunning waterfalls. The guidebook explained that the hike was strenuous and noted an overall elevation gain of just over 3,000 feet. Because the distance was just five miles I elected to ignore the "strenuous" note. This turned out to be a very bad decision. This hike was gruesome. It took us nearly seven hours to hike in and almost five to hike out. The boys were amazing. C carried his pack the entire time! K needed some assistance, we carried his pack about half of the time. Poor Max was wearing his own pack for the first time, a burden that he felt was completely uncalled for. The adventure was almost worth it. The scenery was breathtaking and we were really out on our own. Except for one group of campers on the other side of the lake we had this incredible lake all to ourselves.

C's biggest complaint was not the extreme hike, the extreme heat, the biting flies, nor the big pack. It was the bath that his parents subjected him to. Before allowing these two dust/soot covered boys into the tent we insisted on a dip into the lake that was only weeks ago snow. Good sports though, we subjected ourselves to the same torture.

This next picture doesn't do the location justice. This is the bottom portion of an approximately 75 foot waterfall that delivers water from Upper Falls Creek Lake to the Lower Lake. The plants growing here smelled so good. I have no idea what kind of plants they are...