Where did the summer go? I’m not sure, but I think it is now in the history books. As we moved into fall the forecast for the higher elevations indicated a chance of snow. Luckily following that mid-September snow forecast was a window of ideal fall weather. It was time to load the backpacks and get a few miles on the boots before more snow made backpacking out of the question for the rest of 2025.
We started from Pettit Lake. Well, almost. The Forest Service started allowing the forest concessionaire to charge $10 per day for people to park at the Tin Cup trailhead in the spring of 2025. $40 for a place to park seemed ridiculous, so we actually started from the horse trailhead. $40 to walk an extra half a mile? Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Up the trail to Alice Lake we went.
This is a popular trail in a busy area. I imagine the September crowds were less than August ones, but there were plenty of people out on the trail. I am going to wager that the $10 parking fee for this year morphs into a full blown permit system where you have to plan your hike six months in advance to secure a day to go on a hike. The Deschutes National Forest has a system like that. Once enacted we just stopped hiking there, which I suppose is part of the intent of the permit system.
We thought we’d better see what this trail had to offer before a new permit and reservation system start up in the coming years. The mountains are nothing short of spectacular.
After about 6 miles and a decent climb we arrived at our destination for day one, Alice Lake. There were plenty of other people camped at the lake but we found a quiet spot with a great view.
We awoke to another blue sky day in the Sawtooths.
Ev: 0.05
We didn’t have far to go on day two, just up the trail to Twin Lakes. We were all set up in our new camp before lunch. Yet another beautiful spot to spend the day.
There were a few thin clouds in the sky for sunset so the setting sun had something to light up.
Day three started with a climb to the high point of the hike – 9400′ Snowyside Pass. We lingered here enjoying the views.
We originally thought we’d spend night three at Toxaway Lake, but we arrived at lunch time, so we stopped for a lunch break and pushed on to shave a few miles off the hike on the last day.
The few aspen were showing signs of the season.
We ended up at Farley Lake, and none too soon. It was Friday afternoon and the weekend crowds were arriving in force. We were looking over our camp options, and the camp we were standing in looked a bit too large and close to other camping options. If we camped here it was likely we’d have neighbors pretty close. We decided to push on, and heading out to the main trail there was already a huge group with their packs off spreading out and taking over the area. Another couple was checking over the area and asked us how the lake access was. We made the right call. We found a spot away from other camps with the best view on the lake. The setting sun and wispy clouds put on another nice show.
The sunset wasn’t the only light show, unfortunately. Here we are, several miles into the wilderness a place for solitude and primitive recreation. The camp across the lake turned on their string lights. Not one set. Not two sets. Three sets of flashing string lights lighting up the night. The party went on well into the night.
We hit the trail early the next morning. Day four was our last day on the trail.
We didn’t have far to go, and before we knew it we were enjoying lunch at an overlook to Pettit Lake. We had come full circle on the Alice Toxaway Loop. The second half of the adventure was going to be the backcountry drive home, but that’s a story for another post.
