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We nearly let 2023 slip by without getting out backpacking. We planned a trip in September but it didn’t work out. October was here, we got the backpacks loaded and headed for the Seven Devils Mountains, towering above the Salmon River in Idaho.

Click below for the video of the trip:

Admittedly it was October, but we were still surprised to find a few small snow drifts in the shadowy locations at the trailhead. We had planned the trip around a weather window though, and blue sky was on the way.

Much of the area in Hells Canyon Wilderness has seen recent fire, but that just improves the view of the vast canyons and mountains as you hike through the landscape.

The trail into the lakes we planned to camp for two nights was a lot of up and down. About 2,000 feet of decent and 1,800 feet of ascent over the 6.5 mile trail made for some tired legs and stiff joints by the end of the day, but two nights at a high alpine lake with nobody around was a good payoff.

I’m sure there are times when this area is crowded but mid week in October isn’t one of them. This was one of the most quiet spots I’ve experienced. Blue skies and dead calm made for a couple nice fall mountain days. Maybe there was an occasional squirrel or bird, but other than that is was pure, delightful silence.

We took the next day and explored two nearby lakes. It took awhile to figure out what the fish were rising to (turns out it was spiders), but once I had the right fly on the fish were more than happy to bite.

After a second chilly night we repacked the backpacks and headed for the trailhead. On the way out a shadow crossed my field of vision. I stopped, looked up and found the culprit. A northern pygmy owl just landed and was perched in a tree and giving us a look over. He coughed up a pellet and continued his scan of the area.

A lot of hikes are easier one way than the other due to a continuous up or down hill, but this one really was up and down hill both ways. We were pretty exhausted by the time we reached the truck, but oh so happy we were able to squeeze in a backpack outing this year.