Mallard-Larkins Pioneer Area 2002

When: August 1-4, 2002

Crew: Charlie, Beka, Erica, Me

Summary: Charlie, Beka, and Erica picked me up from the Spokane airport around 6:30. We ate dinner and drove to Coeur D'Alene. I bought an Idaho fishing license, and we drove as far as we could toward the Mallard-Larkins Pioneer Area. We spent the night at Turner Flat campground, and continued on to the Sawtooth Saddle Trailhead the next morning.

After about 20 miles of dirt roads (and a wrong turn that took us to Montana), we reached the trailhead around one o'clock. We hoisted on our packs and started down the trail, which began with a 1400' descent to Sawtooth Creek. After eating lunch and crossing the creek, we began the ascent to Northbound Lake. The uphill trail was narrow and overgrown, and we were soon swarmed with mosquitos. Unfortunately, we had left our repellant in the truck, so we hiked in a frenzy, trying to outpace them.

We arrived at Northbound Lake in the evening, and quickly built a small fire, hoping the smoke would keep some of the mosquitos away. After setting up camp, we hurried down to the lake shore to catch some trout before the daylight faded. Another family was camped nearby, and they graciously lent us their mosquito spray, restoring us all to sanity.

For dinner we ate Couscous Burritos of the Mighty San Gabriels, along with four cutthroat trout Charlie and I had caught. We hung the bear bag and snuggled down in our sleeping bags.

The next morning, the mosquitos subsided as we climbed up the ridge above the lake. We made our way around several patches of snow, including a treacherous ice patch on a steep slope. We continued to climb, enjoying views of Northbound Lake, Hart Lake, and Crag Lake before topping a ridge that plunged us down towards Larkins Lake.

From our new vantage point, we could see smoke in the distance, and two helicopters hovering around it. Tension grew as we watched the helicopters dip buckets into Blue Lake and drop water over the smokey area. After all the forest fires this year, we were extremely wary. We got out the map and compass, and pinpointed the location of the fire and the direction of our trial. It appeared we would pass within a mile of the burn on our next day.

The presence of the helicopters was worrisome, but it looked like a small fire, so we decided to continue to Mud Lake for the night. The next morning, we would have to decide whether to continue on or reverse our course. We were so focused on the fire, however, that we completely missed our turn to Mud Lake and didn't realize it until a mile down the trail, when we stopped for lunch.

As we were near the point on our trail that was nearest the fire, we had to decide whether to backtrack, uphill, and look for our missed turn, or continue on in hopes of passing the fire and getting a safe distance away on the other side. We decided I would leave my pack with the group and go back to find the trail. With a bottle of water, map, compass, and GPS, I left to find our missed turn. It was as plain as day, about a mile back up the trail from where we had stopped. We had been so focused on the fire that all four of us had not even noticed it. I returned, and the group voted to go back and stay at Mud Lake. That would put us a few miles from the fire, with a ridge between us and the blaze.

We arrived at Mud Lake to find a small, pristine lake nestled between the mountains. After wandering around for a bit, we found an excellent camping spot. There were lots of dragonflies in the area, and consequently, few mosquitos. Between the four of us, we caught another four trout sizable enough for eating, and cooked them before making our jambalaya.

The next morning, we hiked back out of the Mud Lake basin and joined the main trail. Helicopters were still dropping water on the fire, but it looked diminished, so we decided to continue the loop. We pased the burn without incident, and continued on towards Mulligan Hump. As we neared the Hump, the trail led us through a grove of Western Red Cedars, hundreds of years old. We looked on these bohemoths with awe, and named the place "Grove of Giants."

There was a cabin marked on our topo called "Trapper's Cabin," and we had planned to camp there for the night, but we passed the location and it wasn't there. There were no flat places to camp, so we continued up Surveyor's Ridge, hoping there would be something not too far. The contour lines on the map didn't promise anything though, so we dropped our packs and I went back to take the other trail fork and see if there was anything near the river. Sure enough, I found Trapper's Cabin, about a quarter mile north of where the map said. It was built on a flat where Canyon Creek meets the Little North Fork of the Clearwater River.

I went back to the others, telling them only that I had found a camping spot that "would do." The look of surprise on their faces when we stumbled out into the clearing around Trapper's Cabin was priceless. All the fatigue evaporated at the sight of such a beautiful area. We set up camp, played in the river for a bit, and then cooked up some Gard's Glacier Spaghetti. The next day promised to be long and grueling, so we went to bed early.

Our hike from Trapper's Cabin back to Sawtooth Saddle was 8.5 miles with a 2800' elevation gain. We left camp at 6:45 AM, and set a lively pace up the ridge, resting for 10 minutes of every hour. We made excellent time, despite threats of rain from the clouds overhead. The map showed two trails - one over the top of the ridge and another that rounded the north side. We had wanted to take the former, but either we missed the turn or it doesn't exist anymore. The rain held off, and we made it back to the truck by one in the afternoon.

Other: Mallard-Larkins Pioneer Area Waypoints