The Beauty of Silence, Sawtooth Mountains - Idaho

South Alpine Lake

South Alpine Lake, Sawtooth Mountains - Idaho The tightly packed grasses and stunted shrubs that surround Alpine Lake become a blazing palette of warm colors in late autumn. There are two Alpine Lakes in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho, and this is the more southerly of the two.

Hide and Seek

Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho.

Mt. Corruption, Lost River Range - Idaho

Hell Roaring Lake

Hell Roaring Lake is a wonderful little hike in the Sawtooth Mountains. The most prominent granite spire in the background - The Finger of Fate - was decapitated during the earthquakes of 2020. Alas, the summit is gone, and so too is the tiny spire behind - the Arrowhead - which was also tumbled off the ridge.

Autumn Forest, Oakley - Idaho Near the Albion Mountains, on the edge of the Snake River Plain, is the tiny victorian town of Oakley. And outside of this town, south toward the City of Rocks National Reserve, are many small groves of aspen, huddled into folds of the hills and tucked into wet basins.

The Road Less Traveled

Stanley basin and the Sawtooth Mountains.

Kathryn Lake

Kathryn Lake, Sawtooth Mountains - Idaho One of the greatest unknowns of the Sawtooths is this rather large lake at the headwaters of Redfish Valley. It lies atop a glacier-scoured mesa of granite batholith and is ringed by jagged, mostly un-named, peaks. It is difficult to get here, as no established trail comes even close, but the rewards of solitude and beauty are well worth the effort. There are no signs of camps here - no fire rings or tent platforms. This is wilderness, and it should be treated as delicately as possible. There is no reason, ever, to have a fire at high alpine lakes such as this. The warming qualities of an open fire have long been replaced by modern fabrics and goose down. So, if its just the hypnotic television quality of the fire that you need, please stay with the motorhome crowds at the designated lakeside campgrounds. This place is wild - and should always remain so.

Poison Creek, Marsing - Idaho The southern deserts of Idaho take on a welcomed green tint with the coming of spring. Here, Poison Creek is still bone dry, and yet the desert blooms all around.

Spring Bouquet, Boise Foothills - Idaho

Blue Sky, Lost River Range - Idaho

Sunlight and Swiss Cheese, City of Rocks - Idaho Autumn near Bath Rock, in the City of Rocks. Panholes like these form in the granite stone over a millennium. Panholes begin as tiny depressions or cracks where water remains for long periods of time. The longer water remains on the granite surface, the greater the dissolution of minerals by acidic water.

A Late Ski Season

In May, the ski season in the Sawtooth backcountry might still be fantastic!

The Lonely Stone

The Lonely Stone, Sawtooth Mountains - Idaho Sunset over the formidable Goat Creek drainage, with a line of granite spires separating it from the much more pleasant, Baron Creek drainage. The glacier polished rock floors of this valley support a small village of these lonely stones, long forgotten remnants of the great glaciers or left here after an escape from the peaks above. Either way, they always look to me like they always want to be back with their friends, nestled together in a great field of boulders.

Simple Beauty, Boise Foothills - Idaho

Crimson Dragon

Crimson Dragon, Sawtooth Mountains - Idaho Evening light paints the granite spires of the Monte Verita complex with a crimson glow, like the serrated spines of a great dragon. This image was taken at Feather Lakes, just at the foot of Warbonnet Peak.

Minions of the Aspen Glade - Idaho The wonderful green clusters of White Hellebore ( veratrum viride) looks for sun and sky in the wetlands of the City of Rocks National Reserve, in southern Idaho. This plant, however, is quite poisonous, which paralyzes both the heart and spinal cord if ingested.