Returning to the Sawtooths
Access versus protection. How can you preserve (and enhance) habitats whilst still allowing for that very American pastime of “outdoor recreation” encompassing everything from fishing, horse riding, hiking to camping.
Given half the chance (and even when actively discouraged) humans will go off trail and trample flowers; get way too close to wildlife and leave toilet paper Everywhere. We. Go. In short - we can’t be trusted. In some places it’s fine as either the usage is low enough or the habitat resilient enough that it can cope with our intrusions. Sometimes though it becomes clear that things are falling apart. Take “The Enchantments” (don’t Americans have the best names for places?) This area is an alpine wilderness of over 700 lakes sitting at around 4,500 feet. It’s gorgeous. Unfortunately in the age of Instagram it is being “loved to death” as the sensitive alpine environment can’t cope with the ever increasing influx of day hikers and backpackers.
Not my photo - an example over overuse in the gorgeous Enchantments region in Washington
This was the situation facing the Utah Conservation Corps 17 years ago when they were looking at Quicksand Meadows deep in the snappily named Cecil D. Andrus–White Clouds Wilderness. Despite the disappointing lack of quicksand the meadow is a lush grassy expanse along the border of Big Boulder Creek, cut through with a myriad of small streams and boggy patches. The trail that passes through the meadow up to Walker Lake and onwards to the high alpine lakes was fairly lightly used but a large portion of the traffic was horses. Their grazing, resting, pooping and heavy hooves had caused areas of the meadow to degrade - resulting in large muddy patches of bare ground.
They decided to try what I think is a really smart compromise. They would re-route the trail so that it bypassed the degraded meadows. You’d still be able to see down onto the meadows from the reroute and there would be a short spur trail leading down to them for people who wanted to get closer or even camp there. In short, access would still be available but the meadow would cease to be a thorofare to the lakes - it would become a destination in its own right.
At the same time 17 years ago, Amy was embarking on a summer of volunteering with the same Utah Conservation Corps. It was her first time out West and she’d be spending the summer with other students and recent graduates removing invasive species, gathering seeds for restoration projects and maintaining trails. Interspersed with a lot of fence building! It was both a rewarding and challending summer living on the surprisingly small stipend provided by Americorps but amongst a lot of highlights, her favourite assignment was nine days spent helping build the above mentioned new trail bypassing Quicksand Meadows.
Building a new trail is especially cool in the sense that it allows you to leave a lasting mark on the wilderness you’ve visited - in a way that’s more visible than pulling out Salt Cedar in Zion (awesome as that also was). Part of the genesis of this road trip and one of our very few longstanding plans was to return to this spot and see how her trail (and the meadow) were doing almost two decades later.
Arriving in the Sawtooths
We spent our first night in the Sawtooths at one of the most beautiful parking spots Big Buddy has ever been in. Amy built a bug screen for the window (which works amazingly well and only took her a few minutes to pull together) and we scoured All Trails looking for Quicksand Meadows. It took a long time to find what we thought was the right location and we decided to pay a quick visit to the ranger station the next morning to make sure we were in the right place. We both confessed to feeling a bit nervous - what if the trail wasn’t there or was in a bad state?
They were desperate to come and bite us
The next morning we squashed our nerves with a delicious breakfast and headed over to the ranger station where we bought a proper map and located Quicksand Meadows easily. We got some advice on the area from the ranger on duty (bad advice but we didn’t know it at the time!) and set out to begin our adventure.
Getting to the start of the hike was an adventure in itself. We took a turn off from the main road down a packed dirt road that got progressively more washboard-y as time went by. Things then got worse as we started down a single track road hemmed in by a sheer drop on one side and a wall of rock on the other. There was nowhere to turn around and we were dead set on the hike so we continued on praying that we wouldn’t meet a car coming in the other direction.
Thankfully we didn’t and, after a bumpy stream crossing, we made it to the car park and pushed all thoughts of the return journey out of our minds as we got packed and ready to go. After many backpacking trips we’ve learnt through bitter experience not to do this on autopilot - especially when it comes to food. We both tend to assume the other has packed food and then realise that we’re going to be going hungry! So we’ve now got in the habit of laying out all our food for the trip and making sure it’ll be enough.
Setting out we took it slow. We’d spent a few nights in Glacier around 6,500 feet but at 7,200 feet even the start of this hike was higher than we’re accustomed to and we were planning to climb another 2,000 before the day was out. Breath didn’t come easily and we were struggling as the beginning of the trail is very steep. Thankfully it flattened out a bit after a mile or two and the going got a little easier.
Heading into the wild
We noticed that everyone we met on the trail was cagey about where they were going and seemed not at all keen to see “outsiders” - my accent really gave us away. Having done the whole hike, I do get it. It’s a really beautiful spot with very few regulations that is well treated by the locals who frequent it. All it would take would be one outdoors influencer to post a viral story or reel on instagram and the place could be overrun. Luckily for them I write this blog for myself and family/friends so their secret is safe with me. Once Amy had explained how we knew about the spot everyone was a lot warmer though.
The junction down to Quicksand Meadows which we weren’t taking just yet
Reaching the junction down to Quicksand Meadows we steeled ourselves for Amy’s section of trail. We needn't have worried though - it was doing beautifully! It’s a very scenic section cut into the hillside with gorgeous mountain views. Funnily, Amy doesn’t really remember much after the first couple of days of trail building. Turns out that doing 10+ hour days of physical labour (pulling out roots and rocks and cutting a trail into the cliffside) fuelled by pot noodles and sleeping on the ground in freezing temperatures will really take it out of you!
Amy and her section of trail - both looking amazing 17 years later!
So it was really nice to take it easy and admire the views knowing that we’d be getting a hot, filling meal in the evening and a good sleep on our super warm, super comfy sleeping pads. Once we passed a turn off to another lake we were in new territory for us both. Amy had been told this area was beautiful but hadn’t had the time to explore much beyond Quicksand Meadows and the trail they were building.
There were lots of bridges like this on the trail - they were scarier than they look!
Seven and a half miles later we arrived at Walker Lake and spent some time exploring the shore and surrounding beaver dams as we looked for the perfect place to camp. We found our spot and quickly realised that the ranger who had said we should definitely do a bear hang from the trees rather than carry our bear box had probably never been up here. Or doesn’t know how to do a decent bear hang.
Without a ranger-constructed pole system you have to use trees. You need to find a branch that’s 20 foot off the ground and extending out six foot from the trunk. Not an easy ask at this elevation. We spent what felt like hours looking for an appropriate branch and then more hours getting the bag hung. We vowed to never try this again! Along the trip we saw quite a few bear hangs and they were all awful - many of them wouldn’t even have stopped a goat getting into the food, let along a bear. Obviously this area doesn’t yet have a bear problem - but yet is the key word here!
Our best effort at a bear hang - all the other ones we saw were only a few feet off the ground!
The next morning we planned to do a loop hike of the Big Boulder Lakes, a string of alpine lakes surrounded by the White Cloud mountains. It was only 5 or 6 miles but we planned to take all day as we wanted to really savour the views. I was also feeling the altitude! I was dizzy and got out of breath easily but thankfully didn’t have a headache. I’m a headache-y person and they really put a downer on the day in a way that dizziness and shortness of breath doesn’t (for me at least).
Heading into the alpine - one of my favourite environments
This hike was also fun because it’s technically “off trail”. There is a well worn path made by all the hikers before us but in some places it disappears and you have to spend time figuring out where you are and where you want to go. That along with the altitude and the unexpectedly steep start meant our pace was much slower than usual. We did an anti-clockwise loop and hit Sheep, Neck and Slide lakes first. It was so quiet up here! We passed one man and his dog coming down but didn’t run into anyone else until the end of our hike.
Choosing a path over a very solidly built beaver dam
As I’ve now come to expect from hikes in the American west the scenery was beyond stunning. Myriad wildflowers tumbling into clear snow-melt fed lakes surrounded by jagged limestone peaks and lush meadows. We were in heaven. Amy took a dip in one of the lakes (I was too chicken) and after a quick lunch we climbed a smallish pass to get to the other half of the loop and the more visited string of lakes to the South.
Scenic lunch spot - yes our boots match, and yes I love it
At this point we heard what we recognised to be a rodent alarm call. We’ve got very used to the shrieks of squirrels and chipmunks as we approach. This sounded different though and we looked around until perched on the rocks we spotted our first pika! I’d really wanted to see one of these little guys. They look like big hamsters (although their closest relative is the rabbit). They live at high elevations and spend their summers munching wildflowers and collecting grasses to see them through a long winter spent hiding under rocks.
Spot the pika! They blended in so well with the rocks that if they weren’t squeaking you’d probably walk right past them
Coming over the pass was one of the more beautiful views of the trip! The photos don’t quite do it justice (I expect the cloudy weather is a bit of a culprit here) but the string of lakes stretched below us brought tears to both our eyes.
The beauty we’ve seen on this trip has blown my mind
At this point though we really had to do some route finding as it was a treacherously steep descent down and there was no obvious trail. We took it slowly and descended into the beautiful scene we’d been looking at minutes before.
Choosing a route down - we were very grateful for our trekking poles at this point
This was such a beautiful section of the hike and our pace slowed to a crawl as we admired the alpine environment and the crystal clear lakes. We almost wished we’d brought our tent with us to sleep up here.
Having said that, the trail was rough and incredibly steep so it would have made our pleasant hike into a really tough day. And it was so nice to return to Walker Lake with everything already set up and plenty of time to read before dinner.
Our campsite on the shores of Walker Lake
The next day was forecast to tip it down all day. We decided we’d plan to camp one last night at Quicksand Meadow but wouldn’t feel too guilty if we ended up turning around. Luckily we woke up to dry weather and headed down to the meadows via a quick detour to yet another lake!
Quicksand Meadows looking great
The meadows also looked amazing! Without all the thru-traffic the bare patches of earth had disappeared and been replaced by lush greenery carpeting the flood plain around the river. Just our luck there was a really big, noisy, group also camping in the meadows that night. We’ve got pretty good at getting away from the crowds over this year though and have generally found that if you can cross a river you’ll be pretty much guaranteed peace and quiet.
If you need to get your feet wet even better but really any river crossing around camp areas will give you a good shot at solitude. This crossing we didn’t even need to take our shoes off.
So we did just that and lucked out in finding a bare spot of sandy ground perched above a tiny stream with a big tree nearby to hang our food. We quickly pitched the tent as the clouds were gathering by now and had a really good (but very late!) lunch - a kale and white bean stew that tasted less freeze dried than our usual backpacking meals.
Home for the night. The clouds were looking ominous at this point.
The heavens duly opened and we retreated to the tent for a cozy afternoon/evening of reading and listening to podcasts, with a brief foray into the rain to collect and filter some water. At one point we heard a stampede of hooves running past us but we didn’t get a look at what had made the noise.
Collecting freezing cold water in the rain - backpacking isn’t all sunshine! We still had a lovely afternoon though.
The next morning dawned cold but sunny and dry and everything looked beautiful in the fresh early light. We had an easy hike out and took our time soaking in the mountain air and marvelling at how a relatively minor trail reroute made such a difference to the condition of the meadow - without preventing people from going there if they want to. Seems like a win win!
Saying goodbye to the meadows. Hopefully it won’t be another 17 years til we return!
A relaxing and mostly downhill hike later we arrived back at the car and started out back along the single track road. After a quick pitstop to tie back on a piece of plastic at the front of our car which a stream crossing ripped off we were back on the road and praying we could make it back to a paved road without further incident. This time we did meet a couple of cars coming the other way which was terrifying. Thankfully none of them were fellow mini vans and could use their 4x4 to drive up the bank. They all looked like they were having a blast.
Next stop was Yellowstone! The penultimate stop on our summer of fun and probably the place we knew the least about going into.
