Loon Lake ID trip report

“I just got back from a nice hike to Loon Lake with my college backpacking class. Its about 5 miles in through typical dry Idaho graveled hills, <500 ft elev gain, a real easy hike. The lake big, too shallow to fish from the shore. At the end opposite the outlet is a WWII bomber which crashed in the 30s. They landed on the frozen lake in the winter, skidded across the lake, and crashed through the trees. Some of the crew hiked out, and 5 stayed with the plane. The 5 with the plane were rescued and flown by a bush pilot. The others took 18 days to cover 40 miles to a road.

I'll send Phil a photo of the lake and the bomber, which can be accessed via my photo on the photo page.”

“Cool! Can't wait for the picture!!”

“Where is Loon?
Was it a dayhike?

I assume this is the same hike that you mentioned back in August. I hope all went well.”

“It was an overnight hike with 13 college students in a backpacking/survival skills class I teach at Boise State Univ. About half the class had never backpacked before. One girl was from Japan, and the whole concept was very different from anything in her culture. We had rain, but everything went well.

Loon lake is north of McCall about 26 miles. You go by Burgdorf hot springs, which is a rustic commercial hot springs with a hippie/counterculture flair. We stopped there on the way out. They have about 8 old cabins, and an old 2 story hotel from 19th century mining days. The hot springs feed into a log lined pool about 40' by 50', about 5' deep. There is a smaller pool, 8' by 6', 5' deep ove the source of the hot water, at about 112 degrees! It was great!”

“I've been to Loon Lake but it was in the Adirondacks.”

“Idaho Bob: Have you ever done a backpacking trip into The River of No Return Wilderness? I spoke to a couple of guys here in Utah once that said that it was awesome country, and had very little traffic. If you -have- been, did you do any fishing?

I drove down from Missoula this last summer on US 191 (I -think- that's the road), and it takes you along one side of the Wilderness. Gorgeous!”

“Phil was kind enough to load the photo of Loon Lake and the crashed bomber on my photo page. Check it out!

Forrest, Idaho has many mountain ranges, and I think several of them are in the River of No Return. Its a large area, and is pretty much unroaded. I don't think the mountains there are high or particularly spectacular, , but seldom traveled, yes. Some great mountains ranges in Idaho are the Pioneers, the White Clouds, and of course the Sawtooths. I have rafted the mail Salmon, which IS the River of No Return. Thats worth doing if you ever get a chance.”

“Thanks for the suggestions. I've done a lot of trips into WY, and a couple in MT, but, strangely enough, never been "off road" in Idaho (strange, because I live in northern Utah, so that we're actually closer to Idaho mountains than those in MT or WY).

The operative word I'm always looking for in a trip report is "solitude." On my first trip to the Wind Rivers (in 1980), there was hardly a soul to be seen once we got well into the wilderness area. On my last trip (1998), there were -tent cities- at all of my old favorite hang outs. My trips are routinely 14-16 days long, so I feel like I get a pretty good cross section of the population load of an area during a trip, and the Winds are pretty much jammed these days. Of course, I could start going after Labor Day (or later), but I've done only -one- of those trips. Definitely fewer people, but also much colder. The cold doesn't bother me, but my wife isn't too keen on it (even though we're well equipped).

Which brings me to Idaho. The impression I got from my two Idaho contacts was that the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness has very little usage. I'm also thinking that, since the area is lower than the Winds (it's not on the Continental Divide), trips after Labor day may not be as cold.

Once again, thanks for the trip report and for the suggestions.”

“Bob - Where's your photo page? I looked on http://www.bobshaver.com/, and all I found were family photos (nice family, btw).

I especially enjoyed the photo titled, "Jimmy, Grandpop May '00."”

“Go to Phil's TT photo page, and click on my photo there. Behind that are a bunch of photos, including now the bomber, and Loon Lake.”

“The The Frank Church / River of No Return Wilderness lies mostly within the Salmon River Range. Some peaks near 11,000 feet, but niners are more the norm.

Coupled with the Selway/Bitterroot Wilderness to the north, the two compose the largest Wilderness Area in the lower U.S.

I read a (hot spring) report on the net once that included a 100 mile drive on dirt roads, then a 20 mile hike to the hot spring. Trouble was, tho, the hot spring was adjacent to the Middle Fork, and several float parties passed each day. That can kinda wreck the "true wilderness" experience.

There are a number of roads that penetrate deep into the wilderness from several directions, but there is still plenty of space to achieve some real solitude.

I'm going to check-out the photos now.”

“Thanks, gojo! I think I'll have to pry open my wallet and fork over the twenty bucks needed to get the "Idaho Atlas & Gazetteer," and check it out.

BTW, for the newcomers to TT like myself, Idaho Bob's pictures are found here

(I hope that worked...)”

“Did'ja know Loon Lake had a Nude Beach?”