Backpacking near McCall

In early August we made two backpacking trips out of McCall, ID. It was our first time backpacking in this area. We'll probably go there more often now that we realize a few things: McCall is only about a 2 hour drive from Boise, there are good places to eat in McCall before/after the trip, there are lots of lakes to hike to, and surprisingly there aren't too many people.

Hike #1

Our first trip was about 2.5 miles to a no name lake. The first part was on the trail to Duck Lake. Then we headed cross country, and up a steep hillside, to this no name lake our friend Mike told us about. I'm not a huge fan of cross country hikes, especially when we don't have a GPS or even a map with us! But Rick is a pretty good navigator, and he took us right to the lake. My belly-aching, as usual, was unnecessary as Idaho mountain lakes never cease to disappoint. It's almost always worth a grueling hike in exchange for the serene beauty to be found at the top.





Hike #2

Our second hike was to a group of four lakes. The one we chose to camp at was called South Lake. After the previous weekend's cross country hike, I happily agreed to a 4 mile hike on-trail into these lakes. Well.....it turned out to be more like 6 miles, and the elevation gain was a killer! For the first time in Idaho, the pain really wasn't worth the gain. The area had recently been burned, and it just wasn't that pretty. We both agreed we would not be doing this hike again. On the positive side, we did have a completely clear and still night and were able to sleep in our new mesh tent with no rain fly. AND there was a full moon.