For this summer's backpack trip, we're going to
Sheep Lake in the Seven Devils area of western idaho in the
Hell's canyon national recreation area.
Here are a few good web sites
Checkout this totally cool
Sheep Lake in Seven devils placemarker for
Google Earth.
He Devil She Devil has a good description of the goat pass high route that
we are taking.
He Devil She Devil has another description of the goat pass high route that
we are taking.
Seven devils hike diary. good descriptions and pictures of the area
hellscanyon. Official federal government web site.
Sheep lake hike diary (the long way). good descriptions of the
long way to make the hike, plus some nice 3d maps.
Seven Devils (gorp). good general descriptions of the area
Seven Devils campground. general description of the campground where
trip begins.
Here are several topo views of the area:
closeup of sheep lake (topozone)
wider view
widest view
The dates are Wed, Sep 5 - Sat, Sep 8, 2007.
It is about 3.5 hours drive from Boise to the trail head.
We parked in the seven devils campground. Because our hike was
after Labor day, there were plenty of places to park. We
easily found the trail to Goat pass. The trail is easy to follow
up the mountain above Seven Devils lake, although it is steep.
The trail could be difficult in spots, if it were wet.
After reaching the summit of the ridge above Seven Devils Lake and
looking at Mirror Lake and the Tower of Babel,
the cutoff trail to Sheep Lake leaves the ridge after only
a couple hundred yards. The trail angles down to Sheep Lake along a narrow
ledge for less than a mile and ends at some small ponds. Even though
the ledge is less than 10ft wide at some points, it never feels
like a lot of exposure.
Here are the rest of the pictures.