White Cloud Mountains 2025

Way back in 1993, I was on a backpack to the Chamberlain Lakes area of the White Clouds. The White Clouds are the range that's east across the Sawtooth Valley from the Sawtooths; they're taller than the Sawtooths, less visited and just as spectacular. As a day hike from Chamberlain Lakes, we circumnavigated Castle Peak, descending through Four Lakes Basin and climbing over Castle Divide on the return. I thought that this area was incredibly pretty and I schemed off and on for the next 30 years to get back there, but until now, none of those plans panned out.

I put together a car camp to explore the east side of the White Clouds. Some of the destinations are too far away from trailheads to do as day hikes, but Big Boulder Basin was within reach, although it would be a long day. There is a little BLM campground on the East Fork Salmon River, just a couple of miles south of the Big Boulder Creek road, and if we could grab campsites there midweek, then we'd be all set. In fact, none of the 3 campsites were occupied when we arrived on Wednesday afternoon, August 6th, so we grabbed all them.

My calculations showed about 18 mi r/t to the Big Boulder Lakes, with 19.5 mi r/t if we went to the highest lake. I figured that we could go as far as we wanted and with luck we'd see some good stuff. As it happens, the round trip was about 16 miles; it was still a long day.

We had no trouble following the trail as far as the head of Walker Lake. We hiked through thick woods with a fair amount of beetle kill, crossing Big Boulder Creek a few times on constructed log bridges. People take horses as far as Walker Lake, and the trail was moderately busy.

The trail climbs fairly high up the north side of the creek in order to get around a deep gorge. We got great views down into the gorge and up toward the surrounding peaks. The peaks got even more interesting as we approached Walker Lake.

Above Walker Lake, the trails are unmaintained and somewhat confusing. We found cairns and followed them up the hill, but it became apparent fairly quickly that the faint track we were following was not the well-used route to the Big Boulder Lakes. We went cross-country through some boggy ground and we were able to pick up the main trail. This trail took us higher but faded in yet more boggy terrain, and it took some searching to find the continuation of the trail on dry ground at the foot of a rocky ridge.

Once we were back on the trail, it was steep but straightforward to reach the main ridgeline. From there, we dropped down to Hook Lake, then followed a faint trail around the north side of the lake and down to the stream that runs from Sapphire Lake down to Cove Lake.

This area earns its reputation — it is unbelievably gorgeous. I can't do it justice in words; check out the photos.

go to the Big Boulder Lakes photo gallery

For Friday, I picked a shorter, easier hike: Railroad Ridge. A narrow, bumpy road ascends from the Jim Creek fork of Big Boulder Creek to the ridgeline to the north. We parked at a switchback and hiked the road, passing pretty flowers and gnarled, dead trees. The road reaches a bare ridge and switchbacks again, heading west to a 10425 ft bump.

The view from the bump is amazing. You see down to Crater Lake, and across to the magnificent Chinese Wall. The colorful, twisted strata are photogenic.

We followed an old track down into Jim Creek on the return. The Livingston Mine was once very substantial, and there are still many structures.

go to the Railroad Ridge photo gallery

After we got back to camp, I decided to scout the hike that I intended to do on Saturday. With Hong and Greg, I drove up the East Fork Salmon River road, expecting to check out the West Pass Creek trailhead. I was surprised to discover a large new gate across the road a few miles before the end, with a “no trespassing” sign. In the distance we could see a palatial residence. Apparently this property is owned by Mike Boren, an extremely wealthy (and litigious) financier from Boise. He bought a piece of private property on the road and built a gate to block public access to the road easement.

It turns out that Boren is Trump's nominee to run the Forest Service. I don't think that the West Pass Creek trailhead is going to be accessible any time soon.

We worked out an alternative hike. The guidebook said that the Ocalkens Lakes trail wasn't in great shape, but the area looked promising, so we gave it a shot.

The trail starts at the Slate Creek hot springs at the end of the Slate Creek road on the north side of the White Clouds. We passed a substantial old mine, then went left at a fork with the Hoodoo Lake trail. The supposedly-abandoned Ocalkens Lakes trail was in much better shape than I expected, and it featured lots of ripe raspberries. The crags on both sides of the creek were very scenic. We crossed several avalanche paths; at least one path sloshed across the valley from its source and up to the level of the trail on the other side.

The upper lake sits below spectacular Calkens Peak. The view up the canyon toward D O Lee Peak is grand. The lower lake was hiding in the forest to the east of the trail, but we managed to spot it by climbing a knob. I was mesmerized by the view of the back of the Chinese Wall.

Another really fine day and a fitting end to the trip. Many thanks to the participants for the fun times: Greg, Simon, Jim, Hong and Kimberly!

go to the Ocalkens Lakes photo gallery