Last weekend my good friend Todd and I went on a backpacking trip. Not just any backpacking trip, but a memorable overnighter to one of my favorite places in the universe, Imogene Lake, deep in the Sawtooth Wilderness of Idaho. Over the years I have visited this particular piece of Heaven on Earth several times, and it's exposed granite and gin clear waters have a hold on me like few other places do. We were planning on a two night trip, but unexpected work delays and a constant rain caused us to rethink our plan and we left our basecamp early on the morning of August eighth. There are two trailheads to choose from, and we choose to drive a bit more and hike a bit less. We started off with gusto and hiked the seven or eight miles in in a little more than two hours, and by the time we arrived at out deserted destination a steady rain was falling. Imogene lake has numerous islands and one large pennensula connected to the shore by a swampy area, fortified into a nice pathway over the years by hikers. We quickly set up camp and began to explore the island. Due to the fragile and slow to decompose nature of 8500 feet backcountry exposed granite the Forest Service installed a pit-style toilet on the island... perhaps the best view of any porceline throne anywhere in the world... We fished some in the drizzle, gathered a meager supply of firewood and enjoyed the solitude of the wilderness and the company of a good friend.
