Fish Lake: I started the trip at the Lake Creek Trailhead in Idaho on Wednesday evening camping with the pickup tent so I could get an early start. While I was there 8 4-wheelers came out from Fish Lake. The trail has been closed for the last year due to a lawsuit, but apparently the forest has amended their travel / elk habitat plans so they could open the trail to motorized use again. However, the amendment has not been approved to the trail should still be closed. It is a road plain and simple. I thought great, there goes any quiet solitude, as there would be a parade of vehicles since the weather got cooler, boy I was wrong about that. Anyway, it poured for several hours during the night so it was a wet start for the hike up the road for a while in the morning. The hike is just an uphill walk up a consistent grade with just 2 creek crossings.
You know you are less than a mile from the lake when you get to the "boardwalk"; a couple hundred foot drivable path/bridge across a swampy area. Fish Lake a huge lake for the Great Burn Area. I had my choice of campsites along the lake shore and got the tent up and food hung. The cold front that dropped all the rain from the night before was still hanging around with cool temps and a lot of wind. I stayed a couple nights and day hiked from the lake. About lunch time a pair of horse riders and dog stopped at the campsite next next ours. They stayed about an hour and headed back over to Montana and the West Fork of Fish Creek Trail, they would be the only people I saw for the rest of the trip.
Vann Lake: I planned on hiking into Vann Lake that afternoon so after lunch I headed up over the saddle for a quick 4+ mile hike. The last time I was over this route was in 1999, so this was a good refresh, a fire burned through part of the area above the lake. I got to the intersection of the Bruin Hill Trail #490 in less than a half hour. The hike up is very nice, not steep at all. At the split the state line trail continues up the ridge to the left for additional 1/2 mile to another saddle. You quickly drop off the ridge toward the burn area. There is a great little rocky overlook with a good view of the lake and the backside of Admiral Peak.
Continue down the trail through the burn for less than a mile to the lake. The fire burned all the way to the lake but not the outlet area or other side of the lake. There is a good campsite just off the outlet, but is not used very often based on its condition. I have seen fish rising at the lake in the past but unsure of size and species that occupy the lake. The climb out was uneventful; it was really windy, so much that I had to slip my chin strap on my Tilley Hat. I made it back to Fish Lake and got dinner going. I thought there would be a 4-wheeler or someone else at Fish Lake, but I had the lake to myself for the night.
Upper Siamese Lake: Friday morning I headed up the stateline trail and over to the Siamese Lakes. The trail in this direction intermixes some short but steep climbs with some very mellow sections between. The trail from Fish Lake is pretty mellow along with the first couple hundred yards and then makes a steep climb and then passes over to the Montana side of the devide. For the next mile the trail traverses above Foley Basin, with good views of the the upper West Fork.
One of the goals for this day was to stop and explore a small lake that is just off the main stateline trail. Per the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, their official name is West Fork Fish Creek Lake 2. About 1.5 miles into your hike, after the traverse brings you back to the ridgeline and a gentle grade, the trail will make a steep short climb. At this point, the trail will split with the left being the stateline trail and the right the trail over to Lake #2. Follow this right fork for less than a 1/4 mile as the trail climbs briefly and then descends into the lake.
The lake has no fish and I didn't see a defined campsite as I walked around the lake. I spent almost an hour here letting Skye play in the water and taking a nice break. On the way out look for a faint trail to your right just as you top out on the ridge. This trail will connect with the main stateline trail in just a couple minutes. If you miss it then you can just walk the flat back to the main trail.
Back on the main trail, it quickly climbs up the ridge as you switchback up an open slope. You will pass above another small lake (W Fork Fish Creek Lake 3) before you descend down the ridge to the trail to the Upper Siamese Lake. I hadn't been to the Upper Siamese in a while so I stayed into the afternoon to take it all in. The trail to the lake from the stateline is not that good, steep and rocky. The afternoon was warm and Skye is not a warm weather dog so we stopped at W Fork Lake 2 on the way back so Skye could get really cooled off before heading to Fish Lake.
The very faint trail to this lake coming south along the state is found as such. After coming down the open ridge above the lake and entering the trees look for a faint trail on a flat just before beginning a steeper drop in the trail. The trail will connect with the better trail that comes up from below. You can also just cross the flat without a trail as there is no brush and an easy stroll. We made it back to Fish Lake late in the afternoon and found that we were still the only human occupants and no 4-wheeler tracks from the day. It was a quick couple hour hike out in the morning.
As it turns out I saw no one else except for the 2 riders on Thursday the entire trip. I was a bit surprised at this since the road was re-opened. However, since the fire restrictions are on I have heard multiple people over the years say that they won't go camping if they can't have a fire. That is more related to the non-backpacking crowd. There were many camp sites when I drove out that were empty dispite the cooler weather and being a weekend. Having a fire isn't important to me other than in an emergency situations so fire restrictions have no bearing on if I camp or not.
I counted 20 rigs at the Heart Lake trailhead as I was driving home on Saturday. To the couple I talked to on Hoodoo Pass if you are reading this, I'm sorry I didn't do a better job suggesting someplace with more solitude. I totally spaced suggesting Hidden Lake, that would probably have been a good option for you.
