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Hard Butte Lake
Overnight Backpacking Trip With The Kids
August 17-18, 2013
Hard Butte Lake is located in the Payette National Forest, north of McCall Idaho. The hike starts at the Clayburn Trailhead, about 30 miles from McCall. The first couple miles of trail are pretty dusty since its open to ATV's, but the last mile or so is much more enjoyable. The highlight is the lake itself, which is nestled in a very pretty basin and is highly scenic.
My sons can cover more miles that they used to, but I still like to keep the elevation gain under 1000'. There were numerous forest fires burning elsewhere, but I'd heard that the McCall area was pretty clear of smoke, so we headed out. From Boise it took us almost four hours to reach the Clayburn Trailhead, north of Big Hazard Lake. But that include a couple stops and 30 minutes to get across town. There were only two other vehicles at the trailhead, and we hit the trail feeling optimistic that we'd have the lake to ourselves.
As we started hiking, the trail was extremely dusty due to ATV use. But the scenery was nice, and we had great views as we hiked along through open terrain. We were making good time, and my oldest son almost didn't believe me when I told him we'd already covered two miles by the time we had our first rest stop at Warm Springs Saddle. The trail got more enjoyable from there, since the ATV's go to Rainbow Lake instead. We did see a pair of motorcycles a little later, but the trail was still nicer.
Soon enough we made it to Upper Twin Lake, then continued to our final destination at Hard Butte Lake. We set up camp on the north side of the lake near the outlet stream, then got out the stove to cook up some quesadillas, the boys favorite hiking food. After at little exploring around camp, we hit the sack.
We awoke the next morning to beautiful alpenglow light shining on the rocky ridge surrounding the lake. It was beautiful. We laid in our sleeping bags for a while, enjoying the view while waiting for the sun to warm things up a little. After breakfast I tried to talk boys into hiking up to the lookout remains on top of Hard Butte. But they (mostly) politely declined, so we decided to hike around the lake instead. We spent at least an hour playing on the huge snow bank on the far side of the lake, then took our time boulder hopping back to camp, watching the trout swimming in the lake as we went.
Once back at camp, the boys practice skipping rocks while I packed things up. After a snack and a few photos, we followed the stream down to Upper Twin Lake, and then followed the main trail from there. We made good time back to the trailhead, only stopping once along the way for PB&J's next to a nice meadow. Of the numerous backpacking trips I've taken with my sons, we all agreed that this our least favorite trail, but the most scenic campsite we'd ever had. All in all, still a very good trip.
Map of the route, 7 miles and 1000' elevation gain round trip.
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Ready to hit the trail.
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The trail is pretty dusty at first.
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Nearing the lake basin.
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Our campsite at Hard Butte Lake.
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Crazy poser by the lake.
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Morning alpenglow from inside the tent.
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Not ready to get up yet.
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Panoramic view of Hard Butte Lake.
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Climbing a snowfield, in August!
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At the top of the snowfield.
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Boulder hopping around the lake.
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Hard Butte above Hard Butte Lake.
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Soaking our feet to cool off.
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Three happy boys.
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Watching fish in the creek.
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Quick stop at Upper Twin Lake on the way out.
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Hiking down the trail, Lava Butte in the distance.
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Trying on Dad's pack. Good luck with that…
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Last view of Hard Butte during the hike out.
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