Jeff Lubeck

Alice Lake Two – You Bet!

Was an Alice Lake Two in the offing for 2023?

Alice Lake and El’ Capitan in the Sawtooth Wilderness on a Super Blue Moon was a demanding photo-shoot. The condition in the United States’ only Dark Skies Reserve will not occur again until 2037.

So what about heading to the same spots as part of a normal day hike?

My wife Linda, suggested we retrace my steps during daylight hours and without 62 lbs. of gear on my back. I, and our two Border Collies, took Linda up on the the proposal.

The result was a 13.8 mile out and back hike with 1,761 vertical feet of elevation gain (to 8,601 feet elevation) that includes six water crossings (.i.e., take the boots off). Note: The Border Collies did not take their boots off on the water crossings. However, they did follow Linda’s lead at the crossings, with some bolder hopping of their own, as the water flow was fast and deep in spots.

The Alice Lake Toxaway Loop region

This out and back route was first covered by Linda and I in July of 1983. Then as now, Linda led the way and covered the same water crossings. I carried up the rear to monitor and record results – for legally binding purposes.

Linda and Willow of the Wood River Valley at Alice Lake. We had a wonderful lunch at Alice Lake with a perfect view of Perfect Peak and Snowyside Peak. If you would like to see a video of the view at lunch click on the link [here]. You will see the Sawtooths from Perfect Peak to Snowyside Peak. I am a lucky guy. I have summited the peaks in the video multiple times including in the last one to five years.

After a lunch of oranges, cheese and Salami (and Kibble for the Broder Collies) we headed back down.

Linda, Willow of Wood River Valley, and Sage of the Wood River Valley at the Pettit Creek Falls.

Super Blue Moon Shines on Idaho

The Super Blue Moon recently presented itself to the Dark Skies Reserve of Idaho (August 2023). The event was nothing short of spectacular.

The Super Blue Moon is a rare occurrence on earth. A Super Blue Moon event is such when the moon is closest to earth, the moon is Full and it is the 2nd Full Moon in the same calendar month. The next Super Blue will occur in 2037 (according to Space.com [here]).

Super Blue Moon Shines on El' Capitan © Jeffrey H. Lubeck - MESH Art LLC - all rights reserved.

As a Fine Art Landscape and Astro photographer living in the heart of the nations first designated dark sky reserve, I was interested in the implication of a Super Blue Moon on the landscape.

To experience and photograph the event, I chose to do the photo-shoot at an iconic location. Alice Lake and El’ Capitan in the heart of the Sawtooth Wilderness of Idaho. My shooting spot is located 6.57 miles and 1,200+ vertical feet from the Pettit Lake trailhead. The cove on Alice Lake (my spot) is at 8,601 feet above sea-level. The travel route includes 6 water-crossings.

Seeing the photo-shoot is going to be a Landscape and Astro event I bring my PhaseOne IQ-4 and Nikon Z9 gear and lenses with tri-pod and mono-pod. As I am going solo, I pack as light and efficiently as possible. After a couple of reviews for possible reduction, my pack weighs 52.7 lbs. at departure. Ugh!

The bottom-line is the light from the the Super Blue Moon made the surroundings feel as if it was the middle of the afternoon. At its most powerful, the brightness was astounding.

The Shoot

My plan was to capture the impact of light of the Super Blue Moon on Alice Lake and El’ Capitan at its most compelling – visually. I wanted the power of the light on the face of El’ Capitan and capture stars in the background.

It took a number of hours of photographing to find the sweet spot. The photo above is the one I like the most. I decided to capture the light of the moon behind me at the same time (see below) for perspective.

I planned travel such that I could also capture sunset, dawn and sunrise images as well.

Sunset

Tip of the Hat to the Sun at El' Capitan © Copyright Jeffrey H. Lubeck - MESH Art LLC - all rights reserved.

On The Cusp of the Start of Day

El' Capitan in Silhouette © Copyright Jeffrey H. Lubeck - MESH Art LLC - all rights reserved.

Dawn

Sunrise

*** Jeff’s Thoughts and Other Worthless Trivia ***

The exposure settings to capture the implication of the Super Blue Moon are materially different than my choices for Astrophotography. The Blue Moon images above were captured at: 6 seconds ISO 400 F2.2 4000 Color temperature. In a normal dark sky astrophotography the result would be an image entirely DEEP DARK, BLACK, BLACKER THAN BLACK.

Usually the settings would between 10-15 seconds, ISO 2000-5000, F1.8 – 2.2, and 4000-5000 Color Temperature. for examples:

Night Sky Belt of Milky Way at its Height [here].

Total Eclipse of the Sun [here].

Bench Lakes of Idaho: Smooth and Serene

The Bench Lakes. Nothing better than a late summer afternoon hike to these five gems.

They rest high above Redfish Lake in the Sawtooth Mountains and are straight forward to reach.

Any of the lakes can act as destinations. The trip can be as easy as hiking to the first lake. This trip is 7.8 miles (round-trip) involving 1,240 vertical feet of gain.

The trip can be made more exciting by hiking to the fourth lake. This trip is 10.7 miles (round-trip) involving 1,740 vertical feet of gain.

For the full experience hike to the fifth lake. This trip is 12.4 miles (round-trip) involving 2,160 vertical feet of gain.

The Route Map

The route map from Redfish Lake Trailhead to Bench Lakes (in gold).

Take in the Views

While traversing the bench (trail) high above Redfish Lake, make sure to take in the views.

Redfish Lake is about 4.5 miles in length, and the trail along the bench provides a means to see almost all of it.

The Grand Mogul

On the last major switchback of the trail before the first lake, take in the magnificent Grand Mogul. At 9,733 feet it towers over Redfish Lake at its end.

Late afternoon at the Grand Mogul.

There are two primary routes to the summit of the Grand Mogul. The first is via the Chockstone Couloir (snow) route. The second is via Northeast Ridgeline route that wraps around the southern portion of the peak. The Chockstone Couloir is a spectacular Snow Climb. It appears to split the mountain in two and is rated a 5.4 (Technical) on the Yosemite Decimal Index. The Northeast Ridgeline route is rated 3+ on the Yosemite Decimal Index (Rock Scramble with Complex Route Finding).

Bench Lakes

The view the from the Bench Lake #1. From left to right – Mt. Heyburn, Fishhook Peak, Mt. Limbert, Mickey’s Spire, Thompson Peak and Williams Peak.

The view of Mt. Heyburn (left) and Fishhook Peak from Bench Lake #2.

If you would like to see the view from the top of Thompson Peak in Summer, a Post of mine is [here].

If you are interested in taking a trip to The Bench Lakes, a terrific description is located [here].