Camping in the Sawtooth

This past weekend was a blast! About 13 of us went camping in the Sawtooth National Forest and hiked up to the Independence Lakes. At first we were going to camp up at the top lake but soon decided it was a better idea to camp at the bottom then hike up with no luggage. This was a very good idea since the hike was 3 miles one way and parts of it were so steep it made my legs scream. Before my car load got to the campsite 3 of the campers had already hiked to the top and they kept telling us the hike was well worth it once we got up there. They were right, it was so beautiful up there. We stayed at the top for a while, some fished, some continued up to the top lake and most of us just rested. Soon we heard our cue to leave in the form of Thunder so we hike back down the mountain, got our stuff together and went home. My legs and behind are so very sore but it was all well worth it. Who knew co-workers could be so much fun? On the other hand who better to go camping and hiking with than a bunch of people who work for the BLM?
The first picture is taken from the campsite towards the creek. The second picture is the second Independence Lake which was our main goal.