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| Hiking | 15.70 Miles |
3,110 AEG |
| | Hiking | 15.70 Miles | 6 Hrs 5 Mns | | 2.66 mph |
| 3,110 ft AEG | 11 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | My original plan was a hike in the Selkirk Mtns, since Reagan did not have wrestling practice this afternoon, but I was feeling a little blah this morning and didn’t think I’d be up for 12 miles, 2900’ aeg, and possible snow at the top of the trail. So I opted for something more local, and planned on doing a shorter hike. Final stats indicate otherwise, lol.
First car in the parking lot at 0745. Headed up Westwood Loop, which has seen a ton of new construction since I was last on it a few weeks ago. Felt almost like a different trail. At the road, I turned left to see what the rest of Timber Ridge was like. Kind of boring, dead ends at private property.
Turned around and retraced my steps north and onto StormKing, figuring I’d turn around whenever I got tired or bored. The more I walked, the better I felt, so I kept going. Once up at the road, I stayed right, which was new to me, and gently climbed the east slopes of Rathdrum Mtn. Crossed several talus fields and had some great views. The road switchbacked higher, and I decided to make a balloon loop at the top where I could reconnect to the road on the south slope of the mountain. That would have been a very easy, scenic hike.
At the high point of the road I was on, a cairned path turned north, on an old logging road. I decided to check it out, thinking it might lead to the summit. Steep, but was in good condition at first, clearly a well used path. After a while, it began to fade, then seemingly disappeared at the edge of a talus slope. Looking at satellite view (which is almost useless in the dense vegetation around here) showed no distinct path. One option might have led above the trees above the talus, but looked steep. Another option might have followed the old road bed below the talus, then curled upward once past the talus. I’m guessing this was the more likely option, but unfortunately the old road bed was choked with deadfall, and was not appealing to me.
I opted to traverse across the talus, hoping to pick up a trail on the other side of it. Getting across was fine, kind of fun, but nothing looked great on the other side. Knowing I only had about 200 vertical feet left to summit, and knowing there was a reachable road above me, I opted to head offtrail straight uphill, despite the fact that offtrail travel around here is close to impossible. It was tough, but doable, and I knew it would be shortlived, with a better descent option on the other side.
Quick stop at the summit, then descended the main road. I kept an eye out for potential routes tieing in to the one I had been on, but nothing looked obvious. So it was a boring road walk back down to StormKing, then a descent on StormKing to Majestic Passage, which I took back to the parking lot. Warm by the time I finished, in the 80s. Ended up being a solid hike for the day. |
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| Stop crying and just go do the hike. |
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