Howson Creek #1349,Sasse Mountain #1340,Little Salmon La Sac #1325
Jun 18, 2005
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Little Salmon La Sac
- Region: Snoqualmie Pass
- Trails: Little Salmon La Sac (#1325)
- Avg Rating: 3.50
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Howson Creek
- Region: Snoqualmie Pass -- Salmon La Sac/Teanaway
- Agency: Wenatchee National Forest- Cle Elum Ranger District
- Trails: Howson Creek (#1349)
- Avg Rating: 2.60
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Sasse Ridge
- Region: Snoqualmie Pass -- Snoqualmie Pass
- Agency: Cle Elum Ranger District
- Trails: Sasse Mountain (#1340)
- Avg Rating: 3.50
The Howson Creek trail is a forgotten trail in the Salmon La Sac area that gets almost no publicity. In fact, it is so far off the radar screen that it does not appear on the USGS quad. A snip from the quad with my gps track is posted at mysite.verizon.net/jelfelt
To find the trailhead, head up the Salmon La Sac road to the north end of Cle Elum Lake. Just past the campground entrance you will see a small sign on the right announcing the trailhead.
In less than a mile the trail crosses Howson Creek. I easily crossed on rocks just downstream of a log and readily found the trail again. From about 2,900' to 3,200 the trail goes through an old clearcut that has grown back. On this bit there is some low brush beginning to close in on the trail.
Above that clearcut the trail climbs steadily through a pleasant forest. The occasional opening provides fine views to the west. At about 3,600' the trail begins switch backing uphill. Do pay attention or you will find you have wandered off on a game trail.
I lost the trail at 4,400'. A forest service map I obtained from the Cle Elum Ranger district indicated the trail passed close to point 5,335' which is on a spur ridge extending west from Sasse Mtn. I scrambled up to that point but sure didn’t see any sign of a trail. The next place the USFS map indicated I might find the trail was in the saddle directly west of Sasse. I continued on the ridge crest (easy scramble but slow going) up and over the next bump and down to the saddle. Yup, there’s the trail coming in from the north side of the spur ridge. It was then a simple matter to follow the trail to its junction with the one on the ridge.
The last 100 feet or so of the Howson Creek trail is a traverse with no apparent tread and some brush. At the junction there is an ancient green and white forest service sign (don’t see many of those in the wild) that the forest is slowly swallowing. The summit of Sasse is wooded so there is little view but there are some fine logs for sitting.
Back at the saddle, my plan was to follow the trail down and hopefully find the bit I missed on the way up. Before long the trail delivered me to the edge of a large talus slope on the north side of the spur ridge. Now what? I easily hiked down along the edge of this talus field and soon encountered the relatively well used and well marked Little Salmon La Sac trail (#1325). At that point it was obvious that the Howson Creek trail crossed the talus somewhere higher up.
I hiked #1325 out to the road and then down the road a long way and then did a bit of cross country to connect up again with the Howson Creek trail. Maybe next year I’ll go back and look for the part I missed. If anyone has done this trail and has advice regarding the portion of trail I failed to locate, please contact me through my website.
I saw no one all day although I did hear 1 group of dirt bikes on the ridge trail.
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