I hiked the Shedroof Divide trail from Pass Creek Pass to the Thunder Creek trail intersection on this beautiful fall day. The trail is in excellent condition and the fall colors are at their peak. The first of the fall mushrooms are out, as well as the last of the huckleberry crop. The bears are also out looking for the latter--I saw two on today's hike.

I hiked the Salmo Loop in a day again this year in an effort to increase my Hike-a-Thon mileage, and this year I led it as a group hike for the Spokane Mountaineers. It was a very wet, rainy day for our hike, but the Loop is in great shape this year. It is about to be in even better shape because there is currently a WTA work party out on the trail as well! We met the volunteer vacation crew at their campsite near the old Salmo Cabin. It was just after we left the cabin that we encountered a very overgrown portion of the trail, which they will no doubt be doing brush work on over the next several days. The rain finally stopped as we reached the Shedroof Divide, but the clouds never lifted enough to reveal the surrounding mountains. However, the wildflower displays are fantastic right now.

Volunteers from a number of organizations including the WTA, Conservation Northwest and the Spokane Mountaineers have been working all summer to clear
trails in the Salmo-Priest Wilderness. This is the only Wilderness in Northeast
Washington and is home to a number of rare and endangered species including Mountain Caribou,lynx,wolverines and Grizzly Bears. The Salmo Loop and Crowell
Ridge trails are 100% logged out and the Shedroof Divide is 95% clear. Fall is a great time to enjoy hiking in Eastern Washington. The mosquitoes are gone and the Huckleberries are ripe. Also, you won't find the crowds that are common in the Cascades and Olympics. Descriptions of these hikes can be found in Rich Lander's book "100 Hikes in the Inland Northwest".

The Colville National Forest is undergoing it's Forest Plan Revision. The Colville contains 1.1 million acres and only 3% is presently protected as Wilderness. This is the least amount of any National Forest in Washington. There is a broad based effort among local recreational and environmental groups to protect additional inventoried roadless areas within the Colville NF under the Wilderness Act. The Salmo-Priest Wilderness was designated 25 years ago and with the population growth in Eastern Washington we feel that the time is ripe for a Wilderness proposal on our side of the state. We invite everyone to come enjoy the Columbia Highlands and support our effort to bring additional Wilderness to Eastern Washington.