The Salmo Loop is on my list of perennial hikes, and I didn't want to miss it for this year's Hike-a-Thon. However, I've already done it once as a dayhike this summer; what I really wanted was the extended backpack version of the Salmo Loop (when twenty miles just isn't enough)!

This version of the Salmo Loop is 40.6 miles; members of the Spokane Mountaineers did it as a one-night backpack trip, but it could easily become a three or four day trip with easier daily mileage (we did 21.3 the first day and 19.3 the second day).

We arrived Friday night and car-camped at Gypsy Meadows (a free Forest Service campground with a CTX) and started early Saturday morning at the Thunder Creek TH just across the road from the meadows.

We entered the Salmo Priest Wilderness via the Thunder Creek trail, an easy five-mile hike up to the Shedroof Divide through an incredible old-growth cedar forest. Once we reached the Shedroof Divide we continued north, and we opted to include the spur trail up to the summit of Thunder Mountain (elevation 6,560'), site of an old fire lookout (now gone). After lunch at Thunder Mountain, we retraced our steps on the spur trail and then continued north on the divide until we reached trail 535 and joined the Salmo Loop.

We briefly exited the trail system at the Salmo Loop trailhead, where we were surprised to see several cars--it looks as though the Salmo Loop has been discovered! However, we only ended up seeing two people on our entire trip--there is plenty of solitude in the Salmo Priest. We dropped down into the Salmo Basin and camped at the nice campsite about 1/4 mile before the Salmo River crossing.

On Sunday we crossed the Salmo River and began our long climb back up to the Shedroof Divide. No trip on the Shedroof is complete without the side trip up to Little Snowy Top for the incredible views of surrounding peaks in Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Canada. The Little Snowy Top Lookout was in the best shape I've ever seen it in--someone has recently spent some time tidying up the interior of the cabin. Unfortunately, someone else has recently burned a lot of trash in the fire ring outside the cabin (for those who don't know LNT principles, look them up before venturing into the woods!).

From Little Snowy Top we continued out the Shedroof Divide and exited via the Shedroof Cutoff Trail. From there it's an easy half-mile road-walk back to the Thunder Creek TH and the car.

The Salmo Loop itself is in fantastic shape, having benefited from several recent WTA work parties (I got to help on the one three weeks ago!). The tread is in fantastic shape, and all but one downed tree has been cleared. The other twenty miles of this hike had a few blowdowns, and the Shedroof Divide south of the Salmo Loop was brushy. Watch out for a large blowdown on the Shedroof Cutoff trail--it fell in a bad location, crossing the trail twice at a bend. Someone tried to cut off some of the branches, but left 3-4" sticking out with each cut; it's hard to make it over the tree without impaling oneself!

The wildflowers are in the middle of their peak right now; columbine is in full bloom, the tiger lilies are winding down, and the fireweed is just getting started. The huckleberries were just beginning to get ripe; this trip will only get better over the next few weeks!

Looking for some snow free travel I headed east to the Selkirk Mtns and hiked what I call the "Salmo-Priest Lollipop." The Salmo-Priest Wilderness and even the Kettle River Range are two areas that can be snow free in early July when the Cascades and Olympics are still buried in snow.

The Salmo-Priest Wilderness is also one of the few places (in WA) that you have the potential of seeing Griz, Woodland Caribou, Rocky Mtn Bighorn Sheep, Wolves (most likely hearing) and Moose.

The "Lollipop" is hiking the Shedroof Divide Trail (from the TH near Pass Creek Pass) up to the Salmo Basin Loop, doing the loop and then hiking back along the Shedroof Divide again. I believe it's around 50 miles or so.

From the TH to the Thunder Creek Trail junction there are 90-100 blow-downs. From the Thunder Cr junction to the Salmo Loop junction there are roughly 35 blow-downs. The Salmo Loop itself has another 30-35 blow-downs. Off and on along the entire Shedroof Divide there are some brush issues. The Salmo Loop fairs better but still could be brushed out in places.

The South Salmo River is always a ford and currently at a depth of ~20". The only other ford the entire way is at Crutch Creek, which later in the season will be able to be stepped across. It's currently running at ~12".

Water is currently abundant on the Divide and Loop, but that will change as the season wears on. Camps on the Divide are few and far between, but there are plenty of camp options along the Loop.

If wanting to venture to the Salmo-Priest Wilderness and the Selkirk Mtns, contact the Sullivan Lake Ranger District for up to date trail and road conditions.

A magical and rugged Wilderness!

Cheers!
S-H-A-L

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.

The Salmo Priest Loop, hike #15 in Rich Lander's 100 Hikes in the Inland Northwest, is one of my all-time favorite trips. This was my first time doing the loop as a day hike; I have always done it as a multi-day backpack in the past. The basic loop is listed at 19 miles; I added some additional mileage through side hikes to the old Salmo Cabin (.2 miles each way) and the Little Snowy Top fire lookout (1 mile each way). The trail is in the best shape I have ever seen. There were massive blow downs in the Salmo Basin last year; all have been cleared. The WTA sponsored a recent trailwork party (as in they finished the day before I hiked it!) in which they repaired the tread on the Shedroof Divide where some avalanche chutes had destroyed parts of the trail. There are a few small blowdowns on the trail. None are difficult for hikers, but horses may have trouble on one section between the Salmo River and Snowy Top where several large trees are hanging about 6' above the trail. Backpackers will find several nice campsites along the route. [Note - some have been abusing the established sites by leaving garbage - including food garbage - in the fire rings in these sites. As always, please "pack it in / pack it out" and remember that this is bear country.] The last reliable water source on the trail out of the Salmo Basin is about a mile before Snowy Top and the Shedroof Divide. From there it is several miles to the next water source, at a nice campsite about a mile past the Cabinet Pass intersection. I found the trail to be a great day hike (it took me 9 hours including all breaks and side trips), but for those who have never done the loop before I recommend taking three days, camping near the old Salmo Cabin the first night, and camping at the previously mentioned water source past Cabinet Pass the second night.