We were staying overnight in the rental of Tyee Lookout, but instead of testing the high clearance of my vehicle, we decided to pack in from Billy Ridge. I had completed Billy Ridge as a day hike a couple of years ago, though without a full pack, and my wife had not been yet. So loading up with water, meals, a blanket and a change of clothes, off we went.
The road up to the trail head is terrific. It is well paved all the way to the turnoff for the Lookout, and then well graded dirt/gravel to the trail head (#1413). There is a lot of room by the gate for parking. The trail itself is primarily for bikes/motorbikes, so it is a bit more narrow and deep for my liking, but generally in very good shape except for the amount of dust. While on the way up, we did hear some bikes up along the ridgeline, but did not encounter any on the trail.
We had broken clouds that day, so the hiking was pretty comfortable, and I did not use the entire water bottle I was carrying, as I did last time. The trail is a mix of woods, burned out areas that have not yet recovered, and some open field switchbacks. It is a pretty good grade throughout, nothing too strenuous. At the top, the trail meets the Lookout road, and we met some hikers there that had come up the road for a day hike.
The lookout was great, though I have to admit I was not prepared for how cold it was overnight - there is no heat source like in Steliko. The finder is still present in the middle of the room, and there are four padded beds, framed along the sides of the room. There were a few supplies - TP, some handy solar powered lamps - but otherwise you are on your own. We had only one spoon between the two of us, so had to take turns with meals. There's a nice folding table and chairs, so we played a couple of games, and then took the chairs and we sat outside for a while.
After sunset, a nearly-full supermoon lit up the surrounding ridges, really beautiful. When it set, lots of stars.
The next morning, we packed it all back up and made our way back down Billy Ridge. Brilliant blue sky as it started getting warmer, but we were moving a lot faster downhill so it was fine.
Not a lot of wildlife to report, mostly chipmunks and ground squirrels, but we did have a raven and a hawk, and several nutcrackers hanging around.
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