Local green hat Mary gets all the credit for dreaming up this awesome route! She planned it as a fun sunrise hike for Thanksgiving morning, and a great way to earn an extra slice of pie (which she actually packed in her backpack, and we stopped long enough to enjoy at Mount Kit Carson!).
We met early and started by hiking up Trail 182 until the Kit Carson Loop Road, then turned right and took our first snack break at Smith Gap.
It was cold so our stop was brief, and we continued up the middle portion of Trail 140 to Smith Gap. We took another brief break here, then continued up 130 to Trail 160, and took Trail 160 to the summit of Mount Kit Carson. There was a moose hanging out in the trees near the 130/160 intersection! Unfortunately it was tucked in so far that it was hard to see in the photograph. There were other moose tracks in the fresh snow all over the place; Mount Spokane is about the best local chance of seeing a moose on trail.
It was a little too breezy and cold to take a summit break once we arrived at Mount Kit Carson, so we dropped just below the summit into the trees & Mary produced two containers of pumpkin pie from her backpack! It was a fantastic snack break to enjoy on the trail.
After devouring the pie, we continued across Trail 130 to the summit of Day Mountain, and afterwards continued on Trail 130 to where it intersects the Kit Carson Loop Road. We hiked down the KC Loop until we returned to the Trail 182 intersection, and then retraced our steps down the hill to complete the loop.
There was no snow at the trailhead, but there was a dusting of snow before we reached Smith Gap, and surely more snow will be on the way soon. It was a bit slippery higher up the hill but the temperatures were at that terrible point that allows snow to stick to microspikes, so I opted to slip/slide instead. There are a few steeper downhill sections on this route and I did manage a couple falls; I forgot my trekking poles and Mary definitely fared better for having remembered hers.
Total distance for this awesome route: GPS had it at 14.97 miles and 2,900' elevation gain.
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