I did a big day trip (running) from Owhi campground at Cooper Lake, along Cooper River trail to Polallie Ridge trail, then down Tired Creek trail back to Cooper Lake. The road to Owhi is almost entirely paved, except at the end, but it was in stellar condition. I camped at Owhi for the weekend and did this as a day trip. Total mileage was about 18.5 miles, with about 4800' of gain.
I took off around noon along Cooper River trail, which was in great shape, with rolling terrain and minimal water crossings. There were plenty of day hikers, including very young kids, so there was a lot of smiles and positive energy in those first few miles.
Once I got to the Pollalie Ridge trail, I turned and started heading up. The trail is extremely steep in some parts, with loose rocks and sand, which make it challenging at times to make forward progress! But it offered a few beautiful views here and there. I did run into some backpackers who thought they were going to Waptus Lake, so I pulled out my maps to explain where they had gone wrong. Luckily, they had only made it about 1.5 miles instead of the full distance. A friend of mine made the same mistake a few weeks ago, so it seems like a common error. Other than this group, I saw one other small group of backpackers about halfway up the ridge trail who were heading back down to their car - otherwise, I had these trails all to myself.
Polallie Ridge continued to rise until a somewhat flat portion near Diamond Lake, which was quite beautiful and serene. There was even an enormous deer munching away near the water, and we scared each other at first until it figured out where I was and ran off down the trail. At the lake, it was a little confusing where the trail continued, since there appears to be a large camping area and some offshoot trails, but I eventually found it - the trail was a bit narrower in this section, but eventually widened again and was very easy to follow. A good map and compass should help keep you on the right path.
The next "lake" (unnamed on my maps) was dried up, and the trail crossed the large open field that was left in its place. In this area, look for the cairns to help you find your way. There is a trail that goes the wrong direction that people tried to block off with some branches to avoid confusion (thanks, whoever did that!).
Finally, I reached the top of Polallie Ridge, and up ahead I could see the lookout peaking out in a large opening. I loved this moment of 360 degree views and braved the flies to stay a while and get a lot of photos and videos.
Heading down, I decided to take Tired Creek trail (rather than continue to Pete Lake, my original plan), which was steep and had a lot of switchbacks. This trail was not quite as well-maintained, and there were a lot of trees down and quite a few areas where small brush and small trees were growing over the trail. Finally, I got down to the horse camps at the bottom and made my way back to Cooper Lake along the Pete Lake trail, which was a lovely, rolling meander back to the river and lake. I did do a brief detour here which probably added ~2 miles to my route, which you could cut out to be closer to 16.5 miles for this route.
In general, the trail up the ridge was in great shape and was surprisingly easy to follow for being such a remote trail, with few blowdowns and only very brief moments where it was overgrown with underbrush. Some friends and I backpacked to Waptus a few weeks ago and the mosquitoes were horrendous - but up here on the ridge, I didn't really have any troubles (though there were sections with a lot of flies, but at least they weren't biting me!). Much of the trail was in the woods, so sun protection wasn't too much of a concern. At this point in the season, there were several stream crossings and the lake, which could have served as water refilling stops had I needed it.
It was a heck of a lot of work, but the views from Polallie were pretty incredible, and the trails were in lovely condition for such a long jaunt.
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