Squire Creek Pass is a beautiful place to visit on a sunny day. The trail is quite crude and steep in places so getting there is a bit challenging. The steepest section gains elevation at a rate of 1500 feet per mile.
Granite really defines this place. It is everywhere. The geology of this place is interesting. It is referred to as a Batholith. It was once the magma chamber of a large volcano. The cone of the volcano completely eroded away and the subduction of the pacific place uplifted the Batholith. Throw in some more erosion from glaciers and you have the dramatic landscape of this area.
The trail starts on an old logging road. In about 1mi you enter the Boulder River Wilderness and enter old forest. There is a huge 13 foot diameter Red Cedar Snag next to the trail. Last time I was here was May 2015 and the tree had one live branch left. Sad to say that branch has fallen and the tree is completely dead now. There are a few hemlock epiphytes still growing high up in the tree. There are a few other big Red Cedar in the vicinity that are still alive, barely.
At an elevation of about 3000 feet the dominant specie becomes Alaska Yellow Cedar with it's interesting shaggy bark. I counted the rings on a recently cut windfall and it was a whopping 1400 years old!!. The tree was only about 4.5 feet in diameter. There were up to 60 years of growth rings in the width of my thumb. I've counted a lot of tree rings in my time and that tree is definitely the oldest that I've ever encountered. This tree literally started growing at the beginning of the dark ages.
The Huckleberries are ripe and in amazing profusion. They go on for miles. The berries near the pass were definitely the sweetest and tastiest.
I recommend ascending the meadows south of the pass to get the best views of Three Fingers and White Horse.
In spite of the perfect weather, I didn't cross paths with a single person all day.
7mi RT and 3000 ft elevation gain.
Comments
Maddy,
This was an absolutely beautifully done trail review! I love this trail for it's lack of hikers around. Freedom. I love hearing about that tree you found of approx 1400 y.o. I am planning a trip this week(December first week)...probably will find snow and the river beds overflowing. Thanks for the great review. Michael
Posted by:
MountainZipper on Dec 04, 2018 06:44 PM
Love the review and the tree nerdiness! Im sold and am going ASAP!
Posted by:
egoddard on Mar 09, 2019 08:24 AM