Stickney Ridge (attempt) from Wallace Falls State Park — Thursday, Jul. 12, 2007

Stickney Ridge (attempt) from Wallace Falls State Park Stickney Ridge is a prominent ridge seen from much of Seattle and Eastside communities, and along SR2 from Sultan to Goldbar, yet there is relatively little information about hikes in this area. The entire area has been logged 30-40 years ago and is now growing back very nicely to the point that the views are blocked by trees until you get to the very top. Hiking on old logging roads is not very aesthetic, but a nice transition season pastime until the trails higher up are free from snow. There are at least three possible approaches to Stickney Ridge: 1. via Shaw Lake, 2. via Wallace Lake and 3. by way of Road #2800 (Wallace River Basin) from the top of Wallace Falls. After a futile attempt to gain Stickney Ridge at its northwest end via Shaw Lake, I tried a different approach starting at Wallace Falls State Park and mountain-biking the 4 miles of DNR logging road that used to be part of the Wallace Lake/Wallace Falls loop hike before the Greg Ball Trail was built. Using the mountain bike to get to and from the start of the on-foot hike would speed up the return trip. Most people have hiked to Wallace Lake by one of the two approaches and a few may even have made the entire 10-mile loop, now made more pleasant and shortened by the Greg Ball Trail which was opened in 2006. A few curious hikers may have wondered (as I did) about what lies above Wallace Lake. From the lake one can see impressive cliffs at the edge of Stickney Ridge from where one should have fine views. The upper part of the ridge and Mt. Stickney itself will soon be in the Wild Sky Wilderness. This will be its westernmost boundary. If you want to get off on an early start, you can even stay overnight at Wallace Falls State Park in one of their spiffy new cabins or in a tent site. The bike ride starts at the Wallace Falls State Park parking lot, following the power line for a short distance until it enters the woods. Instead of descending to the river (hikers only) trail, the bike route follows the old logging road, and takes a left turn at the bulletin board (straight ahead would take you to the lower end of the Greg Ball Trail). After 0.8 mi. from the bulletin board the trail crosses a clear-cut (730 ft., views of Tomtit Alps and Haystack Mtn.) and joins a logging road at 890 ft. Here signs give directions: [Parking Area 2.4 mi.] [Wallace Lake via DNR Road and old road bed 4.2 mi./6.7 km]. The road is in very good condition and gives a smooth ride with a mountain bike. At 1260 ft. is a quarry and the views are getting better. At 1700 ft. the new Greg Ball Trail emerges from the woods. A sign reads: [To Parking Area via woody trail 3.4 mi./5.4 km]. Soon after that a trail goes to Wallace Lake on an old road bed and the road crosses the river and goes over a hump. At 4 miles one comes to a Y in the road, and signs read [Wallace Lake 0.6 mi/2.2 km] (obviously a conversion error, because 0.6 mi. equals 0.96 km!). Another sign points to the right [Trailhead via Falls 4.8 mi./7.7 km]. Looking for a road that climbs up onto Stickney Ridge, I made the mistake of following the improved road to the right (blue dotted route on map), but there is no other road branching off before the road widening ends after 0.7 mi. and the trail converts to the narrow road that leads to the top of the falls. Back at the Y, this time I took the left branch and soon came to another Y where the left branch is marked as going to Wallace Lake on a grassy tread and the right branch (unmarked) heads uphill. From this point one can see a small waterfall running over a cliff above and freefalling about 100 feet through the air. At 2100 ft. there is a metal retaining wall from where one has a nice view of Mt. Index and Mt. Persis (photo below) and all the way to downtown Seattle (but Wallace Lake is hidden behind trees). Continuing up, the road switchbacks right at a swamp filled with logs (2640 ft.) and comes to a Y. The better maintained road curves around to the left, but that is not the direction in which we expect to get to Mt. Stickney. Instead, I followed the right, less traveled road which soon ended at a turnaround and transitioned into a ""trail"" (former road, but barely recognizable as such) through dense alder stands which totally block any views. After following this lush green ""trail"" for less than 1 mi. and still not getting a view, I turned around at 2850 ft. elev. and saved the rest of the exploration for a later trip. According to the map, this trail (road) parallels the cliffs and gains elevation. At one time it may have been the main road on which much of the timber above was hauled out to market. While most the DNR roads up to the last Y showed signs of recent maintenance work (cleaning out the ditches around culverts), this old side road is beginning to overgrow and soon may no longer be passable. On the return trip, if you are passing the trail turnoff at 890 ft. and continue down the logging road in search of the old Wallace Lake Road that once started at the entrance to the state park, you will see that it has been blocked off and converted to private road. It is no longer a connection and return route to the state park. If you continue down on the logging road, it parallels the power line for ~ 2 miles, past a most impressive view of Olney Creek Falls to the right, and exits at a gate on Kellogg Lake Rd. in Startup. From there it is a long 2-mi. bike ride on U.S. 2 back to Goldbar and another mile back to the parking area in the state park. Topo maps: USGS Index 15' series; Green Trails Index No. 142 Elev. gain 2760 ft.