I joined The Lands Council (http://www.landscouncil.org/) and the Save Mount Spokane Coalition (http://www.savemtspokane.org/Home.html) for a public hike to see the old growth forest on the backside of Mount Spokane. There were more than 50 of us along for this pleasant stroll. Our hike started near the Cook's Cabin/CCC trailhead. We walked down the Mount Kit Carson Loop Road (an old road that has been converted to an extra-wide trail). At the intersection with trail 130 (the "chair 4" section), we turned and headed down the hill. Along the route we could see that while the lupines are nearly done blooming, the huckleberries are just starting. We also met several cross country mountain bike riders on both of the trails we hiked. The purpose of our hike was to learn about plans to cut swaths through the old growth forest to install a chair lift and seven ski runs on the backside of Mount Spokane's summit as an expansion of Mount Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park (http://www.mtspokane.com/). The swaths, totaling 80 acres, would fragment the intact old-growth forest ecosystem. The issue is in the courts currently: the Lands Council won their appeal of the timber harvest and is awaiting another decision regarding the land classification change. For anyone's reading pleasure: get the full scoop on the Park's process here: http://www.parks.wa.gov/plans/mtspokane2/ This hiker's opinion? The State Parks Commission should have designated the area a "Natural Forest Area." It met the requirements and has been managed as such since the 1990s. It would be a shame to see the forest fragmented for the benefit of one subset of winter recreation users. It always has been and could continue to be a popular backcountry ski (and snowshoe) area without a single tree being cut. Oh, and in case you have an interest in entomology - read up on the rare bugs (grylloblattids, or if you're like me and can't pronounce that, ice crawlers) here: http://www.entm.purdue.edu/ants/ice-crawlers.php

A few friends and I decided to snowshoe to the summit of Mt. Spokane after work on Tuesday night. We started our ascent at 6:30 pm and found the 14 inches of new powder a nice change to the trail conditions. All told the trail is in great shape. The Mt. Spokane Ski area has not opened yet but will be opening this weekend. There is one blow down at about the .75 mile spot. Other Snowshoers had already blazed a new trail around the trunk of the tree that had snapped in the Monday windstorm. Not much of a problem now with the winter conditions and more of the white stuff coming down each day, but this blowdown is of significant size and will need to be removed come spring time. The summit house was unlocked so we entered and rehydrated for a while before descending back to our car.

Went out for the day at Mt. Spokane. We dint use our snowshoes as the trails are compact. Did a huge trip out and had a great time. Sunny skies there.

Not exactly sure the trial number, we went on a few differnt ones. we parked in the lower parking lot, not in the upper parking for skiing. We went into the foreat to the left a trail was there and ened up going to 2 warming huts. A round trip total of about 6 miles.

This 8-9 mile loop hike can be done in either direction, and there are two good starting locations. The route my group took started high near the snowmobile parking lot on Mount Spokane. Winter users should note that a snowpark permit is required if parking inside the snowmobile lot, but parking along the main road requires no permits. We started with the major downhill section, taking trail 100 almost as far as the lower Mount Kit Carson Loop road. Approximately 200 feet before reaching the old road bed we took the intersection to the right, crossed the creek, and started back up the hill. This section is confusing in the sense that it is technically still trail 100 but soon becomes trail 110. There is a good sign posted at the place where trail 100 and trail 110 merge, and another where they diverge again, but this route requires that hikers stay right at both intersections. The uphill section on trail 110 is approximately 2.5 miles and is easy to follow. At the top of 110 the trail intersects the upper Mount Kit Carson Loop Road. There is a vault toilet at this intersection (although it is currently snowed in). We then hiked on the loop road (a snowmobile route in the winter -- snowshoers should stay to the side of the road) for approximately .5 mile to the intersection with trail 130 (on the uphill side of the loop road). We stopped off at the CCC cabin for lunch -- there is typically a fire going and there are several picnic tables inside. From there we continued on trail 130, crossing the summit road at Bald Knob Campground and exiting the trail right back at the parking lot after completing the loop. The alternate starting location is the bottom of trail 100/110 at the hairpin turn on the main road. This parking lot requires a snowpark permit but no special grooming sticker. The loop could be hiked either direction, but I would recommend taking 110 up first, and then across 130 and down 100 to return to the car (the opposite direction has more uphill).