Bear grass super bloom! We started from Bald Knob campground for 5.8 mi RT, 800 ft elev gain. Could not believe the bear grass. Saw a moose walking through the meadow/bear grass.

This is one of my favorite long snowshoe loops at Mount Spokane State Park. Today my friend & I started at the Lower Kit Carson Loop Road TH at the hairpin turn; it also works well to start from the Lower Selkirk SnoPark lot if the hairpin turn lot is packed.

There was another group leaving the parking lot as we started, but they headed toward Smith Gap and the Snowshoe Warming Hut, so we had first tracks up trail 110. This trail received a lot of traffic yesterday so the trail was fairly well packed down under a couple of inches of fresh snow that fell overnight. 

At Saddle Junction we continued up trail 140 through fresh untracked powder that might not have seen snowshoers yet this season it was so deep. We only took 140 as far as the CCC cabin, then turned off to take trail 130 toward Bald Knob Picnic Area. I fully expected the area would have been busy but we still had fresh snow all the way across trail 130 and most of the way down trail 131, at which point we met a handful of groups just starting up the hill. 

Once we got to the Lower Selkirk SnoPark Lot and turned off for trail 100, we were back to first tracks in deep powder. It was just gorgeous, and we didn't see another person until we were less than a mile from returning to the car.

Total distance on this one was just shy of 7 miles with 1500' elevation gain, making it an excellent route for a little more distance and challenge, including some lightly visited trails. 

Started out from the upper Sno-Park (near Lodge 1), hiked up 131/130 to North Summit Road, and then cut up some of the ridge between the road switchbacks to avoid walking a longer way. I didn’t know what the official trail was once I got up to Bald Knob, which is why I meandered so much more around the trees—well, and the snowmobile tracks were so much more compelling after pushing heavy windswept powder with rain crust on top. Some of the spots I cut through would be considered runs on the backside, but I wasn’t worried since the snow was relatively low coverage, icy, and the entire backside was shutdown due to lack of snow. I tried to stick to the trees to avoid mucking up some folks’ down track.

I didn’t travel across groomed trails so I didn’t think the uphill season pass was required today; I didn’t plan on going back down through the resort. That being said, if more normal ski operations had been in effect, I would have purchased an uphill season pass in advance (or maybe along the trail 😅).

There were 2 new trees down along trail 131. A small handsaw could dispatch both of them, but they can be bypassed over the snow easily without negatively impacting the vegetation/terrain. I cleared some branches off the tread so it’d be easier for folks to skin up.

Most users were snowshoers, but there were some splitboarders and skiers skinning up as well.

Staying on the beaten path was easy, but once I got off of it I was sinking down 1’-2’ in areas without tails. It probably won’t be long before normal ski operations start up with the snowpack the way it was.

The ridge/summit was super icy/windswept. It was really cool to look at.

I hope I get a chance to come back and carve some turns this season. It was a fun, fruitful visit (number 3 of 4 lookout summits this trip).

On the first Saturday of summer, I decided it was time to visit Mount Spokane again. After squeezing my little car into a parking place in the lot at the hairpin turn, I wandered across the road and headed toward trail 100, then up the hill on trail 110 to the saddle junction. I encountered one tree about chest high across the trail on 100. There were lots of other hikers and a few mountain bikes on the trail as well. Everyone was polite, and only one dog was off leash.

There are so many trails to choose from at the saddle junction, and I selected trail 130 toward Day Mountain. Almost immediately, I encountered trees which had fallen across the trail over the winter. Almost all of them were bare of bark and limbs, looking like they were remnants of the fire which burned here many years ago. They were almost all easy to hop over. None presented much difficulty for me on foot. They would be a problem for a horse or a cyclist on this shared use trail though.

After resting and enjoying the view from the rocky outcrop on Day Mountain, I continued down the hill on trail 130 to the Kit Carson Loop Road. There were a couple more trees across the trail above the road, but once I started downhill on the Loop Road, there were no more obstacles, as evidenced by the mountain bikes I saw climbing up the hill.  I hiked down to Smith Gap, where I took a break at the picnic table before hiking back to my car on trail 100 which was in good condition except for the first tree I had encountered at the beginning of my hike.

It was a delightful way to spend the first full day of summer. The weather was cool in town, and cooler on the mountain. The slight breeze kept me from overheating as I hiked uphill.

This hike was also a work party to help restore trail 130 to Day Mountain to be more accessible to hikers. We had a great day playing in the dirt. We widened a piece of the trail that was almost hidden in the grass to proper width, removed a few rocks and roots and improved drainage.  The weather was pleasantly cool, with a few drops of rain at the end. Our hike out was wet, but the rain will settle all the dust we stirred up.

While we were working a few hikers took advantage of the clearer air on the mountain and hiked by. Two horse riders checked out our work as well. The trail is in much better condition than we found it. Come out and join us in the future.

#trailsandales