Monte Cristo and Beyond

The Timberline Trail is just one of the many thru hikes I bailed on. But it's the last one I need to go back and finish. Therefore, I drew up a plan to do an up and back for the missed section, secured the days off of work well in advance, got Julie on board (Janet already got er' done) and so all was set.

But then came the trip reports for that specific chunk of woods with very discouraging tales of dead-fall woe. 350 downed trees to go over or under between Elk Cove and Cloud Cap...and with an up and back, we'd do them twice. Obviously, finishing the TT was going to have to wait. 

So, now what? With four whole days, it seems you should have lots of options; but nothing felt like a good fit. Monte Cristo to Twin Lakes has been on the list for a long time, but four days seemed like overkill. 

Now that it's done, I know this is not a place to be rushed. This area is absolutely stunning - but also rugged, wild and unforgiving. Humans tried to tame and claim this wilderness in the past...the mining and tourism history here is fascinating! Except Mother Nature said "nope" and took it back. We visit with wonder and humility, and hope she is merciful while we are there.

Hard to imagine this was all there once

We were so grateful she smiled kindly on us. I'll confess I was in my head pretty hard over some of the drop offs on these trails. This screen shot of the last bit before getting to the view of Twin Lakes had me terrified; though it wasn't nearly as bad as Alltrails made it look. Even so, as a somewhat clumsy hiker, the thought of falling still made me quite anxious. 

But facing fears is a big part of what hiking means to me - fear of crossing icky, steep washouts (check) fear of walking across high logs (check) fear of looking stupid trying to do a bear hang (check) - The Henry M Jackson Wilderness has got you covered! 😉Happy "stay out of your head" trails. Trail Log below, and YouTube video here. 

Granted, not that scary...but my clumsy self still doesn't like it ;)

 

TRAIL LOG:
Day 1: The abandoned road section is an easy 4 miles, but was harder than I expected; probably because of the heat. We made camp there just before town and hung the food (sorry about that tortuously long video if you watch my YouTube...I do believe I'm done with bear hangs from here on out😜) then took our day packs into "town." 

Julie wisely decided it was too hot to keep hiking, but was okay with me going up and back to Glacier Basin and meeting her back at camp. This is a 4.5 mile and 1,700 ft elevation gain side trail you'll find at the end of the town. The trail reminded me so much of the AT...going up rocks without a switchback in site. I tracked myself for a total of 9.5 miles with 2,228 ft and 6 hours of hiking for the day.

Day 2: I originally thought we'd go to Twin Lakes this day - I mean it's only 6 miles. Thankfully we decided on Silver Lake instead, because the rain hit us right after we put up our tents. (And because we never would have made it to Twin Lakes! More about that on day 3.)

Some mood on the way up

 

Silver is supposedly only 2 miles from Monte Cristo - felt much longer with the 2k gain and obstacle course. (Handful of BIG trees to get over, but all doable.) We had a good portion of the day to stay in our tents...but who cares with this view?

I did later in the day try and follow the climber's trail shown on Alltrails up to Silvertip Peak, but a climber I am not. I could not find that trail to save my life!

As far as I got

Silver Lake from the beach...crazy how the lighting changes the color

Day 3: I could not have underestimated the up and back to Twin Lakes any more than I did. I tracked myself as having done 4.48 miles (and I didn't even go the half mile down to the lake) with 1.5 gain and it took over FIVE HOURS! And this is with a light day pack! 

Though a couple passed me who where going up to Columbia Peak AS A DAY HIKE -- so I guess this is all relative to your fitness level and speed.

The couple on the left. They were actually celebrating their engagement!

 

Celebrating by going up there! People are nuts 😜

I actually heard from an elderly gentlemen that his first backpack was Twin Lakes! 70 years ago when he was like 10...all I could respond was "parents sure raised em' tough back then." If you read my previous blog post, you'll find the story of my grandkids first backpack at about the same age. Three whole miles 😆and they acted like they were going to die, haha. 

Day 4: Another benefit of camping at Silver Lake was our hike out was a shorter 7 miles. An 8:45 am start meant we were at Playa Bonita in time for a delicious late lunch.  

Old Sammy was a post hike beer kind of guy; but new Sammie likes her Margaritas :)

And one last pic because I liked it but didn't know where to stick it