August 29th
With the time change when I crossed the Salmon River I ended up leaving camp at daybreak, but that was now 7 am instead of 6 am. With a long climb looming I was anxious to get as many of those uphill miles beneath my feet before the sun warmed things up. Clear skies foretold a likely warm day ahead.
The climb passed slowly, but the trail is in excellent condition and amazingly well contoured with a subtle gradient shift through each switchback...often marked by a nice stone wall.
Onward and upward, passing through open grassy slopes dotted with toffee-smelling Ponderosa, until reaching the dense fir stands, huckleberries, and fern again around 6,000 ft.
Once I gained the rounded ridge, the trail casually meandered through damp, shallow drainages and grassy meadows. The wind picked up slightly as the temps rose which made the morning incredibly pleasant.
With the increased moisture, the trail was soft and tracks of wolf, black bear, and elk appeared, most going against my direction of travel.
We stopped for an hr lunch at an unnamed creeklet...another amazingly clear and crisp unfiltered water source.
The terrain in this portion of the Frank Church is not particularly filled with grandeur. No stunning views, no craggy peaks...simply rolling, forested terrain of lodgepole pine. The beauty in this place for me resides in the context of it...the basic fact that I am walking in such a vast tract of landscape that is not subject to the major alterations of homo-e-wrecked-us. Other than the occasional airstrip, this is remote, empty country.
I am still trying to reconcile the concept of airstrips within wilderness areas. Obviously no airstrips would mean no steak nor camaraderie at my Moose Creek re-supply, nor a likely easy re-supply at Whitewater Ranch or upcoming at Pistol Creek Ranch. But...would I carry ~14 days worth of food to insure not hearing a plane? Absolutely. It just seems bizarre to me that only non-mechanized means can be used to maintain trail, but a plane can fly all those tools in! Where do you draw the line?
The afternoon was a long hot affair with the majority of hiking through recent lodgepole burns. I passed Stonebraker Ranch and Chamberlain Airstrip and then mucked my way across the marshy meadow by the old Hotzel Cabin site before climbing steadily up a branch of Hotzel Creek. Despite the burned areas, the trail is in fine shape... only the occasional blow down. It is a bit precarious when the winds pick up as all the brittle, burnt pine that still stands creaks and snaps with every gust. I even saw two trees fall as I walked. Uh...watch your head.
I soon dropped into Lodgepole Creek, loaded up on water and decided I would simply keep walking until I could find a place to camp surrounded by living trees to minimize my risk of getting crushed sometime during the night should the winds pick up, and a tree decide to snap.
Fortunately, in about 30 mins I climbed to a small, uncharred saddle and found a suitable spot. 7 pm...tired, hungry, and eager for some rest.
All in all a great day on the trail...good trail and a timeless sense to the day.
BrianAugust 30th
Well the good news is that no trees fell on me during the night despite some disconcerting creaking and squeaking.
Hit the trail just before 7 am with ~3 miles before my first jct down to Club Meadows. The trail was really buffed out and recently worked so the sailing was smooth.
The down side of recently worked trail is that the trail is often relocated partially and therefore make a hikers maps semi-irrelavant. Unfortunately that fact came into play today as the jct to Club Meadows did not exist where it should have which left me perplexed. I spent an hr+ checking out every slight trail diversion, before allowing myself to follow the temptation of the well maintained trail even though I knew it was not following what I had mapped. To hell with it, I'll leave my destiny to the trail. ~1.5 miles later the nice trail split...the right to Bismark Mtn and to the left? No idea as it was unsigned. My best guess at this point judging by my position was that the trail was re-routed on a long contour above and around Club Meadows. Likely to reduce impact in the marshy meadows as well as leaving the wet resource to the critters. Sure enough, the trail meandered below the opposite ridge (huge wolf prints as well as elk) before re-joining the trail (obstructed) climbing from the meadows below. Excellent! Although delayed considerably I at least knew 100% where I was.
I took a minute to feed WD lunch, and decided to skip my own until near the waters of Sliver Creek a 1/2 hr away. Arriving at the creeks grassy banks was a relief as the afternoon was growing hot. WD, in his enthusiasm failed to judge the waters depth and plunged in, submerging himself (and his packs) as he fell off the bank. Snorting and paddling wildly, I hoisted him to shore for a good shake and roll in the grass.
Lunch was pleasant along the cool, grassy bank and I was reluctant to leave, but based on where I'd hoped to camped this evening, we'd need to get our hustle on to make it due to our navigational delay earlier. That immediacy was quickly tempered as I tripped on a root and took a fall forward...the first time I can recall falling on any long hike!
The rest of the descent of Sliver Creek was mostly uneventful...a few blow downs to contend with, but mostly great trail with occasional stream crossings. The character of the landscape changed along with the reduction in elevation. What started as lodgepole forest eventually gave way to open slopes and even some sage and bitterbrush.
At the end of Sliver we joined Crooked Creek for 1/2 a mile before finding a vague jct and climbing over a saddle to drop steeply into Coxey Creek.
Recently burned, Coxey was low on the aesthetic scale, but I noticed a few deer, a black bear, and spooked a number of grouse. I am grateful that grouse are not predatory...otherwise I would either have been pecked or wing beaten to death and consumed long ago! I never see the damned things until I nearly step on them or they fly up directly in front of me.
Coxley Creek soon joined Big Creek which we followed upstream a few miles along very nice trail... contouring above the shoreline and cutting through cliffbands and across sediment bars. ~2 miles later I dropped from the trail, crossed a meadow of shoulder high grass and forded Big Creek. WD even managed on his own... seeming to embrace the swim as he angled downshore with the current.
Before setting up camp I poked around and discovered the trail I intend to follow to Lookout Mtn and beyond tomorrow...quite indistinct as it starts its way 4,000 ft up.
Thanks for reading.
BrianAugust 31st
Last night was a little concerning as around 9 pm the wind picked up, thunder boomed, and lightning flashed, but with no signs of rain. Seemed like a recipe for a dry strike and the start of a fire. Fortunately the rains came, and my fears were somewhat abated.
Morning dawned cool and wet as I started up toward Lookout Mtn ~10.5 miles to the south and ~4000 ft higher than my camp on Big Creek. The trail was in rough shape, indistinct primarily due to charred blowdowns and slow going as all the fallen timber was wet and slippery. It was not hard to follow, as long as I was paying complete attention and walking deliberately. As the trail worked its way out of the burned areas it improved, climbing steeply through grassy meadows and stands of fir. As I climbed, the sun did battle with the clouds...occasionally breaking through but never making a permanent appearance all day. About half way up the climb, the trail disappeared into a marshy, grassy meadow and instead of getting soaked looking for it, I simply hiked up and around the wet spot and contoured to rejoin the trail. When doing so, the hail started, but only lasted ~10 mins as WD and I took refuge beneath some dense trees.
From that point the trail was in good shape although as I continued my upward assualt the clouds thickened and visibility was reduced to ~10 yds as I climbed to a charred ridgeline...ghostly sculptors of burnt timber appearing from the mist.
A beautiful spot no doubt in clear weather, but I could see very little and the uniform granite pebbles beneath my feet gave very little away with regard to the location of the trail. I pushed on though, zig-zagging with hopes of crossing a portion of the route. Thankfully within 5 mins I had crossed the trail and was able to discern where it was headed as it climbed slightly and then made a brief dip and contour to a treed saddle.
The remainder of the morning and early afternoon were much the same, a slight tease of clearing skies, thickening clouds, and ridgeline undulations beneath my feet. Walking through portions of charred forest while the sun was out was pretty wild as the water vapor would begin to evaporate from the ground and give the illusion that the area was still smoldering from recent flames heightened by the scent of ash in the air.
Around 1 pm I finally crested Lookout Mtn, unfortunately shrouded in clouds. I made a quick descent beneath threatening clouds to a sheltered saddle for a brief lunch. Just as I was settling in the hail started again, WD began to shiver, and I grew cold myself. Lunch in hand I continued down trail, wanting to stop but appreciating the warmth gained from movement.
The Lookout Ridge Trail continued to be excellent all the way to the Marble Creek jct where I began a 1,000 ft descent to the old Bellico Mining site...a bunch of scrap metal and collapsed wooden structures scattered throughout the woods. Always amazing to think about the effort some people put forth in attempts to make a living.
After filling bottles at a trailside spring, we made camp early. I've pushed hard the last few days to position myself here, with 2 days to hike ~28 miles to my resupply, ~17 of which is Marble Creek itself. The trail in Marble Creek is supposedly a real mess, so I wanted ample time to get through it without stressing about time or food supply. I hope the relaxed schedule rubs off on my frame of mind tomorrow. I am intent on taking it slow and safe...
Windy again and cool...not any evening sun in the depths of Marble Creek!
BrianSeptember 1st
Snow. That is what I awoke to this first day of September. No need to say, but I packed quick and got moving as the morning was frigid, even dressed in all available layers of clothing.
I headed down Marble Creek with a pretty clear mind...I was ready for a day of hard work with the rumored trail conditions, but admittedly I was not excited about the snow. Novelty is fine, but working through brush and scrambling over deadfall is bad enough, even the more so when snowy and cold.
The trail was surprisingly good as it stayed high on the east slope of the drainage above thick vegetation and large beaver ponds as we made our way down drainage. A few Ponderosa and Doug Fir that I passed were simply enormous...at least 15-18 ft in circumference.
A small burned area presented a few navigational challenges but nothing too severe. Certainly nothing compared to Rhoda Creek back before Moose Creek! Still plenty of deadfall to negotiate, but erosion was the big deal. Floods have eaten away portions of the trail and entrenched the creek channel. This made it difficult to get to the creek to cross...which we did ~20 times by days end, and none of which WD was carried across! He finally manned up and swam...
The morning stayed cool and wet despite my positive words for the sunshine. My feet were solid blocks with absolutely no feeling in them. As you can imagine my footwork was poor and as a result and I took another stumble and fell, catching my body and pack weight with my arms before my head hit the ground. Ouch. Sore wrists tomorrow! Walking with frozen feet is like driving a sports car with 4 flat tires. You may go forward, but it is sloppy and unresponsive.
Between Placer Creek and Hogsback Creek, the bulk of the nastiness ensued as the trail stayed in the drainage and wandered back and forth across the creek through wet, heavy brush. The trail was pretty indistinct largely due in part to the sodden vegetation which hung over the trail. Going was slow, even the more so due to major animal traffic...elk, moose, bear, and wolf sign all evident as well as a number of skulls, hind legs, forelegs, rib cages, and backbones. Not an encounter I'd care to have in these circumstance and I was not looking to add to the bone collection.
Eventually we made it past Hogsback, the snow turned to a light rain and the trail conditions improved dramatically as did my mood and my body temperature.
Soon after a quick lunch I noticed horse dung and was psyched! Any horse up this high in the canyon, likely meant very few blowdowns/deadfall down canyon. The brush may be bad, but no more fallen logs to negotiate!
That assumption held true and from Canyon Creek down to the Middle Fork of the Salmon, the trail was in excellent condition and had been recently worked. Not only was there fresh hoof tracks, but the leaves on cut brush branches were still green.
The going was incredibly enjoyable. The trail itself contoured above the drainage with great views both up and down canyon...made all the better with snow topped ridges far above.
The sun poked through the clouds for a few minutes and we took the chance to dry out and warm up, have an afternoon snack, and take a few pictures..all of which is easier to do when you hands can actually open and close!
The afternoon continued on as we made steady progress down canyon...now in shorts and a shirt.. past the old Mitchell Ranch (timber cabin walls and timber corral) before finding the Middle Fork of the Salmon River at our feet! When I started the day, I had no expectation of making it through the 17 miles of Marble Creek in one push...luckily trail conditions were beyond my most optimistic thoughts. A deeply satisfying day.
In a way, Marble Creek is quintessential Idaho and a microcosm of the ICT. It has everything, and accurately represents the last ~590 miles along its 17 mile length. Diverse flora, fauna, terrain, views, trail conditions, and weather from start to finish! I feel so fortunate to have been able to hike Marble Creek in favorable conditions and enjoyed it 100%. Up to this point it is one of the best sections of trail along the ICT and should not be missed!
After dropping ~2,000 ft, camp tonight is above the Middle Fork of the Salmon River a mile or two upstream from Marble Creek. Partly cloudy, and still quite cool.
Chance of snow?
BrianSeptember 2nd
With only ~9 miles between me and my resupply I had a lazy morning lounging in camp. Finally got out of my sleeping bag, packed, and hiking by ~10:30. Felt nice to relax and have breakfast in bed as the morning was cool and a bit damp.
The sun arrived shortly and it was not long before I was in 70 degree temps...a far cry from the falling snow just a morning ago at the head of Marble Creek.
The trail along the Middle Fork is in a fine state, largely due to use from river runners and horsemen but also from the recent work of an Americorps crew from Missoula who I met a few miles before Indian Creek as they were starting to build a retaining wall. We got to chatting and I found the group diverse and interesting. None were westerners and all apparently happy that they'd been doing Americorps work for the past 83 days in some of the premier terrain of Idaho. I learned that they were responsible for the recent work up Marble Creek and they seemed delighted to know how much it meant to me to have hiked through there relatively trouble free and majorly surprised at its fine condition. I also let them know how excited other hikers will be to hear about it.
They mentioned the lack of folks backpacking in the area and said during their months working trail they'd had only seen 3 people on actual backpacking trips. Thus far I have only seen 1 other person on more than an overnight and he was headed back to his car. Other than river runners, I've not seen anyone else on trail.
After 20 mins of chit chat, I pushed on soon passing the Indian Creek Guard Station and Airstrip...counting 6 planes during the course of 30 mins either arriving or departing...and this is the slow season! Another few miles and I was at Pistol Creek Ranch where I met Ed, Matt, and Melissa and retrieved my resupply box. I was offered a shower and a steak sandwich...both of which I accepted! After my snack and my shower I got a tour of the barn, the corral, and a rundown on the operations at the Ranch guiding and outfitting hunting groups in the Fall throughout the region. We talked about the forest service, horse and mule packing, and game management. It was interesting to hear their take on the wolves EDS listing, delisting, and re-listing. Elk populations have been decimated in this neck of the woods and while they support wolf reintroduction, they are cautious about the possibility of their own livelihood disappearing with the big game and thus support state agency management.
Around 5:30 pm I left the ranch with the intent to get down trail a few miles for camp. Along the way, I saw my 2nd wolf of the trip, slinking northward down river.
Obviously an easy day on the trail today. Strangely though my achilles tendon is flared up and being a minor nuisance. Hopefully some stretching will alleviate the pain come morning.
Brian
