Cake Walk 2010, August 1, 2010

This is the best possible way to kick off my Hike-a-Thon campaign--43.55 miles on the Kettle Crest Trail!

We set our shuttle Saturday night, camped at the White Mountain TH, survived the late-night thunderstorm, and hit the trail at 5:38am on Sunday morning.

My marker of authenticity at the southernmost point on the Kettle Crest Trail.

The wildflower displays were fantastic this year.  Normally the flowers would be gone by now, but with the cool spring and lingering snow in the high country, now is the optimal time for flower viewing.

Near White Mountain

Near White Mountain

 We also found that the rain that fell at the trailhead was hail on the ridge.  It looked as though it had snowed.

Between White Mountain and Barnaby Buttes

More wildflowers.

I noticed the following sign at Sherman Pass.  I'll use this for my "English Wall of Shame" at school, but in a way the sign is fitting.  We had just finished the 13.31-mile southern portion of the trail, and the "trial" was about to begin--the northern section is 30.24 miles.

At the "trialhead"

I arrived at the pass at approximately 10AM (so I was only twelve hours from finishing my hike!).

the description of where we had been

the description of where we were going

From the pass it was time to start climbing--the high point of this route is Copper Butte, elevation 7,140'.  It's the sixth highest mountain in Eastern Washington.  The wildflowers were fantastic at the top.

Near Wapaloosie Mountain

Indian paintbrush smiley face?

The wildflowers on Copper Butte

This is also an area that has been shaped by wildfire--the most recent near Copper Butte was 1994.  The standing snags are stunning.

Snags between Lambert & Midnight Mountains

The live trees are also spectacular.

The standing snags that were not killed by fire are covered with moss:

In the late evening a thunderstorm moved in; we spent the last hour or so walking through the storm and rain-showers.  I finished just after 10pm, so it was 16.5 hours of walking to complete this 43.55 mile day-hike--my biggest day-hike ever!