August 28, 2011--Salmo Priest Wilderness and solo backpacking!

I left home super early to return to the Salmo Priest and hike the Shedroof Divide.  I had an ambitious plan to hike in about 17 miles, spend the night, and then hike out the next day.  The problem was, I was tired.  Really, really tired.  So tired I wanted to take a nap alongside the trail when I stopped for lunch.  Well, I'm used to modified plans at this point--so that's what I did.

I hiked as far as the intersection with the Thunder Creek Trail and scouted a campsite near that intersection and the intersection with the Jackson Creek Trail.  I set up the tent, stashed all of my overnight gear, and set off to hike the Jackson Mountain Trail--according to the sign it was only 3.5 miles to the Jackson Mountain Lookout.  Unfortunately, it was only .25 miles until the trail completely disappeared in the underbrush.  I returned to my campsite and took the Jackson Creek Trail instead.  This trail had been cleared recently--within the last week, I'd guess.  However, it was fairly evident that whoever cleared it used a chainsaw.  Even the small logs that had been cut had sawdust only on one side of the cut and 2-3' back from the log.  Crosscuts and bow-saws just don't cut like that.

So it was nice that the trail had been cleared, but I was angry that whoever did it wasn't following wilderness rules.  The Jackson Creek Trail is really nice, though.  It passed through some great huckleberry patches (I ate so many berries I'm surprised I wasn't sick!) and then slowly descended into a gorgeous cedar forest.  It was overgrown with thimbleberries on the upper portion, and there were a few wet areas with drainage problems, but otherwise it was a great trail.  I'm not sure if I hiked far enough to cross into Idaho or not (I haven't had any luck finding trail info online or in guide books), but I know that the trail ends at Hughes Meadows in Idaho; I found an old USGS survey marker that dated to 1912 but it didn't have state names on it.

Based on hiking time, I estimate I turned around after five miles.  When I passed the good huckleberry patches on the way back up I decided to fill my empty water bottle instead of just eating them on the spot.  As I got to the best patch I could hear a very large animal that was concealed in the thick bushes.  I talked to it and talked to it, and it continued to rustle the bushes and not pay any attention to me...until suddenly it became aware of my presence and ran off.  I'm pretty sure it was a bear, but there's no way to know for sure.  At any rate, I decided I'd better skip that huckleberry patch and get back to my tent.  I made sure I cooked my dinner and hung my bag of food a long way from my tent as the good huckleberry patch was actually pretty close to where I was camping. 

Mileage = 17.1