These trails can be combined to form an approximately 55 mile backpack trip that highlights some of the most spectacular trails in the Salmo Priest Wilderness. We started this backpack on July 29 from the Gypsy Meadows campground (the first several miles of the trip were combined with the trailwork that was going on in the area). We managed to make it back to the car just before dusk on July 31. The Shedroof Divide Cutoff is now completely cleared of all downfall. The Shedroof Divide south has been partially cleared between the Cutoff and the Thunder Creek Trail (there is an approximately 1.5 mile section that still has a significant amount of downfall). From the Thunder Creek trail south on the Shedroof Divide there has been no trailwork in recent years. The trail crosses an old burn area, and several of the dead / burned trees have fallen across the trail. The Shedroof Divide ends at Pass Creek Pass, and it is necessary to walk a short section of the route on the road in order to pick up the route again on the Grassy Top trail. The Backcountry Horsemen worked on the Grassy Top trail on July 28th, and the trail is now entirely cleared of downfall. For the loop we left the Grassy Top trail at 2.7 miles and continued down trail 533 towards Hall Mountain. This section of trail has not been cleared this year, but the amount of downfall is fairly small. After 5.1 miles the trail intersects the Noisy Creek trail; this trail has been cleared of downfall all the way to the trailhead at Noisy Creek campground. At the campground it is necessary to hike on the paved road until reaching the boat launch area. From the boat launch we took the lake shore trail to the campground at the other end of the lake. While hiking along the lake shore trail we saw our only large wild animal: a bighorn sheep ram, hanging out in the shade near the private cabins. At the Sullivan Lake campground on the north end of the lake it again becomes necessary to hike on the road, this time for a longer section. We followed the road north to the Red Bluff trailhead. The Red Bluff trail is fairly clear, and intersects with the Halliday and North Fork trails after 5.3 miles. From this intersection it is another 5.3 miles along the North Fork trail up to Crowell Ridge. This is one of the steepest sections of trail I have ever seen (or else I was extremely tired at this point...it's hard to tell which was the case)! The trail obviously does not see much traffic, but also did not have a significant amount of downfall. Fortunately, there were a few huckleberry bushes that gave me a good reason to take a break as the trail climbed relentlessly towards Crowell Ridge. Crowell Ridge is in good shape, and there are several good vantage points along the route that allowed us to look across to the Shedroof Divide and see where we had been just the day before. That really puts some perspective on the route! From the North Fork intersection to Bear Pasture is only 3.7 miles of easy hiking...then for the toughest section of all. The Leola Creek trail is unmaintained and quite overgrown with some of the largest alder plants I have ever seen. It is approximately 5 miles down a series of switchbacks and back to the main road. Every once in a while the alder clears enough for a view of the spectacular cedar trees along the sides of the old trail/roadbed. However, in a few places there are also large trees down across the old trail, making the hiking even more difficult. This portion of the hike takes a significant amount of time. Fortunately, from the end of the old Leola Creek road it is only about a mile back to Gypsy Meadows.