I accessed Wapaloosie Mtn from the opposite side as described in the WTA hiking guide using The Timber Ridge Trail. This trail is a blocked off road for the first 2.5 miles, then climbs steeply up to The Kettle Crest on a single track the last mile.

Once at the ridge top, I turned south until reaching the south side of Wapaloosie and left the trail for an easy cross-county hike to the top. From here I dropped down on the forested and somewhat brushy north side of the mountain and rejoined The Kettle Crest Trail to the south side of Scar Mtn. There is no trail up Scar but the forested slopes are mostly open. No views from the top on this one. 

The Timber Ridge Trail is nicely logged out but looks to get little use. I did see evidence of recent motorcycle use though which continued northbound on The Kettle Crest. All roads to access this trailhead are in good condition and high clearance is not required.

10 miles RT and about 3k gain for both peaks.

Thank you PNT crews for all you do! The trail is mostly logged out, though there are a few miles of very brushy trail north of Copper Butte. We went north to south, and though that direction may be a little bit more physically demanding, it sure is nice to have the easy miles at the end. The mile or so before our last camp (a little over 7 miles from Sherman Pass) was a favorite part - SO beautiful. And the wildflowers are peaking. Enjoy the story and more pics by clicking the link below. 

Headed up the Wapaloosie trail from the Wapaloosie campground. After a quick off-trail side trip to the summit of Wapaloosie Mountain, we followed the Kettle Crest trail south to the Jungle Hill trail. Didn't like the established campsites at the junction (lots of dead trees + a bit of wind), and a brief attempt at finding a campsite on the ridge above wasn't successful (too overgrown and scrambly). So we filled up on water at the spring there, and started heading back. Found a perfect campsite slightly off-trail 1/4 mile from the Wapaloosie trail junction (which has some decent, established sites as well). 

Road Conditions. The road was in excellent condition, except for two small water bars past the Jungle Hill campground that might require some care with a low-clearance vehicle. Wapaloosie campground was immaculate (including the restroom).

Trail Conditions. No obstacles, all the blowdowns had been taken care of.

Highlights. Plentiful wildflowers at all elevations. Some birds and squirrels, but didn't see a single Wapaloosie.

Crowds. Had the campground at the trailhead to ourselves for a night, and encountered only one other hiker each day. 

Since I live east of the Kettle Crest, I'm far more familiar with the east-side feeder trails. This was my first time trying out the Profanity Trail, which is probably among the very shortest of feeder trails to the Kettle Crest.

The access is via the Aeneas Creek Road just north of Malo on Highway 21. The roads here are not well marked, so be sure to study the map before heading up. I did find that I had cell service higher up the hillside, but I found it most helpful to look at the map at home, and I did not have cell service closer to the valley floor. 

The area was impacted by the 2015 Stickpin Fire, ultimately requiring the Forest Service to move the trailhead after some erosion damage following the fire. Even so, it's only about 1.5 miles from the trailhead to the intersection with the Kettle Crest Trail. The parking area at the TH is very small (basically room for no more than 2 passenger vehicles, with not a lot of space for turning around). I was the only one here during this visit, so I got the premium parking spot! But in the event there are multiple vehicles here at the same time, there are two big wide areas about a half-mile back from the TH. 

The trail at the bottom was a bit brushy and overgrown but otherwise easy to navigate. There are a few trees down but nothing major or difficult to get around. The trickiest spot is the last half mile at the top of the trail: I was using Gaia and the USGS topo map baselayer to navigate, and it turns out the actual trail location and junction with the Kettle Crest is off by several hundred feet. The trail tread in this section is so overgrown that it's nearly impossible to make out, so I did a lot of back & forth on the hillside to determine the correct path to take. Fortunately I'll be heading back with a crew soon, so hopefully this will just be a temporary report of difficult navigation! I also used some flagging tape to mark the correct path in the meantime. Even then it was not so very difficult, as this section of the trail is through open grassy meadows with widely dispersed trees. When in doubt, bushwhack up and it intersects the better-maintained Kettle Crest. The wildflowers are in full bloom and it's a gorgeous spot to be a bit confused, and once I finally intersected the Kettle Crest that trail was obvious. I also did eventually locate the marked intersection, so there is a trail sign to find the way back down the hill.

My main objective for this visit was just to see it for the first time to plan tool and maintenance needs, but for anyone planning a short hike/backpack to the Kettle Crest, this trail would be the shortest access route to Profanity Peak. There is a small year-round spring near the trail on Profanity (although the cistern and cattle trough have both failed following the fire, which means the water source can be a bit more mucky as animals try to access it).

I was just doing a day hike, but planned to camp nearby and meet with friends for a different hike in the area. The wide parking area near the TH would be a fine dispersed campsite, but we opted to go to a point a bit higher on the flank of nearby Tonasket Mountain with outstanding views facing northwest. It was a great place to enjoy sunset! The bugs were a bit worse around the campsite and closer to dusk, although that also brought in several common nighthawks who swooped & dove close by scooping up their evening meal. 

We went for an overnight backpacking trip on Kettle Crest North #13 to the intersection with Jungle Hill trail, where we camped. The trail was snow free with just a tiny bit of minor mud. There were approximately 100 downed trees on trail. We counted, but may be off by 5 or so. Most of the trees were step-overs. Some needed to be walked around or navigated over. There were many long stretches that were clear as well. Flowers were prolific, as were black flies and occasional mosquitoes. The trail was beautiful. This was the first time I had been past the junction to the Columbia Mountain loop. The switchbacks down and up through the Jungle Hill area were lovely and well-graded. After dinner, we walked further up trail, where we could see mountains upon mountains. A fun and beautiful adventure.