Kettle Crest North, Kettle Crest South — Saturday, Aug. 24, 2013

Eastern Washington > Okanogan Highlands/Kettle River Range

The Kettle Crest South begins at the White Mountain Trailhead and extends to Sherman Pass, passing by White Mountain, Barnaby Butte, Bald Mountain, Snow Peak, and Sherman Peak along the way (13.3 miles). Cross the highway, and the Kettle Crest North continues 30.2 miles to Deer Creek/Boulder Summit. Do the whole thing in a day? Piece of cake...so a few years ago, someone decided to name it the Cake Walk. I call it the best way to boost Hike-a-Thon Mileage! Here's how to pull this one off: go to Deer Creek/Boulder to leave a car. Pay for 2 nights camping and set up your tent because believe me, you won't want to have to do that when you finish. It's only $5 per night to camp there, and we were the only ones there this weekend. Then either drive to the White Mountain TH to carcamp (free camping but no facilities) or if you're lucky enough to have helpful shuttle people like I did, carcamp at Jungle Hill (also free and quite nice). On Saturday we got an early start and were shuttled to White Mountain TH to start. One friend intended to do just the southern portion of the trail with me; another intended to go to the end but fell near Barnaby Butte and needed to be done at the Pass. It's important to have a bailout option for just such emergencies on this route! Once past Sherman Pass, I was on my own. I saw several other people at the Pass, and only two people once on the trail (both near Columbia Mountain). From there on out, I had the trail to myself. The trail is in fantastic condition right now. There were only a few downed trees, and these were small and easy to step over. There is a trail crew working on the final portion of the trail (I started seeing post-it notes on the trees for drainage, puncheon, and turnpike locations at 8.8 miles from Deer Creek/Boulder; I saw the trail excavator at approximately 4 miles from the end). The trail is in rougher condition here, but it was still okay (and I hit this section after dark). This is far more mentally difficult than it is physically difficult! Still, it's fun. I promise. And I'm no longer experiencing hallucinations (I think).