Thirteenmile — Saturday, Apr. 16, 2016

Eastern Washington > Okanogan Highlands/Kettle River Range

I've been wanting to plan a return to Thirteen Mile for a very long time, and I finally found a free day that also happened to have fantastic weather. I met a friend at the TH, and we hiked farther on this trail than I have in the past: all the way to the summit of Thirteen Mile Mountain. There are two other starting locations for this hike, and both are shorter routes to the summit than this version. I love a nice long walk in the woods, and I consider it a bonus that starting at Thirteen Mile TH means paved road all the way to the starting location. I also took advantage of the free FS campground after the hike, spending the night at the TH before getting in a couple more hikes on the way home. From the Thirteen Mile TH, it's roughly a 17 mile RT hike with over 4,500' elevation gain to get to Thirteen Mile Mountain. There was a little patchy snow near the summit, but otherwise the trail is snow-free and in fairly good condition. On the way out we limbed a few big trees that had fallen across the trail, and cut out the smaller ones, so it's in even better condition now than when we hiked in. Highlights of this hike include gorgeous old growth Ponderosa pines and western larch, classic "Ponderosa parkland" open forests, and lots of wildflowers. Those last are just getting started, so this hike will continue to get better over the next couple of months.