My husband and I and our two German shorthaired pointeers spent 6 days/5 nights hiking the Shedroof Divide trail from Pass Creek Pass to the Salmo Divide trail, then continued counterclockwise around the Salmo Divide trail back to Shedroof Divide. Despite water being scarce at higher elevations the area was lush and green, and fire danger was only moderate. Ripe huckleberries and thimbleberries were plentiful the entire trip and made for great snacking.

Day 1 began with the drive from Sullivan Lake to the Pass Creek Pass trailhead. Keep an eye out for the unmarked trailhead, which is easy to miss, near some small parking spots by the side of the road; if you start driving downhill you’ve gone too far. The trail climbs the slope on the north side of the road to the Forest Service kiosk and sign in sheet, which are not visible from the road.

The trail was in good condition, and we were rewarded with expansive views almost immediately. Parts of the trail are exposed in burned areas, which made for a hot sweaty climb, and the only water before camp was a muddy spring approximately 3.9 miles from the trailhead. The spring wasn’t obvious from trail, but you might notice a small dry streambed crossing the trail just before a campsite on the right. The spring was about 20 feet downhill from the streambed; we would have missed it if we hadn’t heard the dogs lapping water in the underbrush, stirring up the sediments before we could fill our water bottles.

We spent the night at a small campsite nestled in a hollow at the intersection of the Shedroof Divide, Thunder Creek, and Jackson Creek trails. There was no water at the campsite, so we hiked a little ways back up the trail the way we came to collect water at a small stream that crosses the switchbacks leading into camp. We could hear flowing water in Jackson Creek but you’d have to clamber down a steep brushy slope to access it. We didn’t find any water on the Thunder Creek side of camp, just damp soils.

On Day 2 we hiked to the intersection of the Shedroof Divide and Salmo Divide trails. At approximately 1.6 miles into the day’s hike there was a small spring right on the trail, which is marked on USGS maps, but less than a mile farther down the trail was a better water source with stronger flow. There were several downed logs and some overgrown vegetation in burned areas along the route, but overall the trail was in good shape and a Forest Service crew had recently done some work in that section.

We descended the Shedroof Cutoff trail for water – unnecessarily, as it turned out, because about 0.3 mile further up the Shedroof Divide trail was a small stream next to the first major switchback. It’s easy to miss, and you’re more likely to hear it than see it. Good thing we tanked up though, because there was no water at that night’s campsite except for a small muddy seep a little farther along the trail. Fine for the dogs, but it would have been challenging for people. Bugs were bad at the site, but the stars were amazing.

Day 3 continued along the Shedroof Divide trail to the northern end of the Salmo Divide trail. There was a small stream about 0.4 miles from camp where we were able to refill our empty water bottles. The trail descends to a nice wooded campsite with a small stream running through it, about 2.2 miles into the day’s hike, which is the last water source for the next 4.3 miles. The trail rises steeply from there to the Little Snowy Top side trail (which we did not explore) before descending again into the South Salmo River basin, which has numerous side streams flowing through thick hemlock/cedar forest, very different from the more open spruce/fir forest at higher elevations. It clouded up that afternoon. We spent the night at Salmo Cabin, which is across the river from the trail on the south side of the river (not on the north side as our map indicated). There was space for several tents, as well as a makeshift table and bench that were handy for cooking and eating.

On day 4 we continued along the Salmo Divide trail back to the intersection with the Shedroof Divide Trail. The weather remained cloudy, which was nice for hiking in more exposed areas. Knowing where the water was this time around, we dropped our packs and hiked the 0.4 mile north along the Shedroof Divide trail to collect water for the night. Even just 2 days after our first visit the stream seemed to have less flow, so we’re not sure how much longer it would last without rain.

For day 5 we retraced our steps to camp again at the Thunder Creek/Jackson Creek trail intersection. We were woken up at 4am by barking/huffing sounds coming from some large animal upslope from the tent, and spent a few tense moments trying to figure out what it was before bugling gave it away as an elk and not a bear – still, a good reminder to follow proper food storage and handling practices!

The weather cleared up on our last day as we hiked the remaining 6.5 miles back to the car, making great time with lighter packs and several days of conditioning. Overall the trip was fantastic, with spectacular views at higher elevations - huge thanks to the US Forest Service and trail crews for their hard work maintaining the trails! Consider a donation to the National Forest Foundation to help keep trails like this open: https://www.nationalforests.org/?campaign=663215&c_src=WEB&c_src2=UNR0000OrangeDonate

I hardly ever get the opportunity to say we finished logging out the whole trail, but now I have two in a row! We wrapped up all of Crowell Ridge on the last BCRT, and we were able to complete the full loop formed by Thunder Creek-Shedroof Divide-Shedroof Cut-off on this trip! We removed a total of 70 down and encroaching trees over the course of four days, plus did a lot of brushing work. There is still more brushing work needed but we ran out of time, so expect some brushy spots to remain. Aside from that the loop is in good shape, and road crews are currently working on FR22 and 2220 all the way to Gypsy Meadows so the road is super smooth (although narrow and with lots of big trucks on weekdays!) We noticed quite a bit of smoke hanging in the valleys and some low haze, but it was nice up on the Divide. We even had elk visit us in camp on the first night! I ate my first huckleberry of the year, and while most were still green there will soon be lots! This is always a great short loop option in the Salmo Priest!

I didn't do the whole loop; I did an out and back from Salmo Pass to Shedroof Mountain.

Conditions were smoky, it was warm, and very buggy (but not as bad as the rest of the weekend).

Flowers are in transition. Not much bear scat seen on the trail, but there was some over by Shedroof Mountain. I carried bear spray and kept my food in scent proof bags, just in case.

Absolutely beautiful area -- I would love to visit again. It reminded me of some areas I've visited in the Cascades.

Beautiful trail with wildflowers blooming, great views. Traveling from Sullivan Lake, there is one washout on the road, a couple miles before trailhead, which will require AWD and high clearance. Otherwise, road is suitable for standard vehicle. No trailhead signage at trailhead - signage is about 25 yards in. 

SHEDROOF DIVIDE TO MANKATO MOUNTAIN

We hiked the south part of the Shedroof Divide trial on a sunny and warm Columbus/Indigenuous Peoples Day.  The 7-mile out-and-back route to Mankato Mountain is described in Day Hiking Eastern Washington by Rich Landers and Craig Romano (2013, The Mountaineers Books).  The WTA Hiking Guide includes the Shedroof Divide trail as a backpacking trail (22 miles), but does not describe this shorter, day-hiking option.  Perhaps that is because the hike up Mankato Mountain is not an official trail.  In fact, there isn’t even an obvious use trail where the route leaves the main Divide trail.  It seems that not many hikers choose this option, but we were glad we did.

GETTING THERE

Sullivan Lake Road and FR 22 are in good shape and suitable for all vehicles.  The trailhead itself is easy to miss.  If you start descending the pass, you have gone too far.  There is a pullout with room for about three cars at the top of the pass and the trailhead is about 50 feet west of there.  The trail begins as a narrow side-cut across a dirt road embankment on the north side of the road.  There is no trail sign, although a broken post lying by the side of the road suggests that there may have been one in the past.  The trail information sign and sign-in register are at the top of the road-cut, just around the first corner of the trail.  The information sign warned us to expect bears in the area, so we carried bear spray and bear bells.

ON THE TRAIL

The first part of the trail traverses along steep slopes through an old burn with lovely fall colors and good views to the east.  After a brief section through forest, the trail cuts across the open, grassy slope of Round Top with more great views to the east.  Most of the rest of the trail goes through forest of spruce, fir and pine.  We caught glimpses of views to the east and west through the trees, but the way was less “viewfull” than the description would suggest.  The trail goes down and then back up to the ridge, but the grades are gentle and the footbed is good, so we cruised along at a good pace.  After about 2.5 miles the trail finally breaks out of the forest onto the more open ridge, with widely-spaced trees and more expansive views (see photo).   The autumn colors were lovely, including scattered larches just coming into their golden splendor. 

As we approached Mankato Mountain, we looked for a use trail up it’s south-facing flank.  The Shedroof Divide trail makes a definite turn to the east and starts descending around the base of the mountain, so it was easy to determine the general area where the trail would be.  We scouted all along the route but found no evidence of any use trail intersecting the main trail.  Undaunted, we forged our way up through the grassy hummocks, blueberries and other shrubs, climbing over fallen logs as necessary.  Part way up we found a faint trail and followed that, but we weren’t sure if it was a people trail or a bear trail.  A very large pile a fresh bear scat suggested the latter.  We had also seen bear scat on the trail along the ridge, so we knew that at least one bear was in the neighborhood. 

We reached the grassy top of Mankato Mountain in about 15 minutes.  The 360^o views were lovely.  We could see Abercrombie and Hooknose Mountains in the west, Gypsy Peak and Snowy Top to the north, the sawtooth heights of the Idaho Selkirks in the east, and the long sweep of Shedroof Divide to the south.   

Overall, this short section of the Shedroof Divide trail made a nice, not-too-demanding day hike with a worthy destination.  It gives a good sample of this remote corner of Washington State, which sees many fewer visitors than the popular areas of the Cascades.  We saw no one else while we were there.