Liberty Lake Viewpoint Hike Our goal today was to get to the top of Mica Peak. Neither my buddy nor I had made it to the hallmark mountain of Spokane, so we picked this beautiful sunny Saturday morning to attempt the peak from the Liberty Lake Trailhead. Off we went with our two dogs from the day use parking area (MP 0), not really sure of the right trails to take as our guidebooks and the Liberty Lake Trail Map didn’t agree. But we felt confident with a GPS in tow. At MP .5 we approached the trailhead sign and bear warning signs. The bear warnings were reported by hikers two days prior and basically said that a mother bear and her two cubs were seen in the area. Though the waterfall and cedar groves are probably the more scenic and more travelled route, for the sake of time and energy, we decided to cut across the old marsh trail at MP .7 and hike southwards on the steeper trails. Luckily we had packed our sandals, so getting across the ankle-to-knee deep marsh trail wasn’t too difficult. We switched back over to our hiking boots, and headed up and up on the Edith Hansen equestrian trail, until we reached MP 2.25 where we weren’t sure which trail to take (there is one of those brown metal placards at the trail junction). We opted for the lower trail but after about .4 miles we weren’t gaining any elevation, so turned back and took the upper trail heading south, wise choice! Had we stayed on the trail we would have been on the popular Lower Liberty Lake Loop trail heading to Camp Hughes instead of the one to Mica Peak. (See attached Google Earth map of the route we took with the GPS.) And so up we continued up, passing fewer people until we came to the “mud hole”, basically a big intersection/camping area where the upper Loop trail comes connects to the upper loop trail at MP 3.4. Again, we scratched our heads and didn’t know which route to take, so took the one to the left. Second mistake, as we walked over the kelly humps - again not gaining elevation. So we turned around and took the less-travelled trail to the right (heading south). This part of the trail follows an old road bed, probably still used by the occasional sneaky dirtbikers. But it is a gem for rock lovers such as us. As the sun hits the mica-laden gneiss, sparkles light up the trail. By the way, Mica Peak and the surrounding hills are comprised of some of the oldest rock in the state, over a billion years old! They were formed from sedimentary rock that melted under high temperature and metamorphosed into a rock called gneiss, which is the rock type that contains all those glittery chips of mica. They sure picked a good name for Mica Peak. As we got closer to the “viewpoint” area shown on the trail map, the wildflowers changed dramatically. Bluebells, shooting stars, glacier lilies and little white flowers created a carpet of color. A couple of mountain bikers passed us, also heading for the viewpoint, which is just 80 feet or so shy of the highest point in the park. Apparently this is the route to Mica Peak, as a gentlemen hiker told us as he passed us just coming back the peak. “It’s another two miles or so, not too much further.” However, when we got to the top of the viewpoint, 2710 feet net higher elevation and 6 miles from the start, we decided this would be our stopping point. It was gorgeous up here, with views of the entire Spokane valley, the Dishman Hills, and yes, Mica Peak a little over a mile to the southwest. On top, there’s a rock and log shelter, and a little snow that the dogs welcomed with thirsty bites. But it was the wildflowers up there that took our breath away. I think we timed this one just right! We headed back down the glittery trail, pausing to take notice of the occasional morel, and then opted to take the non-marshy trail back as we didn’t feel like taking off our boots. I’m glad we did, because we got to walk by one of the WTA rock walls we built along the trail a year ago and were happy to see they were still standing and holding their ground. WTA has done some incredible trail improvements on this section. We got back to the car in a little over 12 miles according to the GPS, but a more realistic overall distance is 11 miles for the hike from the day use parking area to the viewpoint, due to the two wrong trails we took which took an extra mile. The elevation gain is 3175 feet overall, so it makes for a good workout. We never did see the bears. Later I looked up the route to Mica Peak on the WTA trail site, and saw this: Bear to the right at the equestrian trail and climb the north face by bearing right whenever possible at trail intersections. Avoid the posted scenic views as they are simply small loops that will bring you back to this trail. Almost every time, we should have turned right… One more reason to check out the “Find a Hike” section of the WTA website!