-
Idaho
trails
are latest hiking
treasures
-
Mickinnick, Buckhorn Ridge Refurbished, July 2005/ Spokesman Review
Ridge trails are taking hikers to new heights
By
Rich Landers
Outdoors editor
-
 Even
in 2005, new trails are waiting to be discovered in the Inland
Northwest. Among the newest are two North Idaho gems, one at the edge
of Sandpoint and the other a thoughtful reconstruction of a route near
the Canada border and the Idaho-Montana line.
The 3.5-mile Mickinnick Trail,
which gains 2,150 feet in elevation, starts at the valley
floor just off the road to Schweitzer Mountain Resort. It’s remarkable
for more than just the view it offers of Lake Pend Oreille and the
Cabinet Mountains. Although local and federal government agencies
chipped in at many intervals, the trail was virtually willed to
succeed by the relentless efforts of a few Sandpoint citizens. The key
was a 160-acre land donation by Mick and Nicky Pleass —hence the name
“Mickinnick” for those who catch the link with two native plant buffs
contributing to a conservation cause.
“They donated the land in 1997 to join two pieces of Fore Service
land,” said their friend and lead Mickinnick promoter Jan Griffitts.
“They actually had to work at it to give the Ian away because there
were a lot of technicalities. When we go the city to contribute 20
acres for the trailhead, we were able to get a $126,000 grant from the
Forest Service Resource Advisory Council.”
All the money was spent in this region, from the Sagle-based trail
contractor to the Spokane vault toilet manufacturer, she said. The
Kinnickinnick chapter of the Native Plant Society and the Bonner
County Master Gardeners helped landscape the trailhead and the Friends
of the Mickinnick are recruiting volunteers to maintain the area. “We
got a major portion of the money allotted to the five Western states,
and we built the most beautiful trail you’ll ever see,” she said,
noting that its limited to hikers and expert mountain bikers.
While Mick Pleass has passed away since the land donation effort
started, Nicky is a remarkably youthful 73-year-old who has
circumnavigated the world with her family in a sailboat and hikes
about 4 miles a day around Sandpoint. She has the stamina and zest for
the outdoors to prove it. “She’s English,”Griffitts said. “She’s not
even a U.S. citizen, yet she’s donated this land that will be a
natural undeveloped backdrop for the city of Sandpoint forever. It’s a
great gift.”
Pleass and Griffitts have scoured the area extensively for years and
seem to know every big tree and rock outcropping. They used adult
tenacity to get the trail on the ground, but they’ve explored the
area, mostly on game trails, with wide-eyed enthusiasm of little
girls.
The seven-mile round trip hike starts at the City water tower, a mile
south of Schweitzer Road on Woodland Drive, and switchbacks through
rock outcroppings up to a ridge between Little Sand Creek and Syringa
Creek. It passes a potpourri of native vegetation, from cedars to
ponderosa pines and Oregon grape to huckleberries to a high point of
4,300 feet.
While the trail gains considerable elevation, the design gives plenty
of relief and several viewpoint s that make good turnaround spots for
hikers who don’t want to climb the entire route. The contractor make
noble efforts to blend the trail into the landscape and even avoided
scarring trees or damaging moss on the trailside rocks.
Although a loop extension is already being planned, the trail
currently ends at a rock outcropping that’s a fine spot for a picnic
with an eastward view of Lake Pend Oreille, Bottle Bay, the Clark Fork
Delta, the Cabinet Mountains including Scotchman Peak and Mount Pend
Oreille, to name a few.
“You get a 180-degree view and people say it’s the best view of the
lake, the Cabinets and the valley,” Griffitts said. “This is the
closest and most accessible trail to Sandpoint.”
The trail is already being used even though the official dedication
isn’t likely to occur until later this month. Info: Sandpoint Ranger
District, (208) 263-5111.
The Buckhorn Ridge trail, on
the Idaho-Montana line north of Moyie and just south of the Canada
border, has recently been re-routed to expand the horizons, so to
speak, for trail users exploring the almost-wilderness region near
7,705-foot Northwest Peak, which ranks No.20 in elevation among the
peaks in a very mountainous state of Montana.
Pat Hart has seen countless miles of trail since 1974 when she started
working on trails for the Bonners Ferry Ranger District, but she
beamed when describing the route her crews had reworked through the
area.
“The open views are fantastic,” she said. “You can make an overnight
20-miler if you drop a shuttle car off near Solomon Lake and then
drive up and start the hike heading south from Canuck Pass.”
The route along Buckhorn Ridge undulates in sub-alpine meadows through
elk country and mounds of penstemon, lupine and beargrass with lofty
views of surrounding mountains and into the Yaak River drainage.
Decent camping spots can be found just south of Keno Mountain, but the
only reliable water is down a half mile off the ridge on the Keno
Creek Trail.
-
From l3onners Ferry,
drive east on U.S. Highway 2. About a mile after crossing the Moyie
River Bridge, turn left on Deer Creek Road 72 for about 3 miles, bear
left on Road 73 and then bear left again onto Forest Road
435. Drive about 14 miles farther, passing some good campsites along
Deer Creek, to the trailhead at Canuck Pass.
From the pass, trails take off in both directions. For the most scenic
hike, go southeast (right). Hike a half mile to a trail junction at an
old wagon road. Turn right and follow Trail 44 south toward Buckhorn
Ridge.
After a sometimes soggy mile on the old hillside road, the trail
breaks into splendid open ridges allowing hikers to gaze at Rocky
Candy Mountain, Davis and Northwest Peak Scenic Area and the Selkirk
Mountains from Sandpoint north far into Canada.
Hikers can easily trek the six miles to Keno Mountain and back in a
day. Adventurous will find the views just as good or better on the six
miles of trail farther south to Goat Peak.
Don’t miss the chance to climb the gradual south-side slope of Keno
Mountain to see why this was a former fire lookout site.
Incidentally, the nearby Deer Creek fire lookout is available for rent
through the Bonners Ferry District, (08) 267-5561.
|
