One-way route planned for Boulders

David planned a one-way winding route to cross five passes in the Boulders including the West Pass “short cut.” He was not sure the trip was doable. Only the last pass, from Gladiator Creek on the wilderness boundary, had a well-maintained trail.

For safety, communication, and coordination, David got a satellite-text phone. (This way he could bail out if a pass were too difficult and arrange pickup from one of several options hiking out to Highway 75).

Cindy dropped David off at West Fork Summit Creek trailhead (just beyond Trail Creek Summit on Trail Creek Road from Ketchum) with plans to pick him up six days later at Galena Lodge in the Boulders. The first day on trail and route previously hiked passed uneventfully, if very cold camping near the high pass.

On Day2, David met a couple with a dog—only hikers of the trip until last day who came up the maintained trail to just below the “short cut” to West Pass. He followed GPS track to switchbacks Cindy had found to be easy but was confused by elk routes going every direction. It was slow going in steep terrain, so he leveled a tent site on the steep slope with rotten wood above a big Douglas-fir, rather than hike until dark to find a possible flat area at the head of the canyon.

Next morning, a “maze of elk routes” higher in the basin led to an elk wallow and a 9,000-foot pass just across from West Pass. (Sudden appearance of human footprints indicated weekend elk hunters from West Pass Trail, perhaps the reason for the blaze and route.) Trail down led to another elk wallow; just beyond this, he met the West Pass Trail.

Elk and Goats Assist “Trailless” Pass

After trail down to North Fork Big Wood River and up the West Fork, David left trail on a GPS route (this one from Google Earth image study) towards Window Lake, where he hoped to find a route over two passes; the second above Boulder City. To his pleasant surprise, elk had kept open an old trail almost to Window Lake. (It was also interesting that the “trail builder” and/or elk picked the least steep most reasonable route that David had selected from Google Earth imagery.) From there, a brief scramble connected to goat route to the pass which was marked by a natural stone “window” (to return from photo, click on text outside photo).

Then he hit an unworkable pass. His planned “ridge run” to the pass above Boulder City (which we have hiked before) had rugged volcanic fin along last section that looked too rough for hiking with a backpack.

Instead, David scrambled down scree into Boulder Basin, knowing he could catch a route hiked before from the old mining town up to a pass. Although we had backpacked across this ridge to the White Clouds in 1993, now there was only minimal trail into South Fork of the East Fork of the Salmon River. He descended into the basin and camped at the first level spot with trees. Just after sunset, wolf howls echoed through the basin.

Minimal to no trail continued the next morning until David met two horses tied to trees, whose unseen riders were no doubt stalking elk with bows. Below the horses, trail improved considerably. At the confluence of the South and West Forks of the East Fork of the Salmon River, he missed his turnoff for Grand Prize Gulch Trail and took the more heavily used spur trail to the Pioneer Outfitters camp; probably source of the horsemen.

A packer was leaving camp with two horses carrying bagged elk halves followed by the hunter on a horse. David waded the East Fork and stopped to dry gear (from heavy condensation the previous night) on a sunny riverbank.

Motorcycles and Mountain Bikes

He spent the afternoon moving swiftly on the well-maintained Grand Prize Gulch Trail along the wilderness boundary, cleared with chainsaw because it was outside wilderness (where trail maintenance is no limited by the Forest Service’s strict interpretation of Wilderness Act prohibition on mechanized equipment).

David saw no one all afternoon on this trail despite signs of heavy motorcycle use. He filtered water at the river a couple miles before a junction with the dry Gladiator Trail, his route for the last day out of the Boulders. In the evening, his camp near the junction was passed by hunters with high-tech bows riding motorcycles. He saw two more hunters the next morning, walking quietly.

On the last morning of the trek, David hiked steep little-used trail to pass near Gladiator Peak; then dropped down to Galena Lodge as weekend mountain bike groups were piling onto a network of cross-country ski trails that double for bike use in snow-off seasons.

He coordinated with Cindy via satellite phone for an agreed to ETA but he got to Galena ahead of her as she was slowed by tourist traffic on Highway 75. He was waiting on the deck at Galena lodge, editing GPS data, when she arrived.

The Boulder-Hemingway Wilderness could be a great backpacking area with a few more connecting trails. Elk and mountain goats have already provided a good head start.

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