Today a group of dear friends decided to embark on another snowshoe adventure. Those on the trek were, Ron & Stacie, Phil, Rick and Brent. What an amazing day we had due in large part to planning that Ron & Stacie did for today's event. We began our journey at the Wandermere Starbucks at an early morning hour of 06:45. From there we drove up through Colville, on through Kettle Falls and then up Sherman Pass Scenic Byway to the pass summit where we parked our vehicles for the day. Drive time was approximately 2.5 hours. Our actual trek began at about 09:30. The skies were clear, blue and full of sunshine and there was not even a hint of wind. How often does that happen? The temperature at launch was a chilly 3 degrees Fahrenheit but much warmer than the -12 degrees we saw at points along the drive to Sherman Pass. Within about 100 ft of our parked vehicles we jumped on the Kettle Crest Trail heading south. Our intent was to traverse Sherman Peak on the west side with an initial midway turnaround target point at the Snow Peak cabin. About 1.5 miles out there is the northern most junction between the Kettle Crest trail and NF trail #72. Trail #72 traverses the west side of Sherman Peak so off we went. What a beautiful, remote place this is! (Please view the attached photos.) Snow conditions varied significantly along our course as a result of the types of cover, exposure, elevation etc. We had everything from icy side slope crossings to waist high deep powder. The scenery in this remote area is breathtaking from the beginning although within about 2 miles you begin to move up out of the heavy tree line where the vistas are not only all around you but quite honestly, beyond words! In addition, the plentiful sunshine warmed us up. We made it out to within about .8 miles from the Snow Peak cabin and decided to have lunch where we marveled at what we'd experienced and seen thus far. We all had headlamps and were prepared to travel after daylight hours if needed be however, knowing that we'd be taking an alternate return route, (east side of Sherman Peak), with unknown conditions, we jointly decided the cabin would have to wait for our next journey. Once again, we were off. We made our way back to the southern most junction of trail #72 and the Kettle Crest trail where we headed east. Our decision to head back proved a good one as not more than 30 feet back on the Kettle Crest trail we found it had not been opened. Breaking trail into the unknown is what snowshoeing is all about although it certainly slows your pace. This team was all smiles and we "endured to persevere"! We tipped over more than a couple times, laughed more than that, and finally made our way back to the vehicles at about 16:30. We drove back to Colville for a scrumptious dinner at the Maverick, then headed home arriving in Spokane about 20:30. In summary, an absolutely amazing day with great friends in a remote mountain wonderland that's already calling us back!! Thanks all!
P.S. - From brother Phil is some interesting info on Sherman Pass: "Sherman Pass (el. 5575 ft./1699 m.) is a high mountain pass that crosses the Kettle River Range in the state of Washington. It is the highest pass in the state maintained all year. The pass is located on the Sherman Pass Scenic Byway which traverses the Colville National Forest. The pass is surrounded by the aftermath of the 1988 White Mountain Fire with over 22,000 acres burned. The pass was named after American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman who traveled across the pass in 1883."