Mike's Therapeutic Ramble--Colville & Kaniksu Nat'l Forest Day Trip

yohavos

Adventurist
Well, let's see if I can contribute to this amazing community! Here's a little write up on my micro-adventure today:

I've been inside for the past three years and it's worn on me terribly. I caught the camping/off-roading bug during the last few years of my enlistment and used to spend darn near every free moment (and cent) either working on whatever random truck I owned at the time or camping.

After getting out I settled down with my Land Cruiser and went to college. If I wasn't in school, I was living out of my truck somewhere in the Cascade Mountains or high desert of Central and Eastern Washington.

Real life caught up with me when I decided law school was a good idea, and aside from working on my land cruiser ute project, I've been pretty dormant. It's a shame having two fantastic adventure vehicles in the driveway and not being able to remember the last time you camped :(

Well, I've graduated, and this is probably my last "summer break" (read: 1 week) until I retire. After a free Monday spent doing yard work and building the fiancée some boxes for floral arrangements I woke up this morning actually missing my Land Cruiser. It was time to do something.

The cruiser drawers stay packed with the basics, so I threw my assault pack and the gazetteer in the rig, rounded up the dogs, and started driving north. I didn't really have a plan, but I figured I would know the right way to go when I got there.

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I hopped on 395 out of Spokane and immediately started to relax as the trees began to outnumber the buildings. Spokane is wonderful for that--no matter which way you drive, it only takes about 15-20 minutes and you're in the country. Head north and you've got the pine woods and mountains; south and you've got rolling hills and high desert.

After fueling up in Chewelah I popped the rear hatch and laid out a motor vehicle use map for the area. The dogs and I consulted our options, war gamed our timeline, and made a decision.

The general plan was to head East out of Chewelah through Burnt Valley, then head North/Northeast to hit Little Calispell Peak, Saddle Mountain, and finally Calispell Peak. I had no idea what the road would be like but hoped to 1) get away for the day and 2) scope some outstanding camping spots/day trip routes in order to lead trips in the future.

I figured if I could make it that far I'd have a chance to loop all the way North around Calispell Peak and catch Tacoma Creek road all the way East (then Southeast) back to HWY 20.

The drive out of Chewelah through Burnt Valley was awesome--pavement ended and I was treated to several miles of dirt road and farms, finally crossing into Colville National Forest as the road narrowed and began to ascend out of the valley.

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The climb out of Burnt Valley was uneventful in a great way... nothing but dirt road and trees. The Forest Service takes great care of this section as there's obviously active grazing and logging activity.

I stopped at an intersection near Goddard Mountain (48.347672, -117.513954) that I had been meaning to check out. The dogs were excited to get out and I was committed to taking my time, checking maps leisurely, and taking more pictures, so out we got. I enjoyed an apple while double checking my route plan on my MVUM, gazetteer, and finally iPhone navigation app. I decided to explore the Goddard Mountain road to see if it would dead end at a campsite, then double back to catch my route North.

How could one not be excited about this road??

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As usual, the road less travelled did not disappoint! The Goddard Mountain road wound Southwest around the Mountain, presenting some excellent views. Unfortunately I ran up on a large downed tree after a little under two miles, but earmarked the trail for future exploration. I didn't see any evidence that there's a road to the summit (or that the summit is worth it) but, I did get some great views on the way.

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After the slight SW detour I backtracked back to NF Road 464 (48.357327, -117.530220) and started my journey North.
 
The trip North was into completely new territory for me and it was everything I wanted and more!

The road climbed steadily towards Little Calispell Peak and I was excited to check the area out. I spied a 4WD trail on my older USGS quads that went directly up to the peak that I was sure would provide a campsite or at least awesome overlook.

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Of course, things don't always go as planned... Within the first 50 meters of the climb up the haggard little trail I came upon a downed tree that someone had cleared enough for a four wheeler but not a truck. Not really sure how much of a project this trail could have been I opted to bail on the summit trail and get back on the route north. I left a pin on my map with a note to investigate in the future.

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The FS road wound around the eastern side of Little Calispell Peak and serendipitously met back up with another chance at the summit--another 4WD trail that ended up linking up with the first one gave me a clear shot (and even a chance to drop the 80 into low range) for the summit.

While not an incredible campsite, it was a summit and it felt good to accomplish something.

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I certainly couldn't complain about the view!

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Great trip report - thanks for sharing! Looks like you should bring a small chainsaw next time and keep going! ;)
 
After my slight detour up Little Calispell I hopped back onto my route and continued my trek North towards Saddle Mountain. The route was clear, the views were wonderful, and the road was perfect.

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Saddle Mountain ended up not having a "summit" to hang out on, but did have a few roads that weren't on my maps. The view of Calispell Peak (the big guy) was superb:

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(Sorry for the zoomed iPhone shot... I was trying to get the observation tower)

After a final consultation of my map and the clock, I made the decision not to push all the way to the summit of Calispell Peak, though I would be near it. My final route took me west around Calispell Peak, all the way North to Tacoma Creek road (48.453381, -117.535301).

The drive out was straight forward, but wonderfully remote.

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After about 30 minutes of a leisurely descent out of the NF (past the USAF Survival School) I emerged onto HWY 20 north of Cusick. Just when I thought the adventure was over, I had the pleasure of spotting two moose! It was a neat way to end the trip.

(another zoomed iPhone pic, but it's a moose!)

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All in all, it was a great trip and gave me a lot of info for future trips. There are plenty of folks around that would join me for a trip if I plan one, and this is just the kind of route I needed to find.

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After reviewing my notes, I belted out a quick route file for future reference, just in case anyone is in the Spokane area and interested.

(Attached .kmz and .gpx)
 

Attachments

  • Chewelah Loop.kmz
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  • Chewelah to Pend Oreille.gpx
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Thanks for sharing! Dave brings up a good point, one I've thought about in the past. You guys that travel through thick woods/trees, do you ever carry a chainsaw just in case a tree has fallen and blocked your path?
 
Thanks for sharing! Dave brings up a good point, one I've thought about in the past. You guys that travel through thick woods/trees, do you ever carry a chainsaw just in case a tree has fallen and blocked your path?

Definitely! I've got a saw and axe, as well as a choker chain and various bits for cutting/dragging trees out of the way. It's a necessity in the PNW!
 
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