In Hope I Byde

Friday, June 14, 2013

Thunderbolt Mountain Lookout June 13-14, 2013



From Cascade, proceed 25 miles east on Warm Lake Hwy. to S. Fork Salmon River road 474. Turn left (north) and go 1 mile.  Turn right (east) on Cabin Cr. road 467.  High clearance 4-wheel drive recommended. Proceed 3.5 miles to the gate. Motor vehicle access beyond this point is open only between June 1 and Sept. 15.  Proceed 2.5 miles to Cabin Cr. Trailhead.  Hike trail 086 0.5 mile, then go west on
Trout Cr. Trail 091. Hike 1 mile. Trail is steep and rocky.

The above is from the USFS website.  We found that from the trailhead it was approximately just under two miles and about 1800' elevation gain.



Power Wagon

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This was also Murphy's first official backpacking trip.
He did extremely well with his new pack.

I naively keep him on a leash for the first mile or so.
It was much easier to let him free.











Yes Murphy is a Lab.  Yes he hates water.  Murphy did great
on the three crossings that we had.  Baby steps.



Dennis and Jordan.





We had to hike approx. two miles to reach the trail head.































Initially I was going to bring my hammock and hang on this trip.
I instead decided that I would just bring my tarp to be  more
versatile.  It ended up working ok, however the DuoMid would
have been the best choice.




















This is what we woke up to.  Approx. 3-4" of snow.






The trail was covered in snow and difficult to find.
Thankfully we had Murphy who led us down the mtn.



















Murphy taking a nap while we were eating breakfast at Grandmas.