Joyce was on a multi day backpacking trip in Glacier Park with her family. Mary was home ill. So Patti and I chose a strenuous hike with lots of elevation combined with a long drive to an area where we hadn't hiked yet.
Elevation of the lookout: 6167 ft.
Elevation gained on the trail: 4000 ft in 5 miles. Yes, this is a steep and strenuous hike.
In 1907, the first forest lookout on the then Cabinet National Forest (and in the state of Montana) camped in a tent just below the summit of Squaw Peak. Three years later, Noxon's first ranger, Granville "Granny" Gordon and his wife Pauline built the stone cabin that still stands at the edge of the talus below the existing lookout. In 1930, the first L-4 cab, a gable-roof model, was built on the summit, followed by the present L-4 cab in 1952. The Political Correctness Police renamed the summit Star Peak in 2004. Available for emergencies, it is listed on the National Historic Lookout Register.
The drive was almost 3 hours long but we drove through Plains, MT and on Hwy 200 and enjoyed the views. I hadn't been much past Plains so much was new for me. What a pretty drive. And the towns of Thompson Falls, Trout Creek, etc, are pretty and charming little towns. And the Clark Fork River is gorgeous.
Here is Star Peak as we drove to it. Yup. That looks to be about 4000 ft up from the road.
We left Kalispell around 7 am and got to near mile marker 6 on Hwy 200 shortly before 10 am. The trail starts on the north side of the highway and on the south side of the highway is a large pullout that could hold a dozen or more cars.
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| Even from above the mountain and route looks high. |
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| The red X indicates the start of the old mining road. Ignore Fatman Road. |
The route starts on an old mining road that goes straight up. After about a third of a mile there is a berm across the road to stop vehicles from going further. It looks like ATVs could go over the berm. The old mining road is wide enough one could walk side by side.
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| The start of the mining road |
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| The mining road after the berm. It is steeper than it looks. |
The road goes for two and a half miles and is rocky and steep. Then the trail for the last two and a half miles to the lookout goes ahead and to the left.
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| Where the trail starts from the mining road |
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| The trail |
On the following map I placed a red X where I estimate the mining road ends and the trail begins. Notice there are lots of lines close together on the topo map.
On the trail we went through a large huckleberry patch. There were delicious huckleberries, bland huckleberries and bitter huckleberries. Every so often the bushes were sparse with berries. I doubt a person would hike to the middle of the patch and pick. I imagine bears and other wildlife had done the random picking. We saw a few signs of purple scat but none of the scat we seen were from bears.
Other than the huckleberry patch (which appeared to be in an old burn and was more open than treed), for the most part the trail was in the forest. However the forest was not thick and I felt I could see out away from the trail even if we did not have high-line views.
We did have the benefit of shade. In the lower parts we could occasionally see the Clark Fork River.
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| Clark Fork River seen from the old mining road. |
Near the top of the peak we came to a line where the trees mostly ended and a large pile of rocks began and went all the way to the top. It was strange. It was like God had taken his fist and smashed the top of the mountain into rocks.
The aerial views doesn't show how rocky the top is.
The trail circled around the back of the mountain before going up to the stone cabin below the lookout. The cabin looks to be in great shape and a new roof appears to have been put on it. The walls are rocks stacked one on top of another with no mortar or cement to hold them in place. Amazing!
The lookout personal must have has a lot of time on their hands. Also, notice the stone 'staircase' between the cabin and the lookout.
The lookout was a different style than normal around western Montana. For example, the shutters aren't taken off. Each side's shutters swing up and are attached to the overhang frame that is on each side of the building.
And as you can see in the photos, the building needs a coat of paint.
Gorgeous views of the Clark Fork Valley, Cabinet Mountains, Idaho and Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced: pond-o-ray).
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| Looking towards Idaho and Lake Pend Oreille |
After an hour and a half of lunch and enjoying the views we headed back down. The trail and mining road especially were steep enough that a person had to make effort to walk slow and not lose control.
The hike up took about three and a half hours and the hike down took two hours fifteen minutes.
During the hike down we came upon two of these birds. At the first switchback one bird veered off to the right. We had encouraged the other bird to go off the trail to join its friend but it kept walking on the mining road all the way to the next switchback where it then veered off to the right.
For 37 more photos, follow this link:
https://plus.google.com/photos/109566462412251958234/albums/6059170210025258929?authkey=CPjB5texzfXDLw
A related story is this article with photos of mules hauling material up to the Star Peak lookout for restoration:
www.spokesman.com/outdoors/stories/2012/aug/12/prestigious-forest-service-mule-packers-lend/
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