I have a little more vacation time than Heather which means flying solo from time to time. For those solo outings I try and pick hikes to places we’ve already visited or hikes that Heather doesn’t mind missing out on. The latter tend to either be long hikes (14+ miles) or have significant elevation gains >3000′, or a combination of both. One such hike that I’ve had my eyes on for a while was a long loop in the Salmon-Huckelberry Wilderness combining the Salmon River, Green Canyon Way, Hunchback, and Kinzel Lake Trails.
I began the loop at the Salmon River West Trailhead and started the loop clockwise on the Salmon River Trail.
Not having light until after 7am is rough for someone who likes to get an early start.
The Salmon River Trail is located next to this interpretive sign near the trailhead.
A flash was necessary as I set off.
We’d been on this section of trail in 2015. I followed this level path for half a mile to the Green Canyons Campground, another potential starting point for this hike.
There was a very brief road walk along this section.
There was also plenty of time along the Salmon River.
I veered right at this picnic table to cross into the campground.
The day use area at the campground.
I walked through the day use area to the campground entrance then crossed Salmon River Road to find the start of the Green Canyon Way Trail.
Water spigot at the day use area.
It was hard to read the date for this cougar sighting, it appeared to be from June, but I couldn’t make out the year.
The Green Canyon Way Trail gains 2400′ in 3.2-miles to reach the Hunchback Trail, a 9.1-mile-long trail traversing Hunchback Ridge. Green Canyon Way was in pretty good shape, with just a few smaller trees to step over. The climb was well graded which kept it from ever feeling too steep.
Entering the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness
One of the downed trees, this one covered both sides of a switchback.
A rare viewpoint along the forested trail.
A level stretch along a narrow ridge.
A healthy looking paintbrush.
The Sun rising above Hunchback Ridge.
It was going to a be a bluebird day.
Sign ahead marking the Hunchback Trail junction.
We had hiked a 5.6-mile section of the Hunchback Trail in 2020 starting at the trails north end at the Lower Hunchback Trailhead. I turned SE (right) at the junction and followed the trail up and down (mostly up) along Hunchback Ridge for 2.4-miles to a junction below Devil’s Peak.
One of the “downs”.
This trail was also in good shape with just a few easy obstacles.
I did not go investigate the source of the “water”, it could have been a trap (there is a spring shown on the map).
Signs at the junction below Devil’s Peak.
I detoured uphill to the right for 100 yards to the Devil’s Peak Lookout.
We were here back in 2018 when the lookout was still open to the public for use. I took a short break here to take in the views before continuing the loop.
Mount Jefferson
Olallie Butte (post) and Mt. Jefferson
The lookout from the Mt. Jefferson viewpoint.
Mt. Hood from the lookout.
You can’t see Mt. Jefferson from the lookout due to trees.
I continued on the Hunchback Trail passing the Cool Creek Trail in another 105 yards and began a 1.25-mile descent to the Devil’s Peak Trailhead. Note that the drive to this trailhead requires traveling nearly 10 miles on an awful road that Sullivan describes as a “nightmare”.
Trail signs at the Cool Creek Trail junction.
Lookout Mountain(post), Gunsight Butte (post), and Bonney Butte (post) along the far ridge.
Mt. Hood from the Hunchback Trail.
Arriving at the trailhead on FR 2613.
It’s hard to make out in the photo but that is a giant pothole (crater) in the middle of the road seen from the trailhead.
A short walk along the roadbed led to the Kinzel Lake Trail on the right.
That is the trailhead at the end of the road on the right.
I turned down the Kinzel Lake Trail and after a third of a mile came to an unsigned junction with a spur trail to Kinzel Lake on the left.
I turned down the spur trail which dropped steeply then made two more steep up and downs before arriving at an old campground at the small lake in a little over a quarter mile.
After checking out the lake I climbed back up to the Kinzel Lake Trail and continued downhill another two miles where I turned right on the Salmon River Trail.
There were some nice Fall colors along the Kinzel Lake Trail.
There were also a few obstacles that were trickier than anything on the other trails involved in this loop.
Salmon Butte (post)
Nearing the Salmon River Trail.
Trail sign at the Salmon River Trail junction.
I turned right on the Salmon River Trail. We had hiked this section of trail during an overnight trip in 2018
It was approximately 6-miles from the junction back to the trailhead. I bypassed most of the viewpoints this time since we’d visited them on previous trips, and this was already a long enough hike without adding more detours.
There wasn’t much water at all in any of the side creeks.
There are several viewpoints just over 3.5-miles from the trailhead.
The furtherst hump in the center is Huckleberry Mountain (post).
Wilderness kiosk along the trail. There were self-issued permits here, but none at Green Canyon Way so I stopped and filled one out even though I was almost done with my hike (and out of the wilderness).
Salmon River
There were a couple of good-sized fish in the pool here.
The trail arriving back at the trailhead.
The first people I saw all day had been camped along the river near Goat Creek, and in total I saw less than 20 people, nearly all in the last three and a half miles. The hike itself showed 16.5-miles on the GPS and included over 4350′ of elevation gain.
This was a challenging but nice loop. My only wish is that it had been 15 to 20 degrees cooler. Clockwise was definitely the way to go in order to get the bulk of the climbing over with during the cooler morning hours. The Kinzel Lake Trail also seemed slightly steeper than the Green Canyon Way Trail making the climb up to Hunchback Ridge a little easier. Happy Trails!
Flickr: Devil’s Peak Loop
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