The plan had been to do a half-Sean Thomas and stash a bike at the Quartz Creek Trailhead and then hike up the 14-15 miles from Curly Creek Falls and cycle back. However, I had to drop my wife off at the airport first and her flight got cancelled, so after rearranging her schedule, I realized I didn’t have time to do all of that and settled for leaving the bike at the Crab Creek Trailhead.
I made the visit to Curly Creek and Miller Creek Falls since I wasn’t going to see the falls on the upper river that day. Heading up the river, you’re under large Douglas-firs and hemlocks for at least a couple of miles, dipping a few times to old growth cedar bottomlands. You reach a patch of previously logged forest just before the Bolt Camp Shelter, which looks shiny new after its 2013 remodel: a latrine trowel, picnic table, and kindling are provided.
Then I headed in and out of more old-growth cedar bottomlands. The gnarliest and perhaps the biggest of these trees is right by the trail. I reached Speed Trail Camp where the Speed Trail connects coming down from FR 90. To get here from the road, you have to do a 50 yard ford of the Lewis River, something really only safe to do in late summer/early fall. Pairs of mergansers had staked out their spots on the river and there was much sign of elk.
The river narrows considerably after the camp and begins to pass through rocky defiles. From here on, you’re venturing through a 100-year burn with large blackened snags jutting up in the understory. I passed under a high basalt wall that spouts a couple of waterfalls and then wound up to detour around a decommissioned footbridge that passes over the lip of the first of two side-by-side waterfalls that plunge into a deep ravine. Soon after this, I reached a clifftop viewpoint almost 400 feet directly above the Lewis River Gorge. A plaque here commemorates a biker who probably enjoyed this trail.
From the viewpoint, it’s a meandering descent over a number of streams. Spencer Creek can be crossed on a large log; Cussed Hollow Creek is spanned by a sturdy footbridge.
The cycle back was easy: a languid uphill to the former Big Creek Falls Trailhead, which is now blocked off by boulders and posts, and then a rapid downhill to the river. I stopped off near the Speed Trail to try and find the Kum Back Shelter shown on some topo maps. I burrowed in past the roadside vegetation and found myself among marvelous, mossy old growth, which meant there were fallen giants six feet across to clamber over. I didn’t find the shelter, but think I know where to look next . . .
All in all, one of the best hike ‘n bikes in the area, especially if you have the time to fit in the whole thing.
Lewis River Hike ‘n Bike
Re: Lewis River Hike ‘n Bike
Thanks for posting the TR! I had read some about that trail, but you make it sound like a really fun trip.
Kelly
There is no shortcut to anyplace worth going to.
PM me about the soon to be released:
Skamania 231
"How to really get off the beaten path in Skamania County"
There is no shortcut to anyplace worth going to.
PM me about the soon to be released:
Skamania 231
"How to really get off the beaten path in Skamania County"
Re: Lewis River Hike ‘n Bike
Sounds like somebody should have been dropped off at the bus station - hiking has the priority!
I like to get up to Lewis River early season. Even in normal years, it is snowfree earlier than many such places.
I like to get up to Lewis River early season. Even in normal years, it is snowfree earlier than many such places.
Re: Lewis River Hike ‘n Bike
This makes me want to get a bike.
Re: Lewis River Hike ‘n Bike
I should add that the Lewis River Trail is also a mountain bike trail, so you can do the whole thing plus return on the road if you have the right kind of bike.