I hit the trail rather early around 6:20. The parking area west of the 9 Mile Dam was empty. It rained a bit last night so it was a little damp; just enough to keep the dust down. The trail climbs gently and first passes through an area of medium age Ponderosa pines that are nicely spaced rather like a park setting. After a trail juncture there are some areas of slightly steeper climbing and the trail has some intermittent rocks in it. Soon you can begin to see some of the basaltic monoliths peaking through the trees. After climbing so more and topping out above Deep Creek you are in the midst of what I like to call the Wastelands. It looks like the ancient remains after a great flood (which it is) or eons after the collapse of Mordor! I love this trail and I think it is my favorite hidden gem around the Spokane area!
I checked on 3 of my letterboxes here and they are all in great shape but seldom visited. Partly because they are hard to access off trail and it involves some scrambling over loose, moss covered basalt chunks that are unstable in places. The type that will easily turn an ankle. I also crossed the creek to check on Funhog's Deep Creek box, which I maintain for her, but it is gone.
Hiking back the way I came gave me a chance to see the area in a different light, quite literally. The early morning cloud cover had given way to more vibrant light. The understory leaves on the bushes are showing their pre-fall, drought induced colors of orange, red and brown.
A threesome of trail runners passed me as I ascended out of the creek bottom and I was passed by one woman mountain biker. There were quite a few vehicles at the parking lot (about 10 or so) and two women were just starting to walk their dogs.
Overall the trail is in great shape. One area had some recent work done on it to clean some downed logs. I highly recommend this one. I look forward to exploring the other connecting trails in this area north of Deep Creek.
Total Mileage today was 4.5 miles with 787 feet of elevation gain.
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