The Washington State Hiking Podcast

Best Hikes in Washington’s Selkirk Mountains

• Jennie Thwing Flaming and Craig Romano • Episode 76

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Welcome to the Washington State Hiking Podcast. I'm your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, 

and I'm your co-host Craig Romano.

Craig and I are happy to have you here. We provide practical and timely seasonal hiking advice for hikers, trail runners, and potential hikers and trail runners of all skill and ability levels that is helpful, accurate, fun, and inclusive.

 

 Hey Craig, today we are talking about hikes in the Selkirk Mountains. You know, I love excited, love the RK 

Mountains. I'm going, I'm gonna, if I had to wager with you right now, I am going to bet that at least half, maybe even more of our listeners. I have no idea what we're talking about. Yes.

'Cause the sell Kirks what? So well I'd 

never heard of the Sell Kirks before reading one of your books that I have. And I was like, where Really? Okay, so to start off, yeah. By the way, before we get in here too far, and I forget, I wanna tell everybody that last summer we had an episode about the Kettle Range.

Kettle River Range. Yeah. Which is. 

A similar part of Washington State. Right? So if you like this episode, you'll probably like that one too. And if you wanna go back and hear what we sounded like when we'd been doing this for two months, then you can also listen to it for that reason. Okay. So Craig, tell us where the Selkirk Mountains are.

Yeah. And why they're awesome. Yeah. And then we'll hear about some of your favorite hikes there. 

So basically the sell Kirks. It's a very, very large mountain range. It's only a tiny bit that's in Washington and it's the southern most point of it. So if you live in Spokane, you're gonna know this. Okay? The SRKs end at Mica Micah Peak.

Okay. Right on the south side, Liberty Lake over there. That's, where they end. Then you're into the Palouse. They extend into the Idaho Panhandle all the way up. Into Washington, into British Columbia, all the way to the Columbia River up there. It's actually, the Selkirks are kind of a sub range, what's known as the Columbia Mountains and the Columbia.

This is very, very interesting. In America, we consider the Columbia Mountains part of the Rockies. Okay. But in Canada, officially, the Columbia is a separate mountain range geo, although the tourism. Agencies try to, um, lump it all up because it just gets confusing, you know? It's like, of course, by any other name, it's still a mountain.

Right? Shakespeare. So, um, so the whole thing is, um, that's the selkirks, it's an interior range, kind of. It's in essence it's a transition zone between the Cascades and other, the, the Okanagan Highlands, which is where the, kettle River range is. , And the Rockies. Now that's knowing that. So it's, it's taking up the, it's extreme northeast corner of Washington.

It's not the kettles, the Kettle River range is not part of the Selkirks. Um, so it's pretty much in the ponder Valley on both sides in there. That's, that's the selkirks. Where did the, Jenny, where did the Sekis get their name? This is, this is kind of Why did the Sekis. 

Yeah. Are you really asking me? 'cause I, yeah, yeah.

Have no idea. Of 

course you don't. You know, so it was a rhetorical question. 

I thought so, but I then for a second I was like, wait, is he really expecting me to know this? Yeah. Because I have no idea. And those, you're the history major. 

I'm a history, I'm a history geek. I've written history books and everything.

I have actually, I'm one of the few Americans that's actually studied Canadian history. Uh, don't ask me why, uh, but I've studied, I love Canada. I have 

also studied Canadian history, actually. 

Nice. Bravo. Bravo. 

Well, is it, are they named for William Selkirk? 

No. Thomas Thomas Douglas. Oh, the fifth Earl of Selkirk.

Okay. You know, how was he, he was, he promoted a lot of, um, uh, he, he promoted a lot of settlement in what is the Red River? The Red River colony, which is now Manitoba and Western expansion in, in what became Canada. And so not quite sure who named it, if it was, um, one of the explorers, one of the colonists, one of the, um, bird trappers.

But someone they wanted to honor 'em and named this entire mountain range after this guy. So that's where it got its name. So anyways, take it for what it's worth. Okay. 

The rocking are 

far more descriptive than the selkirks. 

Yeah. Okay. So why is this a gray area for hiking in Washington? 

Well, you know, uh, oh, I, I just gotta back up.

One last thing I say about the sell cooks. They are, yeah. Older than the Rockies. And that's, this is, this is another reason why they're classified differently. So it's an older mountain range. Uh, and you know, those of us in the Cascades we're, we're dealing with the feisty youth of the mountains. You know, I grew up with the old, the old timers, you know, the boomers, you know, the Appalachians, they're the old Mount and over here.

These are the, the, the, the young new generation, uh, and those, and the, but the rock, the, uh, the selkirks are one of the older generations on the western side of, of the continent. Uh, why do I like the Selkirks? Um, well, there's so many reasons. Let me count th ways. Um, well, for most part they are far from any major metropolitan area.

Okay. Spokane. I'm talking major, you know, so far from Calgary, far from Seattle, far from from Vancouver. So with that said, we're, they're gonna be less crowded. Um, they have. They're, uh, the highest point in the cell. Kirks are over 10,000 feet, but not in the Washington cell Kirks, but in the Washington cell, Kirks.

Um, you're gonna see megafauna, uh, animals that don't live anywhere else, um, or very, very little. It's one of the few places in the state where, where grizzly bears are actually residents. Um, up until very recently, um, we had Woodland caribou in, um, in, in Washington. There are cal caribou that still live in the Selkirks, mostly over the board in British Columbia.

It's, it's kind of sad what's happening to them because, um, the Selkirk. Caribou is one of the most endangered mammals in the country. Um, it's a combination of habitat destruction, wolves, ranch, deuce wolves are taking 'em. I will, they survive. I don't know. Uh, but that's it. We have a lot. And again, speaking of a lot of wolves in Selkirk, Lynx, Northeastern Washington contains one of the largest population of Lynx in the entire us.

Uh, so, um. You, you know, they're not, you're not gonna have that rock and ice like you have, uh, in, in, in the Cascades here, the, in Canada, you do, the Silk Creeks are incredible up there. But what you are gonna have here are some of the wildest mountains. And, uh, you're gonna get a wilderness experience where you're gonna be able to go on a hike, probably not see anybody, and maybe see one of those mega faunas.

Um, so that in itself, to me is very, very exciting. Yeah. And if you live in Spokane, this is your back, your, your backyard. Um, yes. You know, this is where, where you're gonna, you, you're gonna recreate. Uh, likewise the Idaho Panhandle, which is very, very close to Spokane too, uh, and I should add to the Idaho Panhandle cell, Kirks, even though they're just right over the border, are remarkably more dramatic.

The Washington ones, there's a lot more ledge and lakes and, uh, just pretty, pretty, pretty incredible. Uh, if you have my very old, um, best hikes with dogs Inland Northwest, it was actually the, uh, one of the first books I worked on 20 years ago. It's outta print now. 

Wow. 

But I have, uh, several hikes in the Idaho Sekis, um, in that book that are, that are worth checking out.

So if you can find a, no pun intended, a dog-eared copy of the best hikes with dogs. Um, um, check it out. Some of these hikes are, are, are pretty cool. So 

cool. Okay, so tell us about a few of your favorites, Craig, in this area. Yeah, 

so, um, so some of my favorite places, first of all, the only wilderness area I.

Um, in Northeastern Washington is, is in this range. It's at, at, it's pretty much where Washington, British, Columbia, and Idaho all come together. And that's the Samal Priest Wilderness. And it's named for the two drainage areas, the Samal River, which flows north into British Columbia, and the priest, which flows into Northern Idaho, into into, um, uh, let me get the Spokane River.

Uh, lemme get this right. Yeah, I believe so. The lake. So this is an amazing area. Uh, high ridge's, the highest mountains. In Eastern Washington. So Gypsy Peak, which is um, 7,300 and some change as the highest summit in, um, eastern Washington. It's quite rugged. Uh, the other thing I should add too is that at Northeast corner of Washington, the Silk Creeks, they're, they're, um, it is the wettest area of the state, east of the Cascade Crest.

Two over 30. 30 to 40 inches of rain a year. Because what happens, those clouds, they, they get wr, they get rung out here in the cascades, then they kind of build up going across the, the, the channel scab lands and the Columbia plateau and all that. And then those mountains start ringing 'em out again. So it's wet.

There are old growth cedar groves over there that rival cedar groves over here. It'll blow you away because, you know, it's an interior rainforest. It's, it's quite spectacular. So I love that area. Um. I think too, you are never, I mean, you're never gonna see crowds. I've done the semi loop loop three times.

Uh, it's in my, it's in my backpacking book. I've trail run it. I've, I've, I've gone out. It is, uh, it's a 19 mile loop. It. Dips into Idaho. Uh, it is one of my absolute favorite height. It's one of my a hundred classics. It's in my backpacking book. Check it out. If you've never been, been, uh, been there, it is just an unbelievable hike at that old growth forest.

You've got incredible views. Um, there's always a chance of maybe seeing a grizzly bear. Uh, so that's cool. And then the shed roof divide, which is also one of my a hundred classics, runs the entire. Mountain range on the Idaho, Washington border. It's all in Washington. It's, uh, primarily in the wilderness area.

Uh, lots of old fire lookout sites, the old mining areas. Um, and again, parts of it look a lot like the, uh, the Adirondacks or the White Mountains. Um, 'cause they're old, worn down mountains. But then, you know, you're looking out and you're not seeing little villages down in the valley. You're just seeing forest or, or the priest lake.

Um, Desco, when we talked about Abercrombie, I've talked about that before. It's the second highest. Peak in, uh, in eastern Washington, misses being the highest by one foot, one lousy foot. You, and that's a great hike for wildflowers. Um, you can hike to the hook nose, which is right the northern most. You're almost in British Columbia.

And you watch the pan, the ponder river just circles around, makes a big bend there. Uh, incredible area. Uh, all those hikes. Sullivan Lake I've mentioned is in the Sekis. It's wonderful national forest campsites there. The hike along Sullivan Lake is a great one, especially in the fall. There's a lot of birches over in this area.

So, um, trees you're gonna see more for, for color. Um, so it's quite pretty loons, loons, and birches. And you're gonna, it's gonna. You're gonna feel like you're in the northeast. It's, it's incredible. And then, uh, hall Mountain, which is right above has, uh, bighorn sheep. Uh, and also it's an area of Grizzlies frequent.

So they close the, the Forest Service actually closes it a lot, uh, so that wildlife is not, uh, harassed during that area. So if you've never hiked the cell, Kirks in this area, it's spectacular. And, and though it's technically not Washington, it's just over the border. I have to tell you a couple other places.

'cause you're, if you're making it all the way there, just go over the border. Just a, a few miles into British Columbia is the Rolin range. You can stay, you can stay in Rossland or trail, which is a, hold your breath here, Jenny, because trail is like 30% Italian. All Italian. Im immigrants. Settled there to work in the mines.

Uh, you could get some great Italian food there. I love it. Yes, 

it's beautiful there. 

And this is where the Columbia River comes in around, but the Rosslyn range. Old glory. Matter of fact, a lot of people, when you're hiking the, um, the cell, the hiking in Washington, in the kettles cellar, you'll look to the north, you'll see this big lone mountain and like, what is that?

And it's old glory. And Old glory has a, has a lookout on the top 7,600 feet. It is an incredible mountain. It'd been up that a couple of times. And then likewise. Just over the border into Idaho. Uh, the priest, uh, there's the, um, the Priest Lake area. The priest River has some great hikes down below moose.

I've seen lots of moose down there, and then some spectacular hikes in the higher country and right in the Washington border, you can't get any farther. You, you have to actually go into Idaho to come in is the Roosevelt Grove of Cedars, which is one of the biggest, uh, old growth cedar groves in eastern Washington.

And there's a fascinating history in there with the CCC and everything. This area is ripe. For, for exploring. And I should add one more ti time. One more thing too. The Kalispell tribe, which is on the Ponder River. And, uh, father, they've been working with WTA, they're, they're opening up, uh, some of their land, uh, for a hikes.

There's gonna be some new hiking trails. And my, my co-author, um, and I for the new edition of Eastern Day Hike in eastern Washington, we're gonna be including that. But the Kalispell also have bison. Uh, there, there were bison, uh, not many, but there were bison in, in this area, this state, traditionally, and they've worked on, uh, on getting a, a, a herd back into the area.

So again, more megafauna. It's gonna be one of the few places you can see bison. In, in the state. Alright. Really 

cool. 

Very cool. What about you, Jenny? What, what do you like about the 

Well, you know, I haven't spent as much time there as you have most of the time. You know, I've talked a few times about this job that I had, um, back in the day where I went to every part of Washington.

So I was number one, never there in the middle of the summer. Um, and number two. I would be doing whatever. Hike. I could do like after 4:00 PM in like April or May. Oh yeah. But it is a, so I I, I love all of these suggestions because I gotta tell you, this area of Washington is so beautiful and so different.

Like, I mean, there's moose for crying out loud. Yeah. Um, and it's absolutely. Gorgeous. And it, if you're in western Washington, it's a long ways away. It is 

a long ways away. Yeah. But it's 

totally worth it, you know, like we talk about over and over again. Uh, this state is so diverse. The people are diverse, the landscapes are diverse.

Um, it's just a really cool place to explore. So, yeah. 

Yeah. That northeast corner of Washington too, it's one of the least populated areas of the state. So if you're used to just being the Puget Sound Basin with millions of people, it's gonna blow you away. Um, ferry County, seven and a half thousand people.

Uh, you know, uh, pore County, I think like 12,000 people. Yes. Um, there, there aren't many PE and, and a lot I think in Ferry County. Lemme just think about that. I think the entire county, there's not one traffic. Traffic light. Um, and, and there's no McDonald's. There's no Starbucks. Yeah. Uh, so it's one of those places.

Again, if you wanna see what the old Washington's like, not more like, you know, nowhere Montana or something. And it's got that feel of Montana too, the rolling grassy hills and, and again, grizzly bears. Um. The other, uh, place I should mention too, if you've got my a hundred classic hikes book, um, I, I mentioned this to one of the coolest hikes and it's very, very difficult to get to.

Uh, the roads are horrendous, uh, so you wanna have the right vehicle, but it's Crawl Ridge and I've hiked that entire ridge and it's, again, it's the northern most ridge before you're into British Columbia. Um, there's a fire lookout out there. It is. Incredible. Just the ridge and, and you're just hiking along and you, you're gonna feel like you were in Washington back, um, before there was any European settlement or anything in there.

It really, it is, it is a, a, a lost part of our, our state. And, uh, yeah, that part is in wilderness, which is nice. Um, the, the wilderness area isn't as big as it should be, uh, on a backup to the 1984 Wilderness Act. When, when we were. Protecting a lot of this and because timber, uh, logging was such a, a main logging, mining, were, were far more entrenched in our economy back then and now that a lot of powerful forces kept.

Tom Foley, who was a congressman of the district, he kept it out a lot of this. He kept the kettles outta the wilderness. He kept that expanding the Calwell National Forest, which covers. A good chunk of, um, of eastern wa, Northeastern Washington has one of the lowest percentages of wilderness area of any national forest anywhere.

There are forests in Mississippi, sorry, I'm not just saying Mississippi, that have more percentage of their forest in wilderness. So yeah, that's something to consider if we can ever turn the political climate around to, to, to protect a lot of this area, especially as we're reintroducing or, or animals are coming back on their own grizzlies and wolves and giving them.

So that they will survive into the future. Yeah. 

Yeah, absolutely love it. Well, hopefully this has inspired all of you listening to get out into the Selkirks this summer or fall. So thank you Craig for sharing all that. You bet. 

I'll see. And if I see anybody on the trail, if you see in a trail out there, it might be me matter.

The last time I was doing the Selma priest, I ran into two people. We've become friends now. They, they were out there from Seattle and I said, how did you get out? He go, oh, we read your book. So, so. My book did, did its work. It got people out there, so 

love it. Hopefully I'll 

see you  📍 out there. 

Okay. Bye for now. ​ 

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Jennie Thwing Flaming

Host
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Craig Romano

Co-host