Trip Report: Liberty WA - Pit Overlook, Crystal Ridge, Hidden Gulch
My friend and I spent the afternoon yesterday doing a few trails in Liberty WA.
Pit Overlook (4W321) was first, a mostly mild 3.5 mile trail with fantastic views. There are some narrow shelf roads with steep drops off the passenger side, then some moderate hills and elevation gains. Nothing too crazy, but fun to do.
That trail ends at the middle of the
Crystal Ridge trail (4W319), which I've documented here before. This put us just about a 1/2 mile before the aptly named "Rear End Hill", which is a sometimes hair-raising slog up a very long, very steep slope. Rather than twisting up the mountainside, the trail just goes straight up it, which puts much of the trail at a 30-35 degree incline. Add in loose dust, some rock ledges, and slick tree roots. It's always a fun challenge to get up to the top.
The highlight of the trail is the Crystal Ridge lookout, a cliff that offers incredible views of the Stewart range and beyond. It was an especially clear day and we could see for dozens of miles.
Towards the end of the Crystal Ridge trail, there is a turn off to a little-used trail that we had no information about, the
Hidden Gulch trail (4W320). My friend and I decided to check it out and see what was involved. It dropped down into a valley, through some meadows and followed a small creek. That meant that we crossed it several times and there were some sketchy areas with mud pits. We took our time and walked each obstacle to be sure we could do it. By this time my girls were tired of being on the trail so we tried as much as we could to keep things moving.
Thank goodness for high clearance on the rear. This is the first time I've ever had my bumper touch.
One of the mud pits
This was a series of 3 deeper pits with some slick mud
The trail eventually wound up ending at a spur Forrest Service road, which is good because we really had no idea where the trail ended or if it was even all passable. From there we headed back to Ellensburg with dust covering every inch of the interior of our vehicles.
The truck performed flawlessly again. No issues at all. The longer wheelbase make some obstacles easier and some more difficult, but I'm always surprised at how capable the truck is. The rear locker is a must for some of these trails. I would risk a lot of potential damage if I did not have it. The suspension is working as expected, though I do need more travel in the rear. Besides that I don't have much to complain about.
-Kevin
