[fourteen410]

I've been wanting to check this place out for awhile, but a damaged FS 31 prevented me from visiting for years. It is now repaired. FS 31 is a smooth ride, but FS 3160 will give your suspension a run for its money. Lots of ditches in the road - you'll want high clearance. The trail to Church Lake starts at the end of 3160. It's not long, but it is steep. After cresting a ridge, Church Lake comes into view, and it's a pretty one. Bearpaw Mountain looms above the lake, but clouds blocked most of the peak today.

P1250784-Pano

After a leisurely break at the lakeshore, we followed a bootpath upward toward the high meadow. On a sunny day you can see Baker, Shuksan, et al, but today views were limited. From the meadow, the bootpath ascended a steep shoulder before disappearing just beneath pt. 6066. Clouds chased me up to the ridge and within minutes everything was socked in. Ten minutes of patience rewarded me with peekaboo views of Bearpaw Mt., so I decided to go for it.

I followed a bootpath up to a small gap at 6000'. The summit was so close, but would have required some exposed scrambling to reach. Visibility was low and I didn't have any (2 legged) companions with me for this trip, so I decided to call it a day here.

Headed back down to the lake for lunch, where a pair of bald eagles were pulling some flight stunts. It was a real treat to watch. Then it was back up and over the ridge and down to the car. Would love to come back on a clear day.

[Roly Poly]

How many miles is the 3160 part of the drive? Is it easier to walk this section? Looks like our clouds just won’t yield to summer!

[NorthwestWanderer]

This way looks so much more scenic than the boring forest slog on the south side. Thanks for the report!

[fourteen410]

[D. Inscho]

Thanks for the visuals and road reports 14410. Your companion looks ready for anything.

[kitya]

I drove the road 3160 to the trailhead last Saturday in my new Rav4 Hybrid, but I regretted it. It is super narrow and very brushy and very rocky. Even with 8.1 inches of clearance, there were many places where it felt like i was scratching the bottom of the car over rocks and it was a slow and very-very bumpy drive. If you meet any oncoming traffic on this road, this will surely be a big problem and rocks are super sharp too - i would think not only high clearance, but offroad tires would be useful too. Every other car at the trailhead looked like this:

What is worse, 4 miles is a long road for driving this way, but trail to the lake is super short (less than 0.5 miles), so you are not getting a lot of fun for a lot of non-fun. And most people coming to this trailhead don't look really like typical hikers. The lake was mobbed with many groups camping and fishing. There were several campfires going and people took dirt bikes to the trail up to the lake, completely destroying fragile alpine meadows in several places. There was a lot of mud due to this type of use and several parallel ugly trenches. Maybe it gets better after the lake, but I had no time or desire to explore it more after what I have seen. Poor pikas!

[crazyhiker]

^Welp, just crossed this one off my list.

[slabbyd]

what a bummer. Almost makes you wish that Canyon Creek Road had never been repaired.

[fourteen410]

Meh. It's always had it's fair share of interesting folks on sunny summer weekends. It's all about being smart with timing, seasons, and weather. But yeah, definitely don't go up here, it's really ugly. And definitely don't go beyond the lake, really ugly up there too.

[kitya]