Our party of 8 left a drizzly Seattle at 7 for east side of the mountains. I had done little hiking in sagebrush country and was looking forward to this one. The drive along the dirt road is a nice one with views of expansive, rolling grass and sages slopes cut by small canyons. When we arrived at the trailhead we were the only car there which suprised me as I thought the Skyline Trail would be a really popular spring hike. We set out along the trail which is actually more of a road, a nice road to hike though as it follows the ridge in a serpentine pattern, at times rising to meet the sky. A few small flowers were in bloom, and the sage smelled great. In fact, in view of some recent posts on this b-board, I think some people should be hanging sage inside their tents at night . We could hear birds singing off the trail in the nearby sage, but when me and another person went to search for one, the sound always seemed to get another twenty feet farther away and then after awhile we heard it behind us . Those birds are good at keeping hidden. Although it is a 19 mile loop hike, we only hiked maybe 4 miles in. When we returned to our cars, there were several other cars there. We drove down the road and stopped at the creek crossing. We decided to hike down the creek a ways just to explore. A few yahoos were shooting guns across the canyon from on the hill above us, but we survived. We didn't see alot in the canyon except for some interesting birds with colorful markings that I had never seen before. On the way back out we met a man from the fish and wildlife department that was doing a bird count. He said that they now put transmitters on birds and track them by satellite. Evidently when he drove past the yahoos, he gave them the evil eye and they quite shooting. On the way out we met some some people from France and Belgium that had parked their cars even farther back up the road and done the whole loop hike and explored the creek. They were a nice bunch of people and we gave them a ride back to their car. (Pictures to follow).
Here are a few pictures. I believe I am the first person to try out the rustylite stove. This stove is lighter than all whispering/soda pop/canister stoves due to a unique oxidation process that removes much of the stoves metal surface. It warmed up the pb sandwich almost instantly. I would rate it 5 thumbs.
Thanks for posting this P. I had been thinking about doing this this weekend, but ended up doing family stuff instead. Maybe some other weekend, soon.
Are you sure the locals were not shooting at the French
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. We could hear birds singing off the trail in the nearby sage, but when me and another person went to search for one, the sound always seemed to get another twenty feet farther away and then after awhile we heard it behind us 
. Those birds are good at keeping hidden. Although it is a 19 mile loop hike, we only hiked maybe 4 miles in. When we returned to our cars, there were several other cars there. We drove down the road and stopped at the creek crossing. We decided to hike down the creek a ways just to explore. A few yahoos were shooting guns across the canyon from on the hill above us, but we survived. We didn't see alot in the canyon except for some interesting birds with colorful markings that I had never seen before. On the way back out we met a man from the fish and wildlife department that was doing a bird count. He said that they now put transmitters on birds and track them by satellite. Evidently when he drove past the yahoos, he gave them the evil eye and they quite shooting. On the way out we met some some people from France and Belgium that had parked their cars even farther back up the road and done the whole loop hike and explored the creek. They were a nice bunch of people and we gave them a ride back to their car. (Pictures to follow).
That's a good possibility. However, I would only be nervous if both sides had 
