A Solo Hike Along the Silver Divide

A section of stairs with "Horse Steps" served to keep me more than warm as I made my way over "The Hump".

The Hump over "The Hump"

Silver Divide Trip from Edison Lake Trailhead, August-September 2001

Ah, now the fun would begin, a climb of nearly 1000 feet to the top of "The Hump". It starts out fairly mild and shaded in pleasant surroundings, and in no time I got to the junction of Wilber May Lake. But right after that, the trail begins to climb in earnest and even mounts a set of stairs to compliment the occasional "Horse Step" along the way. A "Horse Step" is a stair step so high that only a horse would be comfortable using it. This section was a real grunt.

After a steep section, the trail takes a left up a milder simi-shaded slope with some nice meadow on the right to relieve the monotony of the slog upward.

The top of "The Hump", a hot flat sandy bench with some nice views here and there.

Finally, after some indecisive meandering about near the summit, the trail topped out "The Hump" and hit the sandy exposed hot flats of the summit. After slogging through some sometimes deep sand, the trail turned the corner and began to plunge towards the Lake of the Lone Indian. It looked like there may have been some "short cuts" down from the trail to the lake below.

Lake of the Lone Indian, yee-ha, from "The Hump" trail.

A junction for a rough trail leading to Goodale Pass Trail. I doubt if you will find it on any map.

Near the lake, right where the trail took a sharp turn to the left was the sign to the use trail to Goodale Pass.