Lost Summit Trail from the opposite direction.

 November 1st

 

On a beautiful windless day that reached into the 60s, I attempted the connection of the lost Summit Trail from the west via the Maah Daah Hey trail from CCC Campground. The MDH in this section is heavily traveled and easy to follow. Just before the trail begins its ascent up the 400 foot vertical cliff face, there is a meadow with a cattle trough. I swear that this spring there was still a post indicating the Summit Trail, but I may be mistaken.

The trail is supposed to follow the bottom of the cliff face for some distance, but it is virtually invisible, until I reach a place where the junipers thicken and find it. When I see the stately, old juniper that is North Dakota's largest, I know I am on the right track. Before long, I lose it again, running into a large slump section that has broken off and fallen into the canyon. I climb straight up to a ridge and find my bearings again. It dips down into a canyon with a broad flat area that is filled with water at times. 

Working my way down the cliff, I spy my first post at the bottom. How this post connects with the trail, I do not know. The section between here and the MDH has massive areas that have slumped down the hill toward the creek bed, creating impenetrable debris fields that are perilous to walk through, as I would discover on my return. The trail on the other side of the dry pond is hard to find and it disappears into several smaller slumps on the way up. Once on top again, after a several hundred foot climb, the trail reappears along with several marker posts and it becomes easy to follow right up to the opposite side of the perilous cliff face I dared not try a few weeks earlier. It may be traversable with a group, but alone is risking too much on the unstable clay. There may be an alternative by working up one of the dry creeks that fan out on either side of the escarpment and finding a draw that could be climbed as a way around. Maybe next time. Working the bottom of the canyon, shielded from the wind, might be a perfect winter time hike.

On the way back, I followed the creek bed that ultimately exits into the Little Missouri. At times it was impassible and hard to go around. The entire area is covered with the mix of downed trees and upturned earth that characterize large pieces of topography that have slid down the hill.