The Barrier

The road was open to White River Ranger Station so that is where we started, shortening the route round trip from 7 miles to 5 miles.  You will find a trail right across the ranger station that will take you up to the water tower.  From there you will go northwest to find the Ridgeline, and take that all the way up following occasional game trails.  2.5 miles to summit with 3100 ft elevation gain it is very steep in sections. The trail dips down and levels off a bit after a mile, there are a couple valleys, and a false summit.  We had no views but enjoyed the snow.  Coming down from the summit we had to take our time as there was not enough snow to plunge step, and slippery rocks or wet wood was hard to navigate, especially in the steeper sections.  Fun scramble for shoulder season as it was raining and snowing and did not effect us going up or down. Took about 7-1/2 hours.