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The hike started out on the dry sandy rocky trail and with a slight grade up. After the 0.75 of a mile and 300 foot gain or so there was a fork; shortly after the you're ?entering the wilderness? sign, trail 1147, or Little Buck Trail is to the right. We haven't been on it, but it is suppose to be about a 0.9 of a mile and end up at the Indian Creek Trailhead and campground. After that fork Sand Ridge Trail, 1104, goes up for about 1 mile, and the foot gain for that mile is about 900 feet. According to the maps and the GPS we were using, the trail begins at about 3400 feet and goes to about 4600 feet. The last mile is like a standard up and down hike until the Shellrock Lake Trail junction, trail 1142 to the left, after that we don't know. Overall, for about the first 2 miles there is a 1200 foot gain in elevation, and then it evens out for a while. However, we had to turn around when we thought we were almost to the Shellrock Lake Trail junction due to a couple feet of snow pack and melt off. Says Stephanie
This hiking trail has a total elevation difference of 2,174 feet, and that is about average. Some parts of Sand Ridge Trail are much higher up than other parts of the backpacking trail, so keep in mind that you may need to dress differently at different elevations. Sand Ridge Trail is 20 miles long; it's considered a longer hike. Sand Ridge Trail has two trailheads, so if you can get a ride from someone, you can hike it just one way. Now, this is roughly a 3-day backcountry walk, so it's a splendid thing if your backpack is big enough to do the job. This is a backpacking and hiking trail that is quite long, so don't forget to pack enough supplies.
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Trailhead 1 to Trailhead 2:
Total hiking length = 10 miles
Total climbing distance = 5.2 miles
Difficulty : Difficult
Casual Hiking Pace:
1.5 days
Fast Hiking Pace:
5.5 hours
Trailhead 2 to Trailhead 1:
Total hiking length = 10 miles
Total climbing distance = 3.4 miles
Difficulty : Difficult
Casual Hiking Pace:
8.5 hours
Fast Hiking Pace:
4.5 hours
| | Trailhead 1 back to Trailhead 1:
Total hiking length = 20 miles
Total climbing distance = 8.6 miles
Difficulty : Difficult
Casual Hiking Pace:
3 days
Fast Hiking Pace:
2 days
Trailhead 2 back to Trailhead 2:
Total hiking length = 20 miles
Total climbing distance = 8.6 miles
Difficulty : Difficult
Casual Hiking Pace:
3 days
Fast Hiking Pace:
2 days
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Total elevation difference: 2174 feet
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US Hiking Trails > Washington > Sand Ridge Trail
