After our success reopening the Klickitat Sisters #7 trail, we’re turning our handlebars towards another gem of the Gifford Pinchot: Quartz Creek Trail. About 12 miles south of the Klickitat ridge lies the mysteriously named Dark Divide, a notoriously remote, steep, and deep section of the Boundary Trail.

We’re returning to finish the job. Last summer we gathered around Jackpot Lake, traversed rugged ridges, and re-opened about half of the Klickitat Sisters Trail. This trail is an ancient indigenous trade route through the high country, connecting the first peoples of the Cowlitz and Klickitat tribes. Today it lies infrequently used and even less frequently maintained.