Introduction
Before today, I snowshoed at Mt. Spokane twice. Both times, we hiked to the CCC Cabin from the Upper Sno-Park lot. It's a great snowshoe day trip. But, we wanted to try something new.
Looking online I found the Mt. Spokane Snowshoe brochure with a list of possible trips. The Smith Gap Loop caught my eye because of the distance, relative difficulty, and destination.
Similar to the CCC Cabin hike, the Smith Gap Loop also went to a building (with a fireplace) that made for a nice place to stop, warm up, or have some lunch. Therefore, that's the trip we chose and it turned out to be a perfect morning snowshoe in the sun.
Destination:
I was a little nervous about the parking because the Lower Kit Carson Sno-Park Lot isn't that big. Also, we were going on a sunny Saturday morning. Despite my worries, the lot was only 1/3 full when we arrived 10-15 minutes before 9:00 a.m.
We walked across the road to the start of the trail before putting our trekking gear on because the parking lot and road were dry.
Something we wish we knew before getting to the trailhead was that there isn't a bathroom in the parking lot. On my map, I saw there was one a few tenths of a mile down the trail but it was only a small cylindrical container that was closed off.
Despite the lack of a bathroom at the trailhead, there is a new pit toilet at Smith Gap (the destination for the trip) which was in great condition.
On the Trail
The "trail" is the Lower Kit Carson Loop Road. This means it's gradual, wide, and well maintained! Additionally, the road is occasionally groomed.
We were able to walk side-by-side, appreciating the sunshine on the trees, and talking to each other over the crunching of our snowshoes.
The temperature was around 20 degrees Fahrenheit and Mt. Spokane hasn't received much new snow so the trail was compact. Everyone wore snowshoes, except for me. I opted for microspikes (because I was the only one that owned microspikes), which did great and I didn't post-hole once.
Just under a mile-and-a-half in we arrived at Smith Gap. This trail junction has a new bathroom pit toilet, the Centennial Snowshoe Hut, and a woodshed full of extra wood.
Centennial Snowshoe Hut at Smith Gap
Posing as what looks like an old ranger station, the Centennial Snowshoe Hut has a porch and window with a windowsill holding hiker information and photos (among other hiker logs).
There are two sitting areas indoors: a picnic table and seating around the indoor wood-burning furnace.
Next to the furnace is kindling, matches, newspaper, and chopped firewood. If the wood runs low, an ax is cabled to the woodshed outside where more can be cut. However, there is plenty of wood in the shed.
I was shocked that we had the whole thing to ourselves. There were other cars in the parking lot, so on a sunny Saturday morning, I expected to see other people on the trail and at the hut. Furthermore, we hadn't seen a single person on the trail.
It's easy to imagine the hut becoming crowded quickly. We chalked it up to plain luck and the fact that we got to the trailhead a little early.
Completing the Loop
Instead of walking back the way we came (along the road) we took Trail 100, which starts across the road from the Smith Gap bathroom.
Unlike the road, this trail is—a trail. It's more narrow, has some branches and a downed tree to avoid, and traverses the slope beneath Mt. Kit Carson as it winds through the trees.
It starts off aggressively uphill but levels off quickly. Not far beyond starting the new trail there is a small junction, and it's clear and easy to follow the signs to Trail 100 (marked with blue diamonds on the trees).
The trail was compact, reassuring me that microspikes were a good choice. Although, there were signs of others who had post-holed by stepping just off the center of the trail.
Taking this different route on the way back was well worth it. We crossed streams, followed the blue diamonds on the trees marking the trail, caught a glimpse of the summit, and felt more adventurous (as opposed to the road).
Because of the lack of snow, we saw very little falling off as the sun warmed the branches. However, on a different day, perhaps after heavier snow, the falling snow could become a hazard.
If this were the case it could be advantageous to take the road back.
A little bit after you cross a stream (using the wooden bridge) you'll come to a junction with Trail 104. We took a right, stepping onto Trail 104 leading us back to the Lower Kit Carson Loop Road a few tenths of a mile before the start of the trail.
Midday Rush
We were all alone for the majority of the trail. We only came across one other person. This all changed in the short time between stepping back onto the Lower Kit Carson Loop Road and reaching the parking lot.
We were suddenly part of a large group of people leaving/starting the trail. It was amusing how quiet our hike had been, to now see 6-7 people finishing their hike with us, in addition, to a larger amount of people getting started!
Our timing was impeccable. The parking lot was now, at around 11:30 a.m. completely full. Everything went well and we had a great time checking out a new section of the extensive Mt. Spokane trail system.