Outback
Manson,
Washington
Overview
The Outback Trail is located at Echo Ridge, a series of interconnected hiking and mountain biking trails in the mountains above Lake Chelan. This loop trail can be hiked in either direction, and has some views of Lake Chelan along the southwest section. The trail passes through mostly open areas, although it does contain a couple small sections of forested area, as such, its best hiked in the early or late hours during the heat of the summer. For those wishing for a longer hike, halfway through the hike Mallory's Way Trail heads up the unnamed peak above, adding roughly 2 miles and 400 feet of elevation gain. From the North Junction Trailhead, head a half mile up Outback, passing by the junction with Waterbear Heaven, and then proceed either clockwise or counter clockwise to complete the loop.
Directions
Parking
Trip Reports
With my wife and son in New York City attending the Cursed Child on Broadway, I had solo relaxing weekend and opted to get out with my parents for a nearby hike. It had been quite awhile since I had been to Echo Ridge, and my parents had never hiked Outback, so we headed to North Junction Trailhead. There was one other couple there, and they were also hiking Outback, however they planned to go counter clockwise, while we were planning on going clockwise. Having done both directions, I don't have a preference on which one is better...
We proceeded up Outback and immediately noticed all the fire suppression work that had been done recently, with the Forest Service having cleared out large swathes of underbrush through much of the area. I may have to venture back here this winter, as there might be some good backcountry skiing - especially when the snow cover is low and it is tough to find lines to ski through all the bushes poking through.
After coming around the first major turn on the section that heads up to the loop, my parents noticed their dog, Belle, was a little far away - they have a GPS collar on her, and get her distance from them. After calling her for a while without seeing her GPS beacon come closer, I hiked up toward the ridge, and eventually got her attention. She came to me and we made our way back down to the trail and were on our way again.
Upon reaching the start of the loop, we took a left to head clockwise. It was supposed to be a mostly sunny day, and looking south could see a fair amount of blue sky. But above us was a persistent layer of high clouds. It's not uncommon to find more clouds the farther uplake you go, and today was no exception, though it did clear up a little more later in the day. Shortly into the loop, we have some nice views over Lake Chelan valley. It was cool to see the contrast between the orchards, especially the cherry trees, and the rest of the vegetation.
As the trail turns north, it starts to ascend a bit. It's not a lot, only about 200 feet, but my recollection is that once on the loop, there was basically no elevation gain, which isn't the case. We took a quick break to hydrate and let my parents rest a bit before proceeding on.
We reached the junction with Mallory's Way Trail, and all agreed to continue on Outback. The views are slightly better at the top of the unnamed mountain which Mallory's Way takes you up, but just barely. I have been up there before, and my dad was starting to get a little tired, so we continued on our way. Shortly after, right around the half way point, we crossed paths with the couple we had talked with in the parking lot. As the trail goes around the northern side, there is a little more green vegetation and trees, I'm assuming because it's on the northern side?
We continued along the trail reaching the end of the loop, and then taking Outback down to the car. There were two additional cars at the trailhead, but we hadn't seen anyone else on the trail. Nice to get out at Echo Ridge with my folks and enjoy a fall hike!
