Wild Horse Ridge North
Wild Horse Ridge has open karst alpine ridges that extend for 5 km in a U shape. Once we have hiked to the saddle area on the ridge, we can bear left to go around the North Ridge or we can bear right to continue up toward Mt. Kerr, the highest peak in the Marble Range. Our goal for this day was the highest point on the North Ridge.
To get to the trailhead for Wild Horse Ridge, we turn onto the Kelly Lake Road at Clinton then onto the Jesmond Road. After about 20.5 km on the gravel road, we turn right onto a side road and follow the power line to the parking area. This parking area is also the trailhead for Mt. Bowman and Mt. Kerr (see the links below). The trail is in good shape. It follows a creek east, climbing gradually for 3.4 km. There is a backcountry camp there next to the creek, but it is also a junction. The left fork goes to Mt. Bowman. The right fork follows the creek upstream to a burn in the upper valley between 3 mountains.
The trail switchbacks through the burn to the saddle on the ridge.
From the saddle, we hiked through the burn for a short distance before emerging onto the alpine ridge. To the west is Mt. Bowman, our destination hike from the week before.
To the southwest is Mad Dog Mountain, another rugged hike in the Marble Range.
The south arm of the alpine ridges leads east to the summit of Wild Horse Ridge, and beyond to Mt. Kerr. The hike to the top of Mt. Kerr and back is a very long day of hiking or it can be done as a backpack.
To the north the Marble Range continues for another 13 km, but the summits are more rounded, lower, and more forested. The best hike to the north is the Jesmond Lookout Trail.
To the south is the 8 km long alpine open ridge. Lime Ridge can be hiked from one of three trails from the Jesmond Road. We have hiked two of these trails and plan to do the third one in 2019.
Once we have reached the high alpine ridges (over 1970m or 6400+ feet), we have wide views of the Marble Range. The limestone ridges are somewhat barren, with a few plants that can tolerate the alpine karst environment.
The landscape from these summits is stark and monchromatic, a different world from the forested hills below.
From the summit of the north ridge, we descended into the burned forest. There were many wildflowers among the burned stumps and snags with more sunlight penetrating through what used to be a forest canopy.
The hike is an out-and-back 14.4 km hike taking about 5 hours. It is a long day to drive from Kamloops, do the return hike, and drive home. The Marble Range, though, offers hikers some of the best backcountry hiking in the Interior
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