Reader photo: No groomed paths lead to Selkirk’s Lions Head

The Lions Head is a formation of two 7,200-foot-plus peaks on the Selkirk Crest northeast of Priest Lake. It’s often seen from a distance, but only a hardy few each year tough out the cross-country grind – bushwhacking and boulder-hopping – to reach the granite faces that lure climbers.

Brett Chambers and Alena Snell made it through lingering snow last weekend from Priest Lake via Abandon Creek. Lions Head also is accessible via Lion Creek, but the lingering snow over talus would have made the approach a good bet for breaking a leg.

Chambers reported some notable details:

• A cinnamon black bear and cub near the trailhead.
• Mosquitoes out in FULL force.
• A cougar or grizzly elk kill site high up in the boulder field just below the west ridge in the talus field.
• Still plenty of snow, preventing a safe route to the west ridge.

Conditions will change by the day, of course, but The Lions Head is reliably a wild destination.