An Exhausting Trek to an 8,000-foot Peak, and the Protein Needed to Get There
It was one of those check-the-box quests for Lori. She wanted to climb to the top of Ch-paa-qn Peak (formerly Squaw Peak). For me, I'm always up for a good outdoor adventure. Ch-paa-qn (pronounced Cha-pa-kin) means "shining peak" in Salish, indigenous people who live in the northwest portion of the United States and Canada. It stands out from others around it because it's above the timberline, is visible from both the Mission Valley to the Missoula Valley and is the highest peak in the mountains just above our house in the Frenchtown Valley. Advertised as a moderate hike by the U.S. Forest Service, it's about three miles from the trailhead to the peak so we thought that's something we could bang out rather quickly on an early June morning and be back home just afternoon. Boy, were we wrong! It certainly was a pretty hike as the trail wound through the surrounding timber gaining altitude toward the peak. And there's nothing like the smells of a pine fore...