7/23/2024 With a beautiful day and time to kill on the Mountain Loop Highway after Higher Squire , I settled upon White Chuck as the perfect quick peak for the afternoon. It is a distinctive, isolated mountain that has long grabbed my attention, with its steep faces and 3800+ feet of prominence (making it Washington’s 25th most prominent peak).   One nice part of climbing White Chuck is that there is a maze of logging roads on the west side of the peak, and you can actually d

7/23/2024 Excited to check out a totally new to me area of the Mountain Loop, I set out on the Eight Mile Creek Trail towards Squire Creek Pass a bit before 9 in the morning. For some reason, I had become fixated on Higher Squire as a peakbagging objective (probably because of its proximity to Squire Creek Wall and the dramatic east faces of Three Fingers and Whitehorse) and now seemed like as good of a time as any to try it.  Three O'clock Rock The Eight Mile Creek Trail was

7/10/2024 Helena Peak is a fun scramble off the Mountain Loop that had slightly trickier route-finding than expected. It has 1000 feet of clean prominence and excellent views of some classic peaks and had always been an alluring mountain for me. Plus, there was some mining activity in the area that could lead to further exploration.  Walking Deer Creek Road I wasn’t brave enough to drive Deer Creek Rd all the way to the trailhead. The road was totally fine except for one bad

4/1/2024 Despite being a relatively random ridgeline near Spada Lake, Git Out Ridge has over 1000 feet of prominence and provides some nice views of Mountain Loop Peaks, making it a very worthwhile destination.  I started my adventure at the Culmback Dam parking area past the end of Sultan Basin Road. From the trailhead I crossed the dam almost immediately, which was a cool experience. The view from the dam itself was plenty impressive. View from the Culmback Dam From the dam

9/23/2023 In search of a quick peak I could get in before rain came into Western Washington that afternoon, I chose Bald Mountain (East Peak) near Spada Lake. I had wanted to explore the Mountain Loop more and the Walt Bailey trail seemed like a great choice for a short trip with good fall color. The forest service road up to the Mallardy Ridge Trailhead was in immaculate condition and I got started around 8:45 am. The trail was semi-rugged, but still allowed for some fast tr

9/16/2025 - 9/17/2025 Katie, Eric and I set out for a fun camping and climbing adventure out of Monte Cristo – and what better way to reach the old ghost town than by bike?? I had read about an old wagon road that could be a good alternative to the standard Monte Cristo trail because it bypasses the South Fork Sauk river crossing and washed-out section of trail. The road leaves the Mountain Loop highway about ¾ of a mile east of Barlow Pass. Katie and Eric would both be using

9/24/2022 - 9/25/2022 It had been a goal of mine to sleep in the Three Fingers Lookout for years. It is an iconic and improbably place for a fire lookout with a rugged approach and an exciting finish on old wooden ladders. Eric was in for an epic weekend so we set off early Saturday morning for the "trailhead." Most trips I do to the mountains involve long drives that have trailheads in relatively pristine wilderness areas...this was not the case for Three Fingers. It is a sh

9/2/2022 - 9/5/2022 Katie and I spent 4 days exploring Lost Creek Ridge over Labor Day weekend. This was an area that had always interested me, and I’d wanted to see Lake Byrne for years. Day 1 Wildfire smoke had started to plague Western Washington, and it was pretty thick on our drive out to the Mountain Loop Highway. I had been tracking the smoke forecast thoroughly and was semi-confident that it would clear out over the course of our trip. Nevertheless, it was a little da

7/30/2020 Sloan Peak is called the Matterhorn of the Cascades. It is obvious why when viewed from a variety of different angles throughout the range. Its sheer cliffs make it hard to believe there is a scramble route, but there is! The corkscrew route is aptly named, winding its way almost entirely around the precipitous summit. All these reasons make Sloan an appealing climb, so I jumped on the opportunity to go when Fern suggested it. This would be worth a "sick" day from w

7/1/2017 - 7/2/2017 Gothic Basin is a popular place for a reason. It is a high bowl dotted with lakes – the crown jewel of which is Foggy Lake – and surrounded by the rugged peaks of the Mountain Loop. Our goal was to get up there before the crowds of mid-summer to do some camping and peakbagging. Creek crossings were melted out Fern and I got a relaxed start in the early afternoon and before long were hoofing it up the steep hillside toward the basin. The creek crossings, wh