I just came across your page and I really enjoyed the pictures. I don't
know if anybody has given you much feedback yet but since you are
attempting to picture all of the peaks in excess of 9000 feet I thought I
might tell you about the four in Washington that you haven't listed [I listed them after receiving this informationDon]:
Mt. Fernow
Mt. Maude
Seven Fingered Jack all three of these are in the Entiat region near Lake Wenatchee
Mt. Buckner which is around the Cascade Pass area.
- As far as good viewpoints for these peaks, some are pretty tough. As a
climber, I've gotten to see all of them but it took a lot of work. I've
read in one book (I think it was Selected Climbs in the Cascades) that
Goode Mountain is not viewable from any road. The only time that I've seen it
was from the summit of Mt. Logan which is a three day, 9000 foot, 40+
mile ordeal (actually ordeal is not a good word, that area along Thunder
Creek is spectacular).
- The very best place to view Stuart is
from Ingalls Pass. Take the North Fork Teanaway River Road from Cle Elum
for about 20 miles. The hike to the pass is about 6 miles RT with 2000
feet of elevation gain. The view of Stuart from there is excellent.
- Seven Fingered JackLeroy Creek Basin: Drive the Chiwawa River Road
from Lake Wenatchee to the Phelps Creek Trailhead. Hike along the creek
for three miles or so to the intersection with the Leroy Creek Trailno
sign but you cross the creek there. This time I will not refrain from
using the word ordeal when referring to hiking on the trail up to the
basin. I actually didn't go up it but I came down it from a trip to the
base of Mt. Maude which I will tell you about next. It was probably
one of the steepest trails that I've been on and it was raining and
muddy and my pack was wet. You should be able to view Maude from here as
well.
- Mt. MaudeCarne Mountain Directions are the same but you only take the
Phelps Creek Trail for about .25 mile to the intersection with the Carne
Mountain trail. Follow that for three miles or so to the summit. I was on a trip
that was supposed to summit Mt. Maude. We made it to the top of Carne.
We then followed the "Carne Mt. High Route" over to Ice Lakes (base of
Maude) where we camped in the rain. Our exit was over to Leroy Creek
Basin and back down to Phelps Creek. You should also get a good view of
Glacier from Carne Mountain.
- Glacier PeakAnother good viewpoint is from the summit of Mt.
Dickerman which is a tough 8.5 mile RT hike with 3800 feet elevation
gained. The trailhead is off of the Mountain Loop Highway near Barlow Pass
(Monte Cristo). Another good vista is from the summit of Mt. Pugh which
is also off the Mountain Loop Highway but on the north side. This summit is
even harder to obtain as the RT is about 11 miles with 5000 feet
elevation.
- I think that Buckner, Logan and Goode can all be viewed from the summit
of Sahale Peak near Cascade Pass. The problem here is that the last 1000
feet or so is on the Sahale Glacier.
I don't know how much of a hiker you are but these peaks certainly take
some effort to see from the ground.
Here is the full list of 9000+ non-volcanic peaks in the Washington Cascades:
Bonanza Peak9511'
Mount Stuart9415'
Mount Fernow9249'
Goode Mountain9134'
Mount Shuksan9127'
Seven Fingered Jackabout 9100'
Mount Logan9087'
Mount Maude9082'
Mount Buckner9080'
Jack Mountain9066'
The real funny thing about these is that they are all classified as
non-volcanic. Some of them, however, contain volcanic rock. I've read
that much of the rock on Shuksan is metamorphisized volcanic. Also, when
I was out on Mt. Maude last year there was pumice everywhere (I'm sure
some can be attributed to Glacier Peak). I guess that since they are not
volcanoes they can be classified as non-volcanic.
In the past I had the good fortune of
living in Seattle where I fell in love with the Cascades. As you can tell by my interest in your
website the Cascades are always much on my mind. I have been able to
spend about a week each summer out there which helps to rejuvenate my
spirit.
Another thing. It is really good to see someone put out a
website that has content on "The Cascades" and not just "The Cascade
Volcanoes." Some people out there just concentrate on the volcanoes and
that gets a bit old as they are leaving out about 95% of the mountains in
the Cascades. I personally feel that many of the non-volcanics are more
beautiful than the volcanoes. Mt. Stuart, Mt. Shuksan and Bonanza Peak
are good examples of awesome mountains that get left off of people's
websites merely because they are not volcanic. I think these mountains
are some of the most beautiful in the lower 48, not just the Cascades. I
don't think that there are any mountains in Colorado that can rival the
three I just listed.
Keep up the good work,
Paul Kuhn E-mail
Don (Webmaster)