Summit is forested and/or has ample tree cover.
1.3 mi, +513 feet
This is a super pleasant hike on nice trails. It would also be a great winter activation with skis or snowshoes. There is a very nice enclosed warming hut near the top (within the activation zone) with a wood stove and a picnic table.
The Spence Mountain Trail climbs about 1800 ft in 7 miles. Its not ever terribly steep but climbs steadily without much relief. There are plenty of gorgeous views to the South and West. The summit has plenty of space for multiple operators, with trees to throw a wire up into.
Full report here
Starting from State Highway 231 northbound towards Chewalah and turn right on Hafer Rd. The turn left on Cottonwood Creek Rd and then right on Horseshoe Lake Rd. Finally, there is a left turn on Mud Lake Rd. This is somewhat rough and I would not do it after a heavy rain. Alternatively, follow 231 into town and turn right on Flowery Trail Rd to the other end of Mud Lake Rd. In any case, you can park at the Quartzite Mt Trailhead. There are several spots available up and down the road.
This one-point peak is located on a parcel owned by Nuveen Natural Capital, the current owner for what we used to call Lewis & Clark Timerland. Fortunately, the new ownership has continued to offer a generous public access policy with a free permit. Furthermore, Nuveen maintains a hunting season schedule wherin they open a number of gates for motorized access. We took advantage of this season to make for a nearly driveup, albeit in miserable late fall conditions.
Two summit summary here because these can easily be done back to back. Looking for any uniques to try to achieve my 200 unique goal, Robin and I drove north to check Malone and London Peak out. Both were very easy, near drive ups. These both are a possible quick break off I-5 on a commute.
The mountains near Marble Mountain hold snow for longer at a lower elevation than other nearby mountains, so keep that in mind. Even at 2600 feet elevation, which is pretty low, there was still 2 feet of snow on the road all the way up to where I left the road to bushwhack the rest of the way to the summit.
There is a bridge out but someone has laid the guardrails from the old bridge across the creek and that works for crossing on foot. You could carry a bike across if needed.
A couple years ago William, W6BIL, reached out to me through a local facebook hiking page because I had a bunch of free local hiking books to give away and he saw I was a ham. He too was a ham but had not been operating for years. We touched base and I found out he hiked Nugget Butte fairly regularly but was not a summiter. I got info from William on the legality of hiking, he never had an issue but I eventually gave Gold Hill a call.
The weather this week was looking like it would be good, so I wanted to get in my March summit. I wanted to make it a challenge of some sort, so I decided to go for my first first activation. The Olympic Peninsula has a fair number of unactivated hills still, and a lot of them are on USFS land. I started exploring and found Peak 1620.
You can access Meridian Mountain if you purchase a Weyerhaeuser permit https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. The permit is valid for a year and gets you a map that you can load into an app on your phone as well as a key to the Recreation Access Gates. Take I5 N to exit 42, then Ostrander Road to Rec Permit Access Gate 010. Take Road 010 to Road 049 to summit. The AZ is off the road, the true summit is densely treed. Summit pic on SOTA Atlas.
Due to the recent relocation of Frog Lake Buttes from one butte to the other earlier this year, I was anxious to do another double activation on New Year's Eve. See my previous report for details on the route. The only difference is you must continue on from the radio towers down to the saddle and on up the other butte. Still very worth it for 14 pts.
