In looking at the prominence peak list for washington state, I noticed that the closest one to my home that I hadn't done was Mission Ridge's Mission Peak. At 6876 feet, it would be fairly lofty and most likely a great view point. Now I had skied Mission Ridge about ten years ago but I couldn't remember anything about the peak itself.
In checking out access, I noted there were two probable ways. One via the Mission Ridge Ski area and another via a FS road that came in from the Beehive Lake area. I emailed NWHiker member Eric to see if he had thursday off and he did and yes, he would join me on this one. We decided to meet at the Ski area around 8 a.m. He and I live on opposite sides of the state so it was a logical meeting place.
When I got to the ski area, I noticed a sign that said "Do not enter" on the road that I figured would be the logical access route. Meeting up with Eric, we decided to take choice number two, the FS road that led up from the Beehive Reservoir. Eric left his vehicle at the lake and together we headed up the road (which became progressively rougher requiring high clearance in several places) to this spot (see topozone) where an old road had been bermed and turned into a trail. The old road had led to the lookout that had once stood atop Mission Peak and there was room enough for parking for one or two vehicles. There is no sign so it helped considerably to have set GPS waypoints for where the old road was as it isn't very obvious other than it looks like a motorcycle track.
It is about a mile from where we parked and 900 feet of elevation gain to attain the peak via this old road. We moved fast since mosquitoes were intent of feasting on us if we dallied. A few patches of snow lingered on the way and views began to open us as we attained the ridge itself. We had to wait in the woods a bit while an electrical storm did its number on the top but that kind of added to the overall feeling of being on a mountain. After the storm passed, we continued on up to the top.
Eric and I found three old concrete pads which served to anchor a lookout as well as a myriad of old tin cans littering the talus slopes to the southwest. We hiked along the ridge to point 6780 before returning to the old lookout site to have our lunch and just enjoy the amazing vistas. Mt. Stuart and the Enchantments, Glacier Peak, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Wenatchee, and more were all there for the viewing.
Some pics but none do justice to the setting
Some really bomber views from up there, 2 years ago I did the old forest rd. route as a winter hike / snowshoe Squilchuck Trail > Beehive Rd.>Forest Rd. and this year did the plateau below the summit by leaving my truck at the Devils Gulch TH and taking Beehive to the same old forest rd. / path. How was the little reservoir / lake on the way in ? People always give me a funny look when I tell them that in fact the ski lifts do not go to Mission Peak as advertised, but are E of it.
Good summary Dean.
I haven't gone through my pictures yet but at first glance I don't think I got anything much different that what you have there.
My co-workers were giving me funny looks today as I spent all day scratching all my mosquito bites.
It was good to get some exercise and you'd be amazed at how much weight you can lose, one way or another, just on an easy hike like that. I came in 8 pounds lighter this morning.
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I came in 8 pounds lighter this morning.
BTW, that was so much fun, we need to do something like it again soon.