[Bloated Chipmunk]

For several years I have wanted to bag this peak after first catching a glimpse from the nearby Meeks Table. For whatever reason I never got around to tagging it until now. I searched high & low but found very little info on the route, usually only a mention of the peak as a reference from those who climbed a nearby peak like Mt. Aix. My Greentrails map shows trails along the west and south sides which would make for a long trek on foot, but nothing from the east which would clearly be the shortest distance from a forest road. So, I decided what I'd do was park at the gate @ the end of road 1502, start up trail 982, then continue west off-trail once 982 turned south & headed downhill, eventually attaining the SE ridge of the butte & taking it up to the summit. Evidently my idea didn't seem too hair-brained as Todd & MountainMan agreed to be adventurous with me. Due to the long drive just to reach this stretch of the William O. Douglas wilderness area in combination with an unknown route, we opted to make it an overnighter - make camp somewhere just below the SE ridge & then have a light hike from there to the summit. Thankfully, everything pretty much went as planned. Todd & I left Seattle @ the ass crack of dawn & met MountainMan in Kent, @ which point we piled into his big ass truck & headed out on hwy. 410 over Chinook Pass. Todd was happy to see more of the views from the pass, as our last trip had 10' snowbanks & thick fog. We stopped for a few pics & continued east. We counted giant roadside ant hills & before long we reached the turn that leads us through many miles of forest road before finally putting us @ the appropriate trailhead.

Nelson Butte beckons us. The lovely Meeks Table in the foreground.

Preparing to depart

Trailhead sign, though we didn't follow this trail very long

There were a few horse trailers here but otherwise empty & quiet. We started up the trail, then soon turned off to start our bushwhacking adventure. Todd had a bit of an issue making it under one ill-placed fallen tree.

Todd @ the "Gateway Rocks"

MountainMan & Todd take a quick break from the bushwhacking

Todd has a mishap trying to get underneath this tree

There are little ups & downs over mini ridges that of course the map doesn't show. We marked waypoints w/Todd's GPS & made use of MountainMan's compass as well. We also took care to make mental notes of certain landmarks as an additional routefinding aid for the return trip.

Todd @ creek crossing

Nelson Butte is visible through the trees

We saw lots of deer/elk footprints & droppings, but no signs of human life save for one large blue tarp spotted through the trees @ a little clearing. It was hard to tell if it was currently occupied so we just stayed clear of the area. We angled south a bit & eventually found a flattish spot a bit uphill from a creek crossing, just before the hillside steepened.

MountainMan & Todd @ camp

Todd hoists up the bear bags

Bear bags

After a leisurely set up of camp & hanging of bear bags, we set off for the summit of Nelson Butte. We more or less climbed straight up from camp to attain the SE ridge, whereupon we found a somewhat faint trail heading up the way we wanted to go.

Vague trail up SE ridge

Mt. Adams is visible from SE ridge

MountainMan photographs funky lava rock-like spikes below

Before long we reached the treeline & from here on out it was rocks, rocks, & more rocks.

Looks like a scramble!

Partway up the first rock scramble

Nelson Butte

We climbed the false (east) summit & snapped a few photos before turning more westish for the true summit.

Todd atop false/east summit

MountainMan photographs minty plants...Nelson Butte true summit behind

Minty smelling plans amongst the rocks

The home stretch

The last little scramble involves some exposure on loose rock w/a huge cliff on either side, so we had to be very careful. Other than that small detail, it was easy going.

Looking back @ false/east summit, Todd in the shadows

Todd & MountainMan atop summit of Nelson Butte

Mt. Rainier

MountainMan found the summit register & we all signed it, as well as got a few summit shots (including a "shoe shot") before realizing we'd better head down in order to make camp before dark.

The loose rock near the summit

Todd's silhouette @ Nelson Butte @ right

The trip down was much faster on both the rock fields & the woodsy section above camp. We reached the tent in fading light & quickly made dinner, checked out the stars, then hit the sack. The next morning Todd & MM took some shots of the sunrise filtering through the trees, then we all tried getting a few more winks. A couple hrs. later we were all up & eating b'fast. Todd decided to do something interesting to his egg.

Todd & MountainMan having b'fast

Todd tries mixing Merlot w/eggs

This is how it turned out

We packed up around 11ish & headed out, carefully looking for our footprints & watching Todd's GPS. Amazingly we hit a few of our landmarks, including the evil tree that knocked Todd down for the trip in.

Bushwhacking

Todd in one of the meadow fields

Fluffy buds in the sunlight

The last bit before the trailhead was a little wonky but nevertheless we found it, happy to ditch the big packs & get going since Todd had to be to work in the early evening. On the way out, we stopped @ Chinook Pass & looked like tourists as we snapped photos of the glorious Mt. Rainier.

Yakima Pk.

Mt. Rainier

Mt. Rainier & Tipsoo Lk.

Lots of traffic coming down the mtn. so getting back to Kent took awhile. After we parted ways w/MM we quickly drove back up to Seattle, & Todd went off to work. What a great wknd.! It was a fun hike w/awesome views & wonderful company. I'm sure MM will be posting his pics/comments soon, & I'll add Todd's pics when he gets 'em ready.

[David¹]

Someone needs to introduce Todd to ultralight backpacking. My knees & back ache just looking at those pics. Looks like you had fun

[bobbi]

now how did todd go boom? great TR and photos. it's amazing that i have no idea of the names of mtns/pks of the cascades or any of the eastern trails. one day, i'll make it over there. still too many trails in the olympics to conquer!

[EastKing]

Looked like a fun trip. Good TR and photos. I headed up Rock Mountain which was a rockin good time. Nelson Butte looks like a must visit!! Glad everything went well!!

[Bloated Chipmunk]

Here are a few of Todd's photos:

Glowing hikers

Rainier on top of clouds

Clouds approaching Adams

Nelson Butte's shadow

Late night dinner

Forest morning

[MountainMan]

I just want to start off by saying Fran(B.C.) deserves most of the credit for the success of this trip. As she already said, she's wanted to go here for a long time. She planned the route from trailhead, to camp site, to summit. We stuck very close to the plan and it turned out just about as well as anyone could expect. From forest road 1502 I got some great shots of our destination and also some interesting rock formations.

Nelson Butte and Meeks table

Nelson Butte and Meeks table

On the way to Nelson Butte

From the trailhead we hiked a short distance and entered the William O Douglas Wilderness area. Shortly past the boundary the trail turns away from our destination, so we left it behind and headed up hill to the west.

Trailhead

Looking at the map. About to enter the William O Douglas Wilderness

just left the trail

Pretty soon we came to a rocky area with two large gate-like rocks, so we snapped a few pics.

where we came up

rock gateway

rock gateway

rock gateway

one of the elusive chipmonks

orange flowers

Just past the rocks we stumbled upon an unexpected and unmarked trail that took us maybe a mile in the right direction before mysteriously disappearing again.

headed up the trail

meadow

BC and Todd in the meadow

At this point we were bushwacking again, following twisty deer trails, checking the GPS and relying on map and compass to keep us on a westerly course between checks.

bushwacking

bushwacking

checking the map

trouble getting under the tree...

BC watching Todd trying to get under the tree.

mosquito pond

crossing a small stream

crossing a small stream

crossing a small stream

Finally, we got a glimpse of Nelson Butte through the trees. We continued on past a marshy area, a small pond and then crossed a final stream and turned south towards the ridge. It became steeper at this point and we started looking for a camp site. To avoid the mosquitoes we headed uphill more looking for a flat spot. Eventually we found a small suitable area and set up camp.

Finally, a glimpse of Nelson Butte

marshy area

about to cross second stream

raising the bear bag

our campsite from the tent

the one semi flat spot in the area

Leaving our packs behind, we headed uphill towards the ridge leading to the summit.

starting up for the summit

near the top of first ridge

Todd marking a point on the GPS.

Eventually we reached the ridgeline and started seeing some views at last.

starting to get a view

Mount Adams

BC & Todd looking at the way up

looking up the first ridge

lava cones

BC and Todd headed up the first ridge

We headed up the ridge and came to the rock field. The jagged cracked rock continues all the way to the summit and seems to go on forever... Although it looks treacherous, the rock only moved around a little when stepped on, and didn't slide hardly at all. It was actually fairly easy to walk up. I thought of it as a series of randomly sized stairsteps.

approaching the rocks

BC at the edge of the rock field

first view of the summit

headed up the rocks

headed up the rocks

Some of the views and scenery on the way up:

East side of Mt Aix

East side of Mt Aix

Mt Adams

interesting plant, smells minty

minty plants in the rocks

black lichen on the rocks

yellow flowers

Meeks Table(left) and Devils Table

the view

Here's what it looks like traveling along the ridge.

Todd posing

getting closer

the final ridge from lower peak

headed up the ridge

headed up the ridge

looking down from the ridge

looking down from the ridge

headed up the ridge

looking back along the ridge

summit is in site

coming to the last part

the way up to the summit

rock formations

the way up to the summit

climbing up

views approaching summit

Todd

BC is first to the summit

At the Summit there are two small outcroppings. We think the west one is the highest. That is where we found the summit register (not very many people have visited this summit). If you want to take good pictures, I recommend doing this trip in the morning so the sun will be behind you rather than in your face like we had it.

our shadows, looking east

signing the summit register

Todd and BC on the summit

me on the summit

Summit

boots on Nelson Butte

our boots on Nelson Butte

Nelson Butte Summit group photo

Nelson Butte Summit group photo

Mt Rainier

Mt Rainier

Mt Rainier

Mt Aix

Mt Adams

view to the north west

Going back down was pretty easy, since the rocks weren't slippery. The rest of the way after the rock field wasn't too bad either.

BC headed back down

The tongue shot

BC laughing

on the way down

Todd about to leave the summit

on the way down

on the way down

BC peeking over a rock

BC holding on

BC holding on

on the way down

on the way down

dead tree

dead tree

dead tree

BC

Todd taking pictures

Todd silhouetted

headed down the lower ridge

marker, time to turn left

having dinner

The next day:

sunrise from the tent

sunrise

a clearing on the way back

Todd

BC

Yakima Peak from Chinook Pass

Mt Rainier from Chinook Pass

Mt Rainier from Chinook Pass

Thanks Fran for the great trip idea! Keep them comming! I had an awesome time! It was fun finding our way through the woods and up to the summit. I hope our trip reports will inspire others to visit Nelson Butte. There were only two pages used on the summit register folks. It's an awesome trip! Everyone should check it out!

[EastKing]

Good pictures MountainMan!!! Looks like a good time.

[tigermn]

Where is "Nelson Butte"? Which ridge/direction from Aix?

[yukon222]

It's been a few years since I've been there, but when you crest the main ridge after all those ascending switchbacks (approx 6800' elev), Aix is in front of you to the East. Directly to your left/North is the Nelson Ridge. Nice ridge rambling out there.

[MountainMan]

[Bryan K]

Looks like a very fun trip. The photos of Todd on the ground covered by his pack made me bust out laughing I echo David's comment about Todd meeting ultralight hiking

[MountainMan]

Here are some videos I took: Rock field leading to Nelson butte summit. Nelson Butte Panarama Three silhouettes

[tigermn]

[EastKing]

Great videos MountainMan!!!