[Bloated Chipmunk]

After Saturday's steep climb up Hicks Butte, we were in the mood for a short & leisurely hike. We chose Flag Mtn. by the town of Liberty & did a nice little loop. We drove up the road until MM's car started protesting, then pulled off to the side & parked.

Parking area

I ducked into the bushes to relieve myself & discovered a faint trail a little farther up the slope. MM & I used this to gain the west end of the ridge, though it faded in & out & had piles of freshly cut trees placed in the middle of it from time to time.

Faint trail

Lots of trees cut down

Soon the views started opening up to the south.

Views

We reached a road & rested a bit for a snack. Meanwhile, I found a tick on my fleece. I flicked it off & we did tick checks & continued on up the slope. MM saw someone's keys on the ground, presumably from a snowmobile or dirtbike.

Someone lost their key

MM

Views

Stuart poking up

Colors

The views only got better the farther we went up, & soon we found ourselves atop the ridge with the west summit soon to follow.

This tree's seen better days

Nearing the west summit

MM heading up the ridge

We reached the summit rocks & sat down for another snack.

Views from the west summit

Looking over at the highest (east) summit

Snow stripe

Stuart/Enchantment range

MM gets the camera ready

MM's GPS showed that the east summit was a little higher even though it looked lower to me, nevertheless we continued on along the ridge. We came across some snowpatches & postholed a bit, but there was enough bare ground in between that snowshoes weren't warranted. We reached the east summit in short order, though the views were not as expansive as that from the west summit.

Stuart between the rocks

Summit rocks

Looking down from the rocks

Snow in the hole

Leaning tree

Looking @ the west summit from the east summit

MM on the east summit

Views from east summit

West summit rocks in the distance

Heading down the ridge

We sat in the sun a bit, then followed the ridge down in a westerly direction. Maps showed that we'd hit a road just below, but that was not the case so we found ourselves bushwhacking a bit before reaching the main road we parked on. Along the way we found some antlers under a tree.

Antlers

Making our way through the brush

Big flat open area

A few minutes before reaching the car we saw these signs:

...But how do they drive up it?

This was a nice little hike w/great views requiring minimal effort, just what was in store for a lazy Sunday.

[MountainMan]

Our route:

Flag Mt. Topo

My pics: We parked at this spot because the snow on the road was getting deeper, but it turned out to be a good place to head up to Flag. If anyone is interested, the location is : 47.25184 N 120.65318 W.

Our parking spot .

BC heading up from the road.

sign

They seemed to be doing a lot of tree thinning here.

There were log piles everywhere...

BC checks out the sheets of paper that were partially covering all the log piles.

It was so warm we had to stop to remove a layer. Unfortunately, the ticks were out enjoying the sun too. BC spotted this one on her fleece:

Tick on BC's fleece!

Views and things on the way up:

Un-named peak south of Flag.

moss

Twisted tree.

Looking down toward Liberty.

Stuart

Succlulent

BC likes to change her look every once in awhile:

Gangsta BC

(actually she was just trying to keep from getting sunburned) Approaching the west summit:

Brown rock on the slopes of Flag.

Approaching the west summit of Flag.

Looking down from Flag.

Approaching the west summit.

BC approaching the west summit.

Approaching the west summit.

Views from the west summit:

BC and the view from Flag Mt.

Stuart Range

Looking east from Flag Mt.

View to the SW.

Looking down towards Liberty.

View to the SW.

Stuart Range

Stuart Range

Stuart Range

Stuart Range

Stuart Range

Stuart Range

Zoom of Stuart

The lower peak in the middle is the East summit of Flag Mt.

Looking down the other side.

Us on the west Summit:

Lunch time.

BC capturing the views on Flag.

BC out standing on Flag.

MM, BC and the view from Flag Mt.

MM, BC and the view from Flag Mt.

BC

Along the ridge:

Crooked tree.

BC amongst weathered tree branches.

BC post-holing to the hip!

At the east summit:

Looking over at the lower, but more interesting end of Flag Mt.

Zoom of the lower rocky spine of Flag Mt.

Looking to the east from the east summit.

Looking down from the east summit of Flag Mt.

BC on top of the east summit of Flag.

Views from the east summit of Flag.

Views from the east summit of Flag.

Looking down the east ridge.

BC headed down the east ridge..

On the way down:

One antler slightly chewed.

Looking down FR111.

You could be the proud owner of a lot at the base of Flag Mt. with a private drive...

[Bloated Chipmunk]

[bobbi]

hey dork.......cute photo, for a dork. a tick? at least it was on your fleece instead of your body! you should have brought along a NWHikers.net flag for Flag! oh, no NWH flag i love that the two/three of you hit the trails often. the trio, Bloated Chipmunk/Todd/MountainMan.....poster group for hiking.

[Type E]

Flag Mt provides some great views with minimal effort. I wish I could get out as much as you two. E

[MountainMan]

Yeah, Flag turned out to be nicer than we expected. Now we're looking at other peaks in the area. Seems like you get out quite a bit, though.

[captain jack]

It's always better to bag Flag mountain than it is to flag Bag mountain.

[Bryan K]

[EastKing]

Where is this peak located? It might be in my plans this sunday!

[Bloated Chipmunk]

Near the town of Liberty just east of hwy. 97.