[whitebark]

No, not the ones in Colorado. We went to Washington's very own Rockies, a high point in a mysterious little sub-range located near highway 7 between Morton and Elbe. I've never seen anything in hiking guidebooks about The Rockies, or ever heard of anyone visiting the area. The Gifford Pinchot FS Map shows a short trail going to the the top of the 4300' mountain, which is high enough that small glaciers had carved the north slopes--there are even a few cirque lakes. Land owner ship is checkboarded, with sections of FS land alternating with private land. The area has been aggressively logged; it's no wilderness. We were coming back from Yakima, and decided to make a quick reconnaissance of the area. We approached The Rockies from Morton. About 3 miles west of the town on SR 508, we turned onto Forest Road 73, unmarked by any sign. The road climbs the valley of the Tilton River (ever heard of that river before?), a impressively steep and rugged place. At another unmarked junction, we then turned onto FS 7307. We passed a number of other spur roads which were all gated and marked no-trespassing; the logging company landowner is pretty hard line about access to their lands. FS 7307 was in bad shape. Trees and rocks were down on the road; someone had come along an did a quick and dirty job of cutting the trees, creating just enough room to squeeze our RAV-4 past. The road climbed the precipitous terrain above Wallanding Creek in switchbacks. One spot with a 1000 foot near-vertical drop at the side of the road reminded me of Dead Horse Point at Harts Pass. Numerous waterfalls tumbled down ravines from the steep slope above the road. The loggers must have really wanted these trees bad to build a road in terrain like this. We met a jeep coming down the road farther along, and the driver gave us the bad but unsurprising news: the road was blocked by a landslide. We drove up to the blockage, and yep it was a no-go, even for a jeep let alone a RAV-4. The Rockies were still a few miles away, and it was too late in the day to hike there. We explored the road a bit on foot up to the 3000' level and got a view of some picturesque rocky peaks that could have been The Rockies. To the south there was a view of Mt. St Helens. Snow appeared on the road not that far above the landslide-- clearly, it was way too early in the year for visiting the area. Reluctantly we turned around. Well The Rockies defeated us this time, but we will be back!

The Rockies

[Eric]

I visited both The Rockies and Mount Elbert on 10/26/06. Elbert is the unofficial name for the 4327 point that is 2 miles E of The Rockies which also contends for status as the range HP since the The Rockies just has a 4320+40 contour. Like everyone else I know, my interest was driven by the fact that the higher of these two peaks has 2000 feet of prominence and checks in at #74 or so on the WA prom list. It's pretty much logging territory and aside from hunters I doubt it sees much in the way of visitors. It sounds like you found the road up Wallanding Creek which is the standard approach though it doesn't show on the topo. There was a pretty eroded crossing of the creek at about 2800' I believe which I thought was not going to last long and I would be quite surprised if it survived the 06 flood. Unless it has been repaired. Anyway, you just continue up the obvious road until reaching a saddle at 3600 between The Rockies and Elbert. From there take the uphill fork to the W on a lesser used road. You'll hit a berm at about 3720' and then walk the road a bit until it more or less ends. Head L and look for the old trail to the LO in the forest. At first it is hard to find but after a 100 yards or so it becomes more distinct. The trail is fairly brushy but still mostly easy to follow once you find it. There is one spot where it makes a hard left while there seemed to be a bootpath straight ahead that briefly misled me. The summit is bald and has expansive views. Nice views of Storm King and the volcanoes and such but don't expect great scenery. It's a former LO site of course. You can also access the peak from the N via FS 74 but I have no info on that route. FWIW, to visit Elbert just drive the ridge to the E until the road starts curving counterclockwise below the W side of Elbert. Drive as far as you can, I don't remember where I parked. When you get to a saddle to the SW of the peak at about 3900' just follow roads E and then NE around the S side of the mtn. Scamper through freshly logged terrain to the flattish summit and its many stumps. Again, not a pretty area but it has wide views. My pics: http://www.pbase.com/ericnoel/mt_elbert_the_rockies I did see some spur roads that were gated and signed but I am sure that there was no signage en route for either of these peaks so if there is any private logging land up there it is legal to visit it.

[whitebark]

Hey Eric, great info!

[Pyrites]

An article about geology of the area. I think original name of Peak was Deschutes Peak, and The Rockies was the small range. The lookout was The Rockies, and over time location of the lookout became The Rockies. Best. http://www.thurstontalk.com/2018/01/14/the-geology-thurston-countys-upper-deschutes-falls/ http://www.historylink.org/File/9923

[timberghost]

Looks like a good time