[Flow]

I own this page called the "Mountain Loop Highway" which I want to fix up. But before I get to that I need to get a consensus on what the actual boundary would be. Is it the "Mountain Loop Highway" and highway 530 though Darrington to Arlington which completes the loop and everything inside it? Or is it just the places accessible from the road labeled "Mountain Loop Highway"? Literally speaking it's from Granite Falls to Darrington, but perhaps I should be so literal with this subject... or perhaps I should. Opinions would be very much appreciated.

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Alpine Ascent | AlpineJosh.com | SummitPost Profile | Alpine Topo

[Hulksmash]

Yep part of the Mountain Loop is SR530 Arlington to Darrington.


Think of it this way....how many names does Hwy 99 have.

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"Bears couldn't care less about us....we smell bad and don't taste too good. Bugs on the other hand see us as vending machines." - WetDog

Albuterol! it's the 11th essential

[puzzlr]

I see why you want to nail down the boundaries. You've got shots of peaks as far away as Glacier. And I don't think you'd get much agreement on this statement - "The Mountain Loop Highway is a well kept secret among the locals of Washington State". Ever check out the Monte Cristo or Dickerman trail heads on a weekend? Lake 22? Heather Lake? Mobbed.

[Hulksmash]

Yea Lake 22, Heather Lake, and Monte Cristo are the three ring circus of the area.
Ironically even when the circus is overflowing there are trails minutes away hardly visited.

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"Bears couldn't care less about us....we smell bad and don't taste too good. Bugs on the other hand see us as vending machines." - WetDog

Albuterol! it's the 11th essential

[aywolfpac]

It ain't a loop without the Darrington-Arlington section.

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Aaron's Waterfall World

[Magellan]

Arlington to Granite Falls.

[Foist]

[Riverside Baker]

Do you close the loop using Hwy 9 or I-5?

[Kim Brown]

It's more of a Twinkie shape.

The Mountain Twinkie.

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"Like most of your posts, you are so one sided you should have been a halibut." Bird Dog, NWHiker's Welcoming Committee

[Magellan]

Is it the Sauk or the Stillaguamish that is the cream filling?

[daffish]

Yes, Hwy 530 is part of the MLH. When I created my book Rambling and Scrambling around the Mountain Loop Hwy, I too, had to set some boundaries. Basically, I used the watershed that drained into the north and south branches of the Stillaguamish River and portions of the Sauk River down to Darrington. The west end was problematic. Exactly where you choose to end the definitions for your purposes will include or exclude many minor peaks and areas.

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"Be moderate in everything, including moderation"     Horace Porter

[Mike Collins]

You should have the perimeter be the drainages that flow toward the highway loop described. Hall Peak and Big Four are Mtn Loop peaks but both lie outside of the actual enclosed loop. Likewise I think White Chuck should be considered a Mtn Loop peak although it lies to the north of the loop.

[Foist]

Wouldn't it make more sense to it by whether you drive the Mountain Loop to access the shortest route to the peaks?  Seems more practical then doing it by "drainages," but then again I'm not a climber.  Of course, it might come out to about the same thing.

[hiker1]

FWIW, MLH is registered on the National Scenic Byways Program at
http://www.bywaysonline.org/inventory/byways/55512

[rhughes]

Like Flow and Dave, I needed to define the Mountain Loop area for my book North Cascades Beautiful. I believe that there are a number of honest ways to define the area. This is how I wrote it: