[whitebark]

On Monday, I was poking around in the upper Hall Creek area and found a fun new approach route to Greenway Mountain. After parking at Olallie State Park off I-90 exit 38, I headed up Hall Creek on various trails until I reached the 9023-310 road (or Upper Machu Picchu Road as it is sometimes called). Followed that road, which is little used and a bit overgrown, to the saddle next to Machu Picchu Rock. The NE Ridge route to Greenway starts here. I scrambled up the steep road cut and onto the ridge line, which featured an entertaining mix of beargrass meadows, thickets of small trees, and occasional rock outcrops. Sometimes I could climb over the outcrops, others could be easily bypassed on the right or left sides. A particularly large wedge of rock I dubbed Cheops for its pyramidal shape. Getting around this involved a short scramble down to a lower ledge on the right, nothing too difficult or dangerous. The ridge became steeper and more forested after Cheops, but there were no real difficulties to overcome other than a bit of brush, easy rock scrambles, and sometimes thickets of dense tree branches. At 4300', after a climb of 3200' from Olallie State Park, I abruptly topped out on the flat top of what I call Greenway Point. This spot had been bulldozed flat in some long-ago logging operation, but now it has become quite the flower garden with Indian Paintbrush and Fireweed showing a strong set of late season colors. The view was great from here in every direction, including to the south where Mt. Rainier made a fine show. An old overgrown logging road headed south through more flower fields to the base of Greenway Mountain's summit. I didn't bother going up there, but instead clambered down to the watershed boundary road and then headed for home via the Great Wall Trail. Note that topo maps are in error here, the watershed road does not go over Greenway Point, it actually travels well below it.

map of area

Rainier from Greenway Point

Fireweed show

McClellan Butte from Greenway Point

[puzzlr]

That's a good route. We took it down this spring after ascending up the ridge above Hall Point. A bit steep in places!