[Sundance Kid]

Okay, this is for those of you that might be familiar with the Redmond area - As you drive east on N.E. 104th St. (the road that runs by Redmond High School) and crest the top of the hill right by Horace Mann Elementary, on a clear day you will see a huge beautiful round mountain due east. It kind of looks like a bald guy's head, but rocky. I have compared the latitude of maps of Redmond and also any peaks that might be east of that point, and the closest approximation I can make is that it's Mt. Phelps. But the McLain Peaks are right next to it, so I'm not totally sure. My dad and I have been trying to figure this one out for years...help!

[lopper]

Sundance--the big roundy-top one that looks like an inverted breadpan is "McClain Peaks", approx 5500'. It is also labeled "Mt Phelps" on certain maps. A fun, straightforward scramble from the dead-end spur that accessed the Blackhawk Mine. The lower, sharper peak immediately to the right (S) of Phelps is "Little Phelps" at 5162'. Access is easiest via mtn bike along the ridge-running log roads from the west. I've heard that the uppermost couple of miles of the road have been bermed and gutted. A real shame. Biking down that scenic stretch of curves and switchbacks was a spectacular gravity zoom ear-popper.

[Mike Collins]

Wait a minute. It is not that simple. The earliest map of that area was made by Webster Brown in 1897 and published in a mining journal. It called the rounded taller peak "Phelps". Later maps confused things by calling the peaks either "McClain Peaks, McLain Peaks). Beckey confused things further by referring to the lesser summit as "Little Phelps." Local mountain historian Harry Majors proposed to the State Board of Geographic Names that the higher peak be called Phelps and the lesser summit called McClain. This was approved by the board on December 13, 1985. This information is from personal communication with the guru of the Cascades, John Roper.

[Scrooge]

Oh boy. This'll never be straightened out. My kids grew up being told that the prominent, brain-shaped peak on our horizon was the McClain Peaks. And Larch and I used to drive up Phelps Ridge and then hike the rest of the way to very near the summit of Mt Phelps. As Lopper suggested, the DNR put an end to that by "restoring the natural slope" on the last three miles of what used to be the Phelps Ridge Road - but is now the Phelps Ridge stripmine. It was one of my "favorite places". :angry:

[Sundance Kid]

Okay, so technically, the brain-shaped higher peak (the one to the northeast?) is Phelps and the lower one is McLain Peak (the one to the southwest)? So I assume that the Phelps Ridge road that you were talking about that got "restored to its natural slope" is the one that runs up the N. Fork Snoqualmie Road, turns and follows Deep Creek for a bit, and then follows the ridge up to just about the top of what we are now calling McLain Peaks? If I want to climb Mt. Phelps (brain-shaped peak), what do I have to do? Is it technical? Is there a trail from the Blakhawk mine? Will I have to wait until August for the snow to melt?

[Mike Collins]

Hey Sundance, I need to climb Phelps so we could do it together if you want. I climbed McLain in the winter and wrote up the report for WTA.org. If you do it solo then follow my report but when you get to the saddle then go left for Phelps.

[Scrooge]

Hey Mike - If the brain-shaped peak is back to being Mt Phelps, does that mean that the pimple a mile WSW is now McClain "Peaks"?

[Sundance Kid]

If Phelps and McLain (or Little Phelps, or whatever) are so close to each other, why can I only see the brain-shaped one over my eastern horizon? The lower one to the SW is only 400 feet lower. Or have I just not been observant enough?

[Mike Collins]

The brain shaped thing is Phelps. The sharp pimple to the right is McClain. I made a mistake above. When climbing Phelps and you get to the saddle go to the right for Phelps and to the left for McClain.

[John R]

Here is the full report that appeared in "Pack & Paddle" a decade ago that Mike Collins refers to above. "McLAIN PEAK" (USGS Mount Phelps) 5162 Feet February 4, 1992 Phelps and McLain are a schizophrenic pair of peaks. They are the best looking peaks the Snoqualmie River has to show for itself from Everett-Seattle-Bellevue and my back porch. Phelps stands guard over the North Fork of the Snoqualmie River and our drinking water in the Tolt Reservoir. Take a look out to the west sometime and see if you can find these peaks. They're a hoop and a point. A wing and a prayer. Look again if you know them. They're fun to regard. [I like the “brain” shape idea.] The real old-timer climbers (Beckey's age) call the higher rounded summit here Phelps, and that's what I grew up calling it. This nomenclature stems from an 1897 map of this area by Webster Brown which appeared in a mining journal of the day. Why schizophrenic? Because all the "modern" maps have the name "Mt. Phelps" on the lower sharper 5162-foot south summit. They label the higher round summit in a puzzling manner as well. It shows up as "McLain Peaks" (pleural) on two important maps: (1) The big raised-plastic 1957 USGS Wenatchee (which fits right below the plastic Concrete quad), and (2) the 1960 15-minute USGS Mount Si (the map we used to climb Phelps in 1980). It is also labelled this way on the 1975 USGS Skykomish River, 1:100000, metric map. The 1985 Green Trails Mount Si spells it "Mclain." Then three other important maps have come along and label the higher Peak 5535 as "McClain Peaks" (with 2 C's): 1) All the FS maps in my possession since 1963. 2) 1987 Weyerhaeuser Snoqualmie Tree Farm map. 3) 1989 USGS Mount Phelps 7.5 min, 1:24000, now the most important and detailed map of this area, and the one that climbers should carry. So there is confusion as to which of these peaks should be called Phelps and also how McLain/Mclain/McClain is spelled. Beckey throws in a little more befuddlement by calling the 5162-foot peak, "Little Phelps." Schizophrenic. In an effort to straighten out the mountain nomemclature here, mountain historian Harry Majors made a worthwhile official proposal to the Washington State Board on Geographic Names to once and for all call the higher peak, Mount Phelps. This was approved by the Board on December 13, 1985. However, the USGS disregarded the local usage, and the "new" 1989 7.5-minute USGS Mount Phelps has the lower south summit still mislabeled as Mount Phelps. If they really want to put this name on the lower summit why would they name a whole quad after a minor and lesser geographical feature? I guess I’ll keep doing what I've been doing for the past 30 years [now 40], that is, call the higher one Phelps and the lower one McLain, with the comment that the maps have them incorrectly named. Further frustrating is that none of my home sources shed any light on who the people Phelps or McClain/McLain were. Probably prospectors, would be my guess. Does anyone out there know? There is a Phelps Creek and Ridge up the Chiwawa River. Any connection? There is a McCain Creek with flows into the Green River just downstream from Lester. Any connection? Surely, McLain we climbed on 2/4/92. The following is a description of the 5162-foot lower peak. North Fork Snoqualmie Road milages. 0 North Bend, Ballarat Street 4.1 Ernies Grove 8.1 Spur 10 Gate 18.5 Sunday Creek Road 20.3 Lennox Creek 23.0 FS Road 5736 (Signed 113) 24.2 Blackhawk Mine Creek As you switchback onto Road 113, Phelps (5535) comes into view, and appears impossibly steep. The last 1.2 miles to Blackhawk Mine has a couple of rough spots, still doable by a low-slung Honda. We left the car at 8 am, elevation almost 2600 feet. The woods to the north (right) of Blackhawk Mine Creek has been logged recently, just as Signposters had fretted it would be in articles about Phelps back in 1985 and '86. A trail used to go through this clearcut. The forest left of the creek is still standing though, and flag-free, making this a pleasant go initially, with minor brush a little higher up. Unusually spring-like "winter" we're having this year (’92), isn't it? We didn't even see snow until 4000 feet on February 4. In a little over two hours, we were standing on the ridge overlooking the South Fork of the Tolt and across a 4200-foot saddle to 5535 Phelps. The snow was firm enough to support our weight without snowshoes as we headed SW to McLain (5135). Just before the summit we were presented with a nasty 100+ foot rock step on the crest. Yelps, Phelps! This was not going to turn out to be a simple winter stroll after all. There was a possible but steep gully down on the Tolt River side which may connect to an up route, but Gene had remembered climbing the peak by swinging left, south. The very first gully south offers a 50-foot class 4 route, which is what we'd now recommend, and this was our rappel exit. On our ascent we hoped for an easier route further down around the left corner. This also turned into a short class 4 route with fragile snow on 95% trustworthy rock. Gene took the initial lead left across the exposed rock corner into a gully that had plenty of trees for safe hand and footholds, and within 100 vertical feet we angled left into a small basin where the slope became comfortable for the rest of the snow punch to the summit. 3 hours 45 minutes up. It was a great day, definitely winter in the high country. Lovely Lennox and its unnamed south summits won the local prizes. 5535 Phelps fanned out to the NE. It has a pair of horns on its east ridge that look worthy of investigation. The Seattle Skyscraper Spires stuck out of the brown Puget muck, with the Bellevue buildings right in front. We toyed briefly with the idea of returning to the car via the Weyerhaeuser roads that climb high to 4650 feet only 0.6 miles west, but dismissed it when the long switchbacks and steep logged terrain were taken into account. We did a short rap over the step and returned to the car via our up route. Short climbing story. You get out your USGS Mount Phelps and simply go up the NFk Snoqualmie to the end of the Blackhawk Mine Road and park. Head uphill, left of the creek to the ridge crest. Turn left to the final rock ridge cliff, a stopper. A 50-foot class 4 gully a bit to the left of the crest is the crux. John Roper