Washington County Highpoints

Overview

The Washington county highpoints (COHPs) were first identified by Andy Martin in 1994. Soon thereafter, Washington peakbagger extraordinaire John Roper completed the list. For 10 years nobody followed in Roper's footsteps, but in 2004 Bob Bolton was the second person to complete the list, followed two days later by then county highpoint king Bob Packard. One year later Martin Shetter notched the fourth completion of this list. Paul Klenke achieved the fifth completion of the Washington COHPs on Mount Rainier on July 27th, 2008. One week later Duane Gilliland also finished this list on Mount Daniel. Edward Earl completed the list on November 15th, 2008 completion in Wahkiakum County. Then on July 30, 2010, Andy Boos completed the list on Lewis County's Big Horn, and on August 24, 2010, Paul Michelson also completed the state on Big Horn. Craig Willis became the 10th Washington COHP completer on Mount Baker on June 20th, 2012. Adam Helman was the 11th to finish Washington. He finished on Mt. Adams (a good peak name for him to finish on!) in Yakima County on August 17, 2012. Incidentally, by climbing Mt. Adams, he not only finished Washington but all of the Western Contiguous United States at the same time. Just four days later on August 21, 2012, Greg Schmidt became the 12th person to finish the state by summiting Gold Mountain in Kitsap County.

Washington is deemed by the county highpointing community to be the most difficult of the 48 states to complete, from a climbing perspective. (Several other states have even bigger problems, such as swamps and private property issues.)

Here is evidence of the climbing difficulty of Washington's counties relative to other states.

1. Of the 20 so-called "Apex" counties, those in the 49 states (excluding Alaska) that are deemed to be the most technically challenging, 7 are in Washington. They are:
   
   
   • Mt. Rainier (Pierce County)
     
   • Mt. Baker (Whatcom County)
     
   • Glacier Peak (Snohomish County)
     
   • Bonanza Peak (Chelan County)
     
   • Mt. Buckner (Skagit County)
     
   • Big Horn (Lewis County)
     
   • Mt. Olympus (Jefferson County).
   
   The other Apex counties are distributed as follows:
   
   
   • California 4 (North Palisade, Ritter, Shasta, Lyell)
     
   • Hawaii 1 (Kawaikini)
     
   • Montana 3 (Stimson, Cleveland, Granite)
     
   • Oregon 2 (Hood, Jefferson)
     
   • Wyoming 3 (Gannett, Washakie Needles, Grand Teton)
   
   
2. Of the 46 county highpoints that require a total elevation gain effort of at least 5,000 feet, 11 are in Washington. This is more than there are even in Alaska, although of course Alaska is much more difficult than Washington! The 11 climbs with over 5,000 feet of effort are:
   
   
   • Rainier
     
   • Mt. Adams (Yakima County)
     
   • Baker
     
   • Glacier
     
   • Bonanza
     
   • Buckner
     
   • North Gardner Mountain (Okanogan County)
     
   • Olympus
     
   • Mt. Daniel (King and Kittitas Counties), Washington's only "two-fer"
     
   • Gray Wolf Ridge (Clallam County)
     
   • Mt. Stone (Mason County)
   
   The other 5,000-foot effort climbs are distributed as follows:
   
   
   • Alaska 10
     
   • California 4 (North Palisade, Ritter, Shasta, Whitney)
     
   • Colorado 5 (Blanca, Eolus, Holy Cross, Longs, Mt. Wilson)
     
   • Idaho 3 (Big Baldy, Borah, Hyndman)
     
   • Montana 7 (Cleveland, Douglas, Granite, Lowary, McDonald, Stimson, Wood)
     
   • Oregon 2 (Hood, Jefferson)
     
   • Utah 1 (Ibapah)
     
   • Wyoming 3 (Francs, Gannett, Grand Teton)

Photo album

Click here for Bob's photo album on the Washington county highpoints.

THE LIST

County	Name	Elev.	Peak Quad	Trip reports and topo map links
Adams	1 area in Karakul Hills	2,100	Karakul Hills	Link
Asotin	" 2 spot elevations on Ray Ridge"	6,185 6,170	Saddle Butte	Link
Benton	Rattlesnake Hills	3,629	Maiden Spring	Link
Chelan	Bonanza Peak	9,511	Holden	Link
Clallam	Gray Wolf Ridge	7,218	Tyler Peak	Link
Clark	on county line	4,120	Bobs Mountain	Link
Columbia	Oregon Butte	6,387	Oregon Butte	Link
Cowlitz	Goat Mountain	4,965	Goat Mountain	Link
Douglas	Badger Mountain	4,254	Orondo	Link
Ferry	Copper Butte	7,140	Copper Butte	Link
Franklin	unnamed area	1,640	Washtucna South	Link
Garfield	Diamond Peak and unnamed spot	6,379 6,360+	Diamond Peak	Link
Grant	spot elevation	2,899	Rattlesnake Springs	Link
Grays Harbor	"Wynoochee Point"	4,880	Wynoochee Lake	Link
Island	5 areas	580	Camano & Juniper Beach	Link
Jefferson	Mount Olympus	7,969	Mount Olympus	Link
King	Mount Daniel	7,960	Mount Daniel	Link
Kitsap	Gold Mountain	1,761	Wildcat Lake	Link
Kittitas	Mount Daniel	7,960	Mount Daniel	Link
Klickitat	"Indian Rock and spot elevation"	5,823 5,822	Indian Rock	Link
Lewis	"Big Horn"	8,000	Walupt Lake	Link
Lincoln	Lilienthal Mountain	3,568	McCoy Lake	Link
Mason	Mount Stone	6,612	Mount Skokomish	Link
Okanogan	North Gardner Mtn.	8,956	Silver Star Mountain	Link
Pacific	unnamed area	3,000	Blaney Creek	Link
Pend Oreille	Gypsy Peak	7,320	Gypsy Peak	Link
Pierce	Mount Rainier	14,410	Mount Rainier West	Link
San Juan	Mt Constitution	2,407	Mount Constitution	Link
Skagit	Buckner Mountain	9,112	Goode Mountain	Link
Skamania	on E co. line	8,920	Mount Adams West	Link
Snohomish	Glacier Peak	10,520	Glacier Peak East	Link
Spokane	Mount Spokane	5,883	Mount Spokane	Link
Stevens	Abercrombie Mountain	7,308	Abercrombie Mountain	Link
Thurston	spot elev. (Quiemuth Peak)	2,922	Eatonville	Link
Wahkiakum	BM Huckleberry on H. Ridge	2,673	Skamokawa Pass	Link
Walla Walla	Lewis Peak	4,888	Deadman Peak	Link
Whatcom	Mount Baker	10,781	Mount Baker	Link
Whitman	Tekoa Mountain	4,009	Tekoa Mountain	Link
Yakima	Mount Adams	12,276	Mount Adams East	Link

Private Property Problems

Thirteen of the county highpoints in Washington, exactly one third of them, involve access considerations. However, most of them are fairly minor issues and are included moreso to give full knowledge of what is going on rather than because these are major obstacles. As always, please respect landowner rights and ask permission. In many cases a landowner has and will continue to grant permission if approached in a considerate and friendly manner. Bear in mind that how you deal with access issues can impact not only how your trip goes but also the conditions that future highpointers face. More detailed information may be found among the trip reports at cohp.org. Below are all potential property issues as of June 2006:

Highpoints affected by private property issues

Karakul Hills Adams County- Privately held ranch/farm land. The landowner has given permission at least once in the past. Trip report



Beezley Hills Grant County - Rural farm land. Trip report



Lilienthal Mtn Lincoln County- A benchmark is close to the summit. There are several intervening fences en route depending on approach. The Northern access is signed no trespassing.



Rattlesnake Hills Benton County -Communication towers on highpoint. This is surrounded by either rural ranch, farm land or off limits Hanford Reservation land (no access from the north). There used to be an approach from the south via Prosser but that is no longer available. The only access is from the west as described in this trip report. Study the route and then topozone and chart your way to the highpoint.



Badger Mtn Douglas County - At least some of the access roads to this area are signed as private. The first of the two highpoint candidates is right next to a dirt road. The second highpoint candidate lies inside a smaller fenced property with a barn which seems to have been abandoned in recent years. Realistically there should not be any problems on this highpoint unless conditions change.




Franklin COHP - This is active farmland. The farmer has previously given permission at least during certain seasons for which there is no ongoing farmwork that precludes the convenience of a visit. Trip report A recent trip to the highpoint (March 9th, 07) found the road to the highpoint blocked by huge piles of tumbleweeds in several places although the road everywhere else was in good condition. You may need to park and walk if you are unable to forge your way through the tumbleweed piles. The fields in this section have been unattended for the past year or two. Also, stop at the farmhouse and knock on the door to see if Mr. Ross is around prior to heading out to the highpoint. (Dean Molen)



Island COHP - This area is a mix of suburban housing and forested land. Because there are several contours for this HP it involves multiple people's residential property. Ask nicely and they just might let you hurt yourself on their stinging nettles. During a May 2006 visit all of the homeowners we encountered were friendly and didn't mind us poking around.




Gold Mtn Kitsap County - This area skirts the Bremerton Watershed or City of Bremerton Water Utility District as it is formally known. In recent years hikers have taken the route from Minnard Road generally avoids the watershed and stays primarily on DNR land provided you stay on the road itself. However, the last half mile or so of road does definitely enter the border of the Water Utility District area. Reportedly a recent visitor found signage all along the right side of the road and at the towers but no particular signage to indicate the point at which you enter Watershed land. It should be noted that trespassing on a watershed is taken much more seriously in Washington than is normal trespassing. Watersheds are patrolled and they actually mean it when they say trespassers will be arrested and prosecuted. The summit features communications towers.



Indian Rock Klickitat County - This is rural forested land along the edge of the Yakama Indian Reservation. The reservation does not allow non-tribal members onto their land without permission from a tribal member in general. The 5823 point is just outside of the Yakama Indian Reservation; the 5822 point lies just inside the reservation boundary. The approach road parallels the boundary, weaving barely in or out of the reservation as it traverses the ridge. There should be little chance of a problem here due to the nature of the land but technically you are on private land.



Pacific COHP/Wahkiakum COHP - The land for Pacific COHP belongs to Weyerhaeuser; Wahkiakum COHP is owned by the Cathlumet Timber Co. Neither area is signed. For the most part they don't care if you use their land but they don't want you to get in the way of their logging trucks and neither do you. Go on the weekend if possible. Permission can be granted by Weyerhaeuser at their office in Pe Ell but most people don't bother to seek it. Hunting season is the preferred season for Huckleberry Ridge as this reduces the length of the roadwalk from ~11 miles to ~22 miles due to the opening of a gate for nine days in November for elk huning season. Wear orange, go on a weekend and you'll be fine.




Lewis Peak
Walla Walla County - This is land belonging to some sort of timber company and has been actively logged in the past. The peak is signed no trespassing shortly before the summit. I'm not aware of anyone permitting or denying access.

Tekoa Mtn
Whitman County - Communications towers on the summit. Uncertain who the land belongs to but it does not seem to be any sort of a problem at all at currently.

Links

For another overview with a short synopsis of each county, see John Roper's page on the Washington COHPs.

Trip Reports

Click here to see the trip report page for Washington COHPs at COHP.ORG. The page also contains links to the Topozone.com maps for each highpoint.

Additions and CorrectionsPost an Addition or Correction

Images

View Washington County Highpoints Image Gallery - 53 Images