Pacific County High Point Trip Report
unnamed area (3,000+ ft)
Date: November 3, 2002
Author: Bob Bolton
On a gorgeous fall day I headed to Pe Ell, then drove west on SR6 to find the Weyerhaeuser A-Line road.
I had called Weyerhaeuser and was told that most access roads were open for hunting season, although some
back-road gates would be closed, and that we are free to travel by foot or bicycle on their land beyond
closed gates. I had set GPS waypoints for a number of key junctions in hopes that this road would be open,
and sure enough it was! I stayed on the A-Line road for a quite awhile, and at the junction of A-Line and
F-Line I turned left onto F-Line. This led to a saddle on the ridge west of the HP with gated roads going
southwest and south, but an open gate going east. I drove this road until the GPS said I was about a quarter
mile north of the HP, and I could see that hiking would not be an option with all the closely growing young
trees clogging the summit area. Then I saw a spur road switching back to the west that I hadn't seen on the maps,
labeled 7860. I checked the Topozone printout again and sure enough there was a road in that
location leading to the ridge west of the summit. So I drove this road a short distance to the ridge line
where it intersected with the summit ridge road that is clearly shown on the map. However, that road was bermed,
so I parked at the junction.
The GPS said it was 0.34 mile east to the HP. I donned my hot-pink-orange turtleneck due to the
abundance of hunters in the area, then hiked up the road to the summit. It was a fabulous day, warm and
calm with clear air and views of four volcanoes (Rainier, Adams, St. Helens, and Hood). I located the
stump with the summit register mentioned by Trapper Robbins at the south edge near the highest point.
On the walk back to the car I startled but didn't see a large animal in the thick trees beside the road.
The snort and the noise caused me to believe it was an elk.
GPS coordinates (46.48152° N, 123.40333° W)