Exploring the Washington Okanogan – 07.08.2009
Day Two – Wednesday, July 8, 2009
After a relaxing and leisurely morning in Conconully, Washington, we followed my cousin Frank and his wife Diane on their quad up to the Buck Mountain Lookout.
From the Shady Pines Resort, the Buck Mountain Lookout (48° 26′11N 119° 49′15W) is approximately a 15 mile drive (give or take a few miles) on mostly well maintained gravel road. From the West Fork Salmon Creek Road (County Rd. 2017), the road becomes NF-42 (Okanogan National Forest).
Somewhere in the vicinity of 48° 26′33N 119° 50′17W ( give or take a mile or so – I did not record the location with my GPS) there is a road to the left that leads to a gravel pit (I can’t remember if it’s marked or not – it’s not on the forest service map or my GPS). This road winds through the forest, passes a seasonal pond, then begins to climb and eventually meets up with Buck Mountain Road (that leads to the 6135 foot elevation summit and lookout tower. The last section of the road requires a high clearance vehicle (preferably four wheel drive to prevent causing damage to the loose road surface).
From the summit of Buck Mountain, you have a 360 degree view of the the surrounding countryside. From the forested mountains to the drier lands to the East and South. The lookout tower at the summit (maintained by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources) is a 20 foot tall wooded structure that is used for emergency use only. From the information I could find, the existing tower was built in 1961 and is listed on National Register of Historic places. Unfortunately (but probably a good thing), access to tower is restricted to DNR personnel.
Note: You can also drive to the Buck Mountain Lookout from SR-20. Its about 15 miles West of Okanogan, Washington just before Loup Loup Summit. The Buck Mountain Lookout trip is listed as Tour 30 in the book Washington Byways: Backcountry Drives For The Whole Family available HERE.
On the way back to Conconully, my wife experienced here first ride on a quad (as a passenger). from the smile on her face, I think she had a great time.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing. We did a little fishing where my daughter caught here first trout – one of the few caught from shore. Since the trout fishing was slow, I played around with an old Mepps spinner I had and caught quite a few small bass.
Note: This is the second installment of a five part series on our family trip to Conconully, Washington in July 2009.
Part 1: Exploring the Washington Okanogan – 07.07.2009
Part 2: Exploring the Washington Okanogan – 07.08.2009
Part 3: Exploring the Washington Okanogan – 07.09.2009
Part 4: Exploring the Washington Okanogan – 07.10.2009
Part 5: Exploring the Washington Okanogan – 07.11.2009
Categories: Adventures Tags: 4wd, 4x4, backcountry, bass, buck mountain, buck mountain lookout, conconully, dnr, fishing, forest, forest service, four wheel drive, gps, lookout, lookout tower, loup loup summit, map, mepps spinner, mountains, national forest, national register of historic places, okanogan, okanogan lookout, okanogan national forest, quad, seasonal pond, shady pines resort, summit, trout, washington, washington lookout
Cooper Mountain Sunset
Sunset as viewed from Cooper Mountain Lookout near Chelan, Washington.
You can read about this trip at Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007.
Categories: Photos Tags: chelan, cooper mountain, lookout, pacific northwest, sunset, washington
Burley Mountain to Mt St Helens Tour 10.13.07
Each time I venture to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in the South Cascades of Washington state, I am simply amazed at the beauty of the country. In this region, not only are you are surrounded by four major peaks of the Cascade Mountains (Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood), there is an extensive variety of terrain ranging from deep valleys and canyons to exposed buttes and cliffs, alpine meadows to old growth forests, and of course, the Mt. St. Helens blast zone. I could easily spend days or even weeks just exploring the region.
With that in mind, I decided to host a Backroad Drivers Northwest tour in the area just south of Randle, Washington. This region is an area which I am fairly familiar with having spent a lot of time hunting, camping and exploring with my father while growing up. The tour would follow one of my favorite routes in the area, Forest Road 77 from the Burley Mountain Lookout along the ridge past Pinto Rock and Mosquito Meadows. From Mosquito Meadows, we would would take FS 99 to the Windy Ridge Viewpoint at Mt. St. Helens and follow FS 26 back to Randle.
Read more…
Categories: Adventures Tags: adventure, burley mountain, buttes, camping, canyons, cascade mountains, cascades, cispus, cowlitz, fishing, forest, gifford pinchot, glenoma, goat rocks, hunting, iron creek, jeep, lake scanewa, lookout, meadows, mosquito meadows, mt adams, mt hood, mt rainier, mt st helens, national forest, norway pass, outdoors, pinto rock, quartz creek, randle, spirit lake, tour, travel, trips, washington, windy ridge, woods creek
Deception Pass to Cape Flattery, Washington – Sept 8-9, 2007
Trip report and photos of a recent family road trip from Deception Pass on Whidbey Island to Port Townsend, Lake Crescent and Cape Flattery, Washington from September 8-9, 2007.
Categories: Adventures Tags: alpine, beach, burlington, cape flattery, clallam bay, deception pass, discovery bay, ferry, fidalgo bay, fj80, forest, indian reservation, keystone, kloshe nanitch, lake, lake crescent, land cruiser, landcruiser, lighthouse, lookout, makah, mountains, national forest, national park, neah bay, north beach, oak harbor, ocean, olympic mountains, olympic national forest, olympic national park, olympic peninsula, padilla bay, park, photo, port angeles, port townsend, rain forest, river, seattle, sekiu, sequim, shoreline, sol duc river, state park, tatoosh island, toyota, trail, trailhead, us 101, vancouver island, washington, waterfront, whidbey island
Coweeman River via the Rose Valley Road – 08.31.2007
Since I had to work Labor Day weekend, my wife, daughter and the family dog made a quick overnight trip to visit my 83 year old grandmother in Kelso, Washington. In the past, she had mentioned that she had wanted to drive up the Rose Valley Road and the Coweeman River out of Kelso to see the area she grew up in, but no one has offered to take her for the 20 mile drive from her house. Once I mentioned the idea, she was quick to say yes.
Categories: Adventures Tags: alberta, carrols, coweeman river, elk meadows, elk mountain, fish ladder, grand teton, idaho, kamiah, kelso, lake louise, longview, lookout, national park, nevada, off the grid, oregon, ponderosa, rose valley road, safari, virginia city, washington, waterfalls, weyerhaeuser, wildlife, yellowstone
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 – Day Four (08.13.07)
Todays goal is to drive from Cooper Mountain Lookout (near Chelan, Washington) to Chopaka (border with British Columbia).
Categories: Adventures Tags: baldy pass, bavarian, big twin lake, black pine lake, border, boulder creek, british columbia, buttermilk creek, camp, camping, campsite, cascades, chelan, chewuch river, chopaka, columbia basin, conconully, cooper mountain, cooper ridge, dog creek, elbow coulee, expedition, fish, forest, forest service, gold creek, gold ridge, leavenworth, libby creek, lone frank pass, long swamp, lookout, loomis, meadows, methow, national forest, nighthawk, okanogan, okanogan national forest, oroville, overland, palmer lake, salmon creek, salmon meadows, sawtooth ridge, snowmobile, thirtymile meadows, tour, touring, trip, twenty mile meadows, twisp river, washington, washington cascades, wildlife, wildlife area, winthrop
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 – Day Three (08.12.07)
To Drive from near Blewett Pass (Cle Elum) to Chelan, Washington via as many forest roads as possible.
Categories: Adventures Tags: adventure, antilon lake, blewett pass, british columbia, camp, camping, campsite, cascade mountains, cascades, cashmere, chelan, chumstick, cle elum, columbia river, cooper mountain, cooper ridge, domke, durst creek, eagle creek, entiat, expedition, fj80, forest road, haney meadows, lake chelan, land cruiser, landcruiser, leavenworth, liberty, lookout, manson, mission creek, nahahum, national forest, okanogan, overland, shady pass, toyota, trip, upper joe creek, wapato lake, washington, wenatchee, wenatchee national forest, wenatchee river
