McClellan Butte

Summit: 5,612ft

9m 3700ft gain

Off all the peaks along the I-90 Corridor this is the one I look forward to seeing the most when driving east or west! I never knew a butte could have such a prominent summit. From the road it doesn’t look attainable without rope but as you can see in the picture below the backside offers a non technical route up. Keep in mind you’ll still have an exposed scramble up the summit block. Plenty of great hand holds but don’t attempt if wet.

From Tinkham Road:

From the Ira Spring Trail:

From Kaleetan Peak:

From Red Mountain:

From Silver Peak:

From Snoqualmie Mountain:

1st Trip: 8/6/18

I took Moose up Mount Catherine the day before but with the weather still looking great I jumped at the opportunity to stand on top of that pointy peak I always see driving to and from the pass. I made it a quick trip to get back to Moose since Ellie was out of town. It was a trademark ‘no stops til the top’ ascent although I did stop to say hello to a few butterflies.

The short scramble is fun with plenty of solid rock to hold on to. A fall here would not be good.

Once on top there’s plenty of space to spread out and take a break. I felt pretty mighty standing over I-90 and being the only person on the mountain that Tuesday afternoon.

Love a good shadow selfie!

2nd Trip: 11/3/19

Took the Shirley’s up the beautiful butte on a lovely Sunday morning. We made light work of the steep maintained trail and carefully took on the scramble. Rainier was out in full force!

This one will always be worthy of a return trip!