McDonald Mountain — Saturday, Mar. 5, 2016

Puget Sound and Islands > Seattle-Tacoma Area

Overall 14.0mi RT 1300m ascent. This poor mountain has been honeycombed with trails. There are lots of bootpath and bike trails on the lower section, which appear to avoid the numerous switchbacks made by the road. I took the road during ascent, but there were multiple appearances of trails on the upper section so it was difficult to determine which might be a valid shortcut trail on the way day. As such, I stuck to the road on the way down. I finally found a reasonable path that avoids the logging detritis east of the radio tower. I spent about 20min bumbling around west of the logging area, where I had hoped to find a route through just before (within 20m of) the downed trees, but there is so much underbrush that the road is invisible and too distant. My memory indicated that I would have had to travel east along the logging line quite a ways to get near the road, and I didn't want to have to go through 1/4mi of wet underbrush. As such, I turned around there and decided I could call it a day. On the way back, however, I headed north off the trail through a sparse part of the forest and ended up only about 75ft from the road. In particular, I arrived near the junction of two roads. When I returned from the summit, I came back that way and found a route up that was only about 50ft of shuffling through the branches. This route is much preferred to all the underbrush north of the downed trees, though I can't suggest what it would be like in the summer. Pass the first tree pile heading downhill slightly, probably about 60% of the way to where the old road starts ascending again toward the logging area. When the trail starts ascending, the underbrush turns into a bunch of reeds and impassable scrub, so you'll know if you've gone too far. Other than a few ground plants at the road, turning north (left) off the trail at the correct point dumps you into forest that is mostly trees and ground dirt and needles. There are a few very old fallen logs to watch out for. This round descends and eventually dumps you toward a line of small trees lower to the ground. I wiggled that line until it felt as "far northward" as possible and then bumbled through and found the road. I, of course, am a strong advocate of staying on the trail, but there is no indication of this area being off limits nor does it currently contain any foliage that is in danger of destruction. Moreover, the existing trail terminates at the west end of the logged area, and there is no clear approach past that point. This forest route is safer than jumping trees, and there are very few walking this hill past the radio tower (I've never seen anyone), so I feel comfortable posting this information.