McClellan Butte #1015

I hiked McClellan’s Butte earlier today and found it to be a great trip!

With gas prices being painfully high, I’ve been focusing on the many long-ignored local peaks on the I-90 corridor. At least long-ignored by me. All of them have been great trips but McClellan’s Butte was especially fun.

Getting there is easy: just turn right off I-90 at Exit 42 and follow the signs to the parking lot. It seems like it’s within a half mile of the freeway so if you’re driving farther than that, something’s wrong.

The initial part of the trip gave me a few “hmmms” but once you know where you’re going, nothing is hard but it’s a good thing the trailhead is marked well or I’d figure I was going wrong for sure. You start by trekking through some scrubby forest and then pop out onto a Forest Service Road ... 9020, to be exact. From there you follow the signs to your right and trek .4 miles to the trail on your left. It’s marked so you should be OK finding it. From there you head up and under some power lines and even cross another “road” of sorts ... it’s not marked and the trail picks up directly across from it.

After this, you’re on trail-proper and start ascending. The trail seemed less cruel than I’d been prepared for and was a wonderful little stroll for the most part. You come across a rock slide area that tries to convince you you’re farther out than this trail is. You make a dozen-plus switchbacks as you navigate the face, the sound of the freeway always present.

As the trail makes its way to the back side I found three or four tongues of snow I had to cross. The first was a bit spooky as the snow terminated 40’ below me in a jumble of rocks and running water. Even in the early morning (I left the trailhead at around 6:30 AM) the snow held the boot edge and it was dirty enough to allow a secure surface to stand on. Another of the tongues is obviously just a shell with a big hole in it allowing you to look down the 5-6 feet you’d drop if you broke through. That was around 3 miles in.

After than the trail continues up with only minor snow blocking the way and I found myself on the backside. This was remarkable in that there was an absence of nearly all sound except my labored breathing. No traffic, no birds, not insects ... just a wonderful otherworldly nothingness. Soon enough an airplane flew overhead to break the illusion but it was nice while it lasted.

Around 5000’ I hit sustained snow and, with the top completely enshrouded in early-morning mist I backed off after I wandered far enough across the back face to want my ice axe, rather than my ski poles. With the top at around 5162’, I figured I could leave that last 200’ or so a mystery for another outing. One in which I may get some views from that top!

If you ignored this hike as I had, you should make time to give it a go. I had the mountain to myself on the way up and down, not meeting another person until I popped out on the second “road” I’d mentioned. While I stepped out of my car onto a carpet of broken car glass, I had better luck than others I suppose ... all was intact on my return.