Anderson Mountain — Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022

Beautiful hike today traversing Anderson Mountain. 

I started on the east side of the mountain just off highway 9. GPS 48.61404, -122.22700 is where I parked. There is some space here, however this hike is on private timber land, so make sure not to block the gate or road in the event they need to get in there. They allow non motorized recreation according to the sign on the gate.

95% of the hike today was on logging roads. I don’t mind it too much, it’s easier to set a higher pace and just go. I believe from this starting point you are on the PNT for 3-4 miles. It’s about 5 miles of switching back up moderately steep logging roads to the summit of Anderson Mountain. The first 4 miles are quite boring. The 5th mile you get higher up into some clear cut areas and the views are phenomenal. Mt Baker looks amazing, the views of Skagit Valley are vast. I’ve never really seen it from above. The cultus mountains in the distance looked cool with snow on it and I am marking them as a potential early spring jaunt as they should have similar great views. The summit marked on the map for Anderson Mountain is kind of more of a Butte or Knob. It’s not really the highest point on the mountain but the views are great. I highly recommend also walking the road to the north of the “summit”. More great views to the north, you can also see better into Canada. I was extremely lucky today and actually found a Snowy Owl perched in this area which was completely unexpected. Amazing experience. Now from here I originally planned to come back the way I came but I changed my mind and ultimately came down the west side of the mountain. Using my maps I was able to connect roads and do only maybe a 1/5th of a mile of bushwhacking through clear cut to make it happen. The other side is more DNR land and some mountain bike trails. I was able to skip those boring first 4 miles by going this way down. (Girlfriend picked me up on other side). I eventually came down to Alger Mountain Road. Overall this hike over-delivered. If you don’t mind a little bit of boring forest road walking, the views up top are worth it especially on a clear winter day when many of the mountains surrounding it are snow capped. 

Overall Stats: 12 miles 2,400 feet gain