Banana Ridge — Saturday, Nov. 13, 1999

Banana Ridge is the informal name for the one-mile ridge that extends west of Mt. Defiance. You can reach it from the Mt. Defiance - Thompson Lake trail, or via the more direct route described here. Because the ridge is not timbered, it offers supreme views of the central Cascades and Mt. Rainier, and also across downtown Seattle to the Olympics. The drawback is the nearly constant hum of traffic below you on Interstate 90. From the Mason Lake TH, take the main trail about 1/4 mile until it doglegs sharply to the right. Split off the main trail by heading straight ahead on an obvious and well-kept path. This trail is not on any of my maps, but someone has put a lot of effort into it! About a mile from the car, at about 2750' elevation, take the right (uphill) trail at a fork. After about 2900', the trail stays to the east of a stream that runs sometimes above, and sometimes below the ground. (This is useful to remember if you lose the route on the way down. However, and unfortunately, someone has felt it necessary to place a bunch of orange and pink markers -- the unofficial state flower -- along the way. So you probably will not have to think too much to follow the way.) At about 3700' the trail emerges from the trees onto the bear grass-covered slopes of Banana Ridge. Big Banana (at 5335') is an angling hike uphill to the west (left). Mt. Defiance is to the right. I headed straight up toward a high point at 5100' on the ridge. At the top, I broke out my (what else') banana and soaked up some rays in the balmy 65 degree weather. The views are unsurpassed for this portion of the Cascades - similar to Granite Peak, and better than McClellan Butte: Glacier Peak to the north, Mt. Stuart to the east, Rainier to the south, and the Brothers to the west. Spider Lake, in perpetual shade this time of year, is nestled down below the north side of the ridge. Back at the car by 12:30, just when the parking lot was filling up.