Mount Beachie

Overview

Mount Beachie, in my opinion, is made up of two summits, the East summit and the West summit. The West summit is the taller of the two but is not very interesting. Just a bald rock surrounded by trees with a view only to the east. The East summit is a very interesting craggy rock formation made up of a mix of ancient basalt columns and some volcanic lava junk. Basically it’s a wall approximately 10’-20’ thick by several hundred feet long by about 40’-50’ tall. There is a large gap where you get excellent views of the Battle Ax Creek drainage, and Battle Ax Mountain. There are several approaches to Mount Beachie, my favorite being the East Face Scramble following the NNE ridge of the East summit.

Once on the East summit of Mount Beachie, you’ll find what looks like a balancing rock…which is a solid chunk of basalt on top of volcanic junk…we call this Phone Booth Rock. Years ago it was the only place in the area I could get cell reception.

At the other end of the summit is the sections we call The Wall, with several 4th class routes to the top.  

Getting There

I’m only going to describe the approach from Detroit Lake to the Battle Ax trailhead. First get yourself to Detroit Lake via Hwy 22. Once in Detroit, turn onto Hwy 46, at Detroit’s only gas station. Drive Hwy 46 for about 4 miles. Turn left onto road 4696. Go about .8 mile. Turn left onto road 4697. Go about 4.5 miles to a large intersection. Look for a light green post…this marks the road into Elk Lake. Go about 1.5 miles to the lake. Continue up the road for another mile where the road will end at the Battle Axe trailhead. You may not feel like driving all the way up to the trailhead…the road is really bad, and is really only suitable for high clearance vehicles.

Route

There are several routes up to the summits of Mount Beachie, but my favorite is the East Face Scramble.
 

Red Tape

NW Forest Pass Required at the trailhead. Please always use the Leave No Trace rules in this area.

When to Climb

Late Spring to Late Fall

Camping

Elk Lake makes a great Base camp. There are pay camp spots at the west end of Elk Lake, or some primitive spots along the NW shoreline.

Area Weather Forecast

NOAA Current Forecast

Images

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