Olympic Mountains Climbing Lists

Background

If you climb peaks in the state of Washington you are probably familiar with Jeff Howbert's Home Court and Back Court climbing lists, the top 100 peaks with a minimum clean prominence in the west and east parts of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. A few month's back I had the idea to create climbing lists of the Olympic Mountains similiar to Howbert's. I used data from quad seletors on Howbert's website, Olympic Mountains: A Climbing Guide, and, when I was about half way done, Paul Klenke's Olympic Range Summit Lists.

After much deliberation, I selected the Elwha River/Hayes River and the Quinault River/Anderson Creek drainages as my dividing line. These two drainages connect on the ridge just NE of West Peak (of Anderson), the hydrographic center of the Olympics. The western group was named the Rain Forest Court and the eastern group the Rain Shadow Court. To be ranked each peak had to have a minimum of 400 feet of clean prominence.

The Rain Forest Court

The Rain Shadow Court

*Naming Notes: Renamed Peak 6998 Mount Deception Quad, a peak I have climbed, "Big Buck Peak" becuase the logger/hunter who named the nearby Goat Lake was tracking a big buck blacktail deer when he stumbled upon the goats (story). Renamed Peak 6959 Wellesey Peak Quad "Grand View Peak", a name I have heard used to describe the peak by people who have climbed it. Renamed Peak 6628 Mount Townsed Quad "Reggie Peak", a named I have heard used to describe the peak by people who have climbed it (the named refrences a traveling summit register that was once placed there).

Thank You

I wanted to say thank you to Paul Klenke, Jeff Howbet, and Greg Slayden (of peakbagger.com) for their consultation, ideas, and encouragement; to my wife for her patience; and to all my hiking and climbing partners at NWHikers.net for their inspiration and friendship.

-Schmidt Alti-Dude

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