Anderson Mountain by Lyman Hill and Haner Mountain sits west of Blue Mountain. At its north foothills nestles Lake Whatcom. Moreover, it’s earned a spot on the Washington State Peaks with 2000 feet of Prominence list.
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Anderson Mountain at a Glance
Access: SR 9 milepost 64.5
Round Trip: 11.5
Elevation Range: 280′-3364′
Gear: microspikes, snowshoes
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: yes
Walking the Road
I wanted to avoid wintry conditions over the mountain passes this weekend. So I resorted to a rainy day backup on Anderson Mountain in Prairie, Washington. En route were several spinouts because of ice on the freeway.
We parked by the gate and soon started walking in the sunshine. I put on microspikes lower down to avoid slipping on the ice. Then I changed to snowshoes before the bridge at 1800′ as the weather turned cloudy.
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Windy South Ridge
We used the packed snow in the forest and shortcut through several switchbacks. Afterward, we were back on the road above the clear-cut at 2800′. We were now in soft snow from there on out.
We reached the road fork at 3000′ before taking a break to dodge the wind gusts. By then, the sky had cleared up drastically to let in much of the nearby views. Peaks over in the Mount Baker area were also visible from here.
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The Final Stretch
From the fork, the middle of the three roads hugged the ridgeline. So we followed it briefly until we were back in the trees. Then the temperature quickly dropped the minute we returned to the shade.
At the next road fork, we turned right and up to 50′ below the top. Then we fought our way through the dense growth and brush. But soon, we were on yet another treed summit by Puget Sound.
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Anderson Mountain Summit Views Plus Exit
Since being among the trees wasn’t all that exciting, we continued north on the crest. I wanted to see about finding even a small clearing along the way. But the north summit was yet another forested high point.
Surprisingly, just then, I discovered a tiny opening to the northeast. It had barely let us look at Mount Baker and parts of Sisters Mountain. So we left the top after taking the usual selfies in the freezing weather.
I peeked to the west through thick branches back at the south peak. Fortunately, I was able to photograph parts of Puget Sound. Soon, we followed our route and down the shade side of the mountain.
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