I found Maynard Peak after two recent trips to the area. So today, we returned to the Olympic Peninsula after an outing out east. The short climb also offered spectacular views of the northern-central Olympic Mountains.
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Maynard Peak at a Glance
Access: NF-2860
Round Trip: 3.3 miles
Elevation Range: 3020′-5080′
Gear: none
GPS track: available
Dog-Friendly: yes
Road 2860
It was still cloudy when we went over the Hood Canal Bridge. So I thought we wouldn’t see much on top, which didn’t matter if the top were woodsy. Soon, we drove through several service roads before turning ok onto NF-2860.
It was a long drive to the bottom of the southeast ridge. By the time we reached the pullout, we were 14 miles from the highway. But despite being remote, the road was smooth sailing as the sky slowly cleared.
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Three O’Clock Ridge
From the road, I saw Mount Townsend in the Buckhorn Wilderness. I could also see Tyler Peak next door to Maynard Peak. Shortly, we moved onto the ridge and scrambled. There were many animal tracks throughout the forest.
The initial 600′ felt the steepest. But once we were up in the clearing, the ground leveled a bit. The constant southern views improved the higher we climbed. Soon, the Dungeness River Valley began to take shape.
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The Final Stretch
There were groups of outcrops on the ridge. So at 4100′, we bypassed the first one from the west and then went above it. There we could see the false summit. Later at 4300′, we went around the cliffs from the east. But that side got steep fast.
So we went back to the crest and worked our way above the cliffs. But we didn’t get very far. So we came off the ridge from the west side before terrain grew too steep. But once we were down on the saddle, the route became more straightforward.
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Maynard Peak Summit
The ridge grew increasingly woodsy. So even from the false summit, I still couldn’t see the top. From there, we followed a faint path through snow patches. Then in .25 mile, we reached the real high point on the Buckhorn Wilderness boundary.
The flat summit offered phenomenal views! The temperature inversion had started to form earlier. So by now, the clouds had hovered over Juan de Fuca and the lower valleys. Tyler Peak made up the bulk of the view right next door. But the rest of the peaks all looked foreign to me.
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Outro
It turned out to be a warm day and not too breezy. So we had a pleasant stay on top. The Olympic National Park wasn’t too far west of here. So I could also see Hurricane Ridge stretching out above Grand Creek Valley.
Back at 4400′, we dropped 200′ west of the ridge. From there, we sidestepped through steep slopes and bypassed the outcrops. Later we came out just below the first set of cliffs. Then we made it back down to the road shortly after.
See more trip photos here.