Truck Summit by Greenway Mountain overlooks Hall Creek above Interstate 90. To the east looms McClellan atop Alice Creek. Meanwhile, Cedar River Watershed to the south provides drinking water to 1.5 million people around Seattle.
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Truck Summit at a Glance
Access: Hall Creek Trail
Round Trip: 3.2 miles
Elevation Range: 1240′-4120′
Gear: microspikes
Route Info: Peter Schilling
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: yes
Hall Creek Trail to Road 9021
I visited Hall Point across the basin last December after the snowfall. This time, the dogs and I continued past Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail onto Zig Zag Trail. Valley views slowly poured in above the 2000′ mark.
I forgot about the trail fork at 1700′ and kept going even after taking a photo of the sign; doh! But we backtracked through the rest of the steep path to Road 9021. Soon, the daunting view of McClellan Butte appeared by the switchback.
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South Route Above Hall Creek
The rest of the way to the end was straightforward. En route, we enjoyed views of the nearby ridgelines, even the top of Mount Washington. The road then turned brushy past the big rock spray painted “Howdy.”
Given the high point’s name, I knew there would be a truck but wasn’t sure where. And there it was, sitting alone on the saddle by the road’s end. Soon, we went behind it and scrambled 500′ uphill to the densely forested summit.
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Truck Summit High Point
I contended with the tree branches but only saw McClellan Butte. Then we returned to the saddle after a short break and went south. It looked like the old road had become a narrow trail sometime after the decommissioning.
We carefully followed the ridgeline atop the eastern cliffs. As luck would have it, soon passed the saddle was a grassy knoll viewing Mine Creek and Interstate 90. So we hung out to savor the heat before returning to the road in the shade.
See more trip photos here.