Mar 4 Prairie Mt

Led by Brian Trybo: Joyce Holloway, Bob Condor, Matt Robertson, Ron Fleck,
Doug Sanders, Steve Fox

Dallas Kloke writes in his "Winter Climbs" that Prairie is an excellent
winter climb. Ditto! This is another 4-star trip in a great winter of
4-star destinations. We drove up the Suiattle 10 miles to road 25, then
2510, then 2511 to elevation 2100 feet where snow stopped us. We followed
road 2511 to its end at about elev. 2500 feet (not using the road 2512
spur). The gate shown on the Greentrails map was not there. At the end of
the road, and end of the clearcut, we traversed a short distance and then
headed up the fall line. 

Except for the first couple hundred feet, the forest was relatively open
and pleasant travel. Eventually the terrain becomes a distinct ridge with
steep dropoffs on the right side. But it is not unreasonable to stay on
the ridge or slightly left. The ridge tops out at 4734, providing a grand
viewpoint and excellent rest stop. We descended slightly along the ridge,
then traversed to more gentle terrain. This led uphill to the summit block
area. We climbed back to the ridge and easily scrambled up the snow to the
summit.

On top the summit is a plaque for the "Prairie Boys". Also there appears
to be a lightning rod. Was there a lookout on this peak? On the ascent and
descent of this route we noticed possible blazes on trees. Was there an
old trail to the lookout many years ago? With these questions burning, we
descended the nice fluffy snow from summit to cars in only 2 hours. Total
time: 7 hours.