MOUNT DECEPTION

At 7788 feet (2374 m) above sea level, 'Mount Deception' is the highest peak of the northeastern Olympic Mountains, in western Washington's Olympic National Park. Two glaciers hug its north-facing basalt slopes. Due to the western Olympic mountains blocking incoming moisture and its easternly location, Mount Deception has much less permanent snow than the slightly taller Mount Olympus. The treeline and snowline in these warmer conditions make many of the high eastern peaks snow-free during the summer. Radiating northward from its shoulders are The Needles (Washington), Mount Clark (7528), Mount Walkinshaw (7378), and the northeasterly running spur known as Gray Wolf Ridge. The peaks of Gray Wolf Ridge -- '7076' (7076), Gray Wolf Mountain (7218), Baldy (6797), Shepster Summit (6537), and Tyler Peak (6364) -- are scalable for fit and determined day hikers; but mountaineering skills are necessary for Mount Deception itself and its closest northern basalt kin.