Participated in a WTA winter camping BCRT and we snowshoed to the summit. There are small patches of bare ground, but most of the trail is covered with snow. The roads and parking lot were cleared. I highly recommend bringing trekking poles.

This is a favorite mini-adventure spot during the winter! Sherman Pass SnoPark is very easy access on Highway 20, although this is the highest elevation pass that remains open all winter, so winter tires are crucial. The Kettle Crest National Recreation Trail runs both directions out of the parking lot. My friend and I initially talked about doing Sherman Peak (Kettle Crest South) as a day hike, but then changed our minds and settled on Columbia Mountain (Kettle Crest North) as a winter backpack trip. I like this one a lot for winter since there are three decent campsite options on the trail and it's only a little over 3 miles from the trailhead to the top. A snowstorm with high wind gusts came in as we were hiking up, so we decided to stay in the trees about a quarter mile shy of the summit on this trip. That means we didn't make it all the way to the lookout cabin, so with any luck I'll be able to do it again later this winter & hopefully have calm clear skies for the next one. Even without making it all the way to the top, the views were excellent as we exited on Sunday morning.

I was passing through the area killing time visiting some fire lookouts and I decided to hit up Columbia Mountain since it was such a short accessible hike from SR-20.

I parked at Kettle Crest Trailhead, then proceeded north towards the mountain. The way was covered with snow from the parking lot and the snow was very sloppy/unconsolidated, so I put on snowshoes immediately.

I tried to follow what I discerned to be the trailbed, but got off track a couple times. The snow seemed more stable, so I took off my snowshoes in a shaded section. I decided to take a “shortcut” up the ridge just booting it following an old down track from skis, which turned into a mixed rock/snow scramble with a couple bushwhacky sections.

The way up the ridge wasn’t completely direct, but it worked ok, dodging trees periodically.

I finally got up to the lookout around 1.5 hours after I started due to navigation hilarity and such.

The lookout was completely exposed down to the base, which I found very surprising.

On the way down I stuck to shaded areas on the north and west aspects of the mountain, as I deemed them more stable. Sadly, I had to rock hop in my snowshoes a couple times, but it was manageable, all things considered. From there on out I snowshoed and then booted as much as possible and as quickly as possible (like I was “stealing the Crown Jewels from Buckingham Palace”) since the snow had softened to the point where my snowshoes (with tails) were sinking way way into the snow. When I finally got back to the car it was around 55 degrees according to the thermometer in my car.

I would generally say “trail snow-covered at times...”, but given the abrupt rise in temperatures, there is some degrees of avalanche risk (most wet loose) involved with the trail right now since the snowpack was very unconsolidated where it was undisturbed down low.

Columbia Mountain is a fantastic summer day hike, but it's also a fabulous winter snowshoe trek. When I arrived on Friday afternoon, I found only two other cars at the trailhead; both of these groups explored the Kettle Crest South (a popular backcountry ski trip). There were no tracks up Columbia, which I soon discovered to be both a blessing and a curse. While I had the whole mountain to myself, it was very difficult to break trail the whole way up while also carrying nearly fifty pounds in my pack! Even I started to doubt my sanity: I didn't start hiking until 4pm; I was slow because I was breaking trail and there was quite a bit of downfall; I found it difficult to find the trail from the Kettle Crest to Columbia Mountain (there are no trail markers here--one must depend upon following the faint path of half-limbless trees, which is not an easy task by headlamp). However, the view from the top on this nearly-fullmoon night made it all worthwhile. If you go, get an earlier start than I did--I've hiked this trail so many times in the past that I can't get too lost up there, but it's not easy to find the route in the dark. I would recommend a tent, although one could camp inside the cabin (snow drifts in through cracks between the logs--at least bring a bivy sack or be prepared for a cold night). A SnoPark Pass is required for the Sherman Pass trailhead in the winter months; check avy conditions before you go.

Six of us hiked this trail on snowshoes February 27th 2010. It was a wonder filled day in this proposed wilderness area. There was fresh snow on the trail that all of got the pleasure of breaking at one time or the other. There was only one small stretch where we were a bit concerned about avalanches. From what we saw the trail was in pretty darn good shape as we only had to skirt one tree that was down. The views from the top of Columbia Mountain are awe inspiring making the 4.5 mile 1300 vertical foot hike worth up every step. I only wish I had a few more miles and a few more thousand feet to go. When I did this hike in the summer I was amazed at the combination of shade and great views all the way up. If you are in Eastern Washington and wanting a good hike Columbia Mountain would be worthy of putting on your list.