Trip
Winter Scramble - Buck Mountain/Elbo Creek
First Day Hike up Elbo Creek and off-trail to Buck Mountain. Start the New Year off right with a vigorous trip to an obscure East Olympic peak. This is exploratory for us - summit not guaranteed, but likely.
Contacts
- Thu, Jan 1, 2026
- Kitsap Alpine Scrambling Committee
- Scrambling
- Adults, All Who Qualify
- Moderate
- Challenging
- Mileage: 8.0 mi
- Elevation Gain: 3,000 ft
- Pace: 1,000ft/hr
- 1 (6 capacity)
- FULL (2 capacity)
- Sat, Dec 27, 2025 at 5:27 PM
- Tue, Dec 30, 2025 at 5:00 PM
- Cancellation & Refund Policy
- iCal Google
We have been told that as of Dec. 27, there is not enough snow to require snowshoes, and with a sunny forecast up until New Year's Eve and then possible rain, we think we will only need microspikes, but that is TBD.
We haven't summited this mountain yet or done the off-trail portion to and past the towers (we've always taken the road), so this will be exploratory for us.
Photo by Tanna Knouse
10:30am - Elbo Creek TH (across from Mt. Walker). Giving everyone a chance to sleep in a little on New Year's morning. Bring headlamps; we may be coming down a little after dark.
Required Equipment
- The Ten Essentials
- Helmet
- Crampons
- Ice Axe
- Mountaineering Boots
Check with leader for any additional group gear or required equipment specific to trip location