This thread seems to be the latest trip report on Archer Mtn. I hiked to the top of Archer Mtn on the day of the 2021 winter solstice. There was mostly continuous snow above 1200 ft elevation. I used a Gaia GPS to guide me. I'll note a few surprises:
1. There is what appears to be a new way to get to Quiver Point. A few hundred feet east of Scott Point is a signed trail junction for Quiver Point. I didn't follow it but it probably more or less follows the 1600 ft contour. I saw two pairs of footprints going to Quiver point but none coming out. I would later learn how those people got back.
2. Gaia shows a trail bypassing the Archer Mtn peak trail by going north and approaching and then paralleling the Columbia Falls NAP boundary making a lollipop loop possible with Archer Mtn starting 1000 ft east of Scott Point. I couldn't find that trail probably due to the ice/snow on the ground. Does anybody know if that section of trail exists anymore?
3. Gaia shows a trail bypassing the signed summit trail to instead go directly to Arrow Point. My goal was to skip Archer Mtn (nothing to see there) and just visit Arrow Point. I blissfully followed this trail with occasional pink flags and discovered that this trail actually goes to Quiver Point from the uphill side. Quiver Point was not my goal but I did locate the hiker pairs' footprints leaving Quiver Point. The hikers must have made a loop of Quiver Point, which seemed like a good idea for future use. When I finally figured out I was half way to Quiver Point, I backtracked to search for the Arrow Point trail. It was probably hidden under the snow but I couldn't locate it. Does anybody know if that trail section exists anymore?
4. The only way I could figure to get to Arrow Point was from the top of Archer Mtn. I followed tracks in the snow from the top and then a few hundred feet past the point the tracks ended. I eventually abandoned trying to get to Arrow Point because of heavy rime ice made the steep trail really slippery. The ice was also causing branches to crash out of the trees. There were a few good reasons to leave.
This hiking area has always fascinated me but I never knew about the Archer Mtn trail that winds it's way up an impossible slope from the High Valley TH. I don't recall this trail when I first visited 25 years ago. When was this trail built? It seems relatively new (no apparent long term effects of erosion are visible).
- GPS track with notations
). We did the longer loop, going past the "other" waterfall on the west, up the ridge, behind the main falls, including a side trail down to near them, and around on old roads to hook up with the area you are talking about.