“Deming Tower Hill”

December 27, 2025

434m

Bellingham, WA

“Deming Tower Hill” is the unofficial name of another forested pimple in the broader vicinity of Bellingham. This one is a mere outcrop on the much-bigger “Bigfoot Hill” but boasts over 100 m prominence. The prominence is the sole reason why I noticed it. A quick glance at the maps revealed a well-maintained service road that goes all the way to the very summit but this road is gated at the bottom. My plan was to simply walk up this gated road. I wasn’t expecting much from this outing, but it turned out to be more eventful than I thought.

After almost 2 months of break from peak-bagging I finally had some free time, and the weather lined up nicely to get something done. I still had to work in the morning so my choices were limited to the “dumpster dives”. I randomly picked “Deming Tower Hill” as I wanted a no-brainer kind of objective. I drove directly south across the border at around 1 pm. The border crossing would have caused 2 hours of delay if I didn’t own a NEXUS card. As I drove towards the access road a pick-up truck was exiting and closing the gate. I quickly realized that this road was a private one. I waited for a minute or two before pulling in but then that pick-up truck turned around and drove back towards me. I thought I was doomed, but to my surprise the landowner permitted my access after asking me a few general questions. They warned me against a barking dog but that’s it.

I could already see the black dog about 100 m away so I was still unsure about the chance of success. The dog started to bark aggressively as soon as I walked past the gate, but instead of giving in I continued walking uphill, slowly but steadily. The dog kept that distance from me and continued barking, but after a while he/she probably realized that I was harmless. The barking stopped but the dog was basically walking up the hill in front of me for at least 3/4 of the way. There were a few junctions with many tire tracks so the dog likely went somewhere else at one of those junctions. There was also surprisingly nice views for most of the way except for the summit. The clear-cutting in this area was quite insane.

This was a chilly day as despite the low elevation, the temperature hovered around freezing for the entire outing. There was also a thick layer or high clouds rolling in so I quickly descended. I had to stop two times to put on gloves and a jacket. That dog was waiting for me at the bottom of the hill but he/she didn’t bother to bark this time. Instead, the dog ran away. My round trip time was less than 2 hours. Darkness fell in no time as I drove away, and I eventually got back home in time for dinner.