Peak 540

May 29, 2024

165m

Blaine, WA

This is an unnamed pimple in the vicinity of Blaine but also the nearest objective with over 100 m prominence from where I live, so despite the trashy nature this “peak” somehow matters to me. The H Street Road traverses almost across the southern flank of that piece of woods, but to reach the highest point one has to dive into the bushes for a brief moment, and because of the proximity to U.S./Canada border this area is heavily patrolled. A few trip reports on peakbagger.com indicated some unpleasant encounters with the border guards as “normal people” would not understand the “needs” of us weirdos, which is honestly understandable. I think the situation has changed in the past few months, that the area has now become a private property. The activity of border patrolling might have dropped but the dimension of trespassing is then added. I’m not sure which of the devils I would prefer, but I was going to figure it out.

I happened to have about 2 hours to kill in the vicinity of White Rock and I was struggling to find something to do. I suddenly remembered that I still needed this “objective” but it was too late to plan with anybody else, so I went solo. I carry the Nexus card with me in the wallet for all time, so I was able to cross the border. Upon arriving at the supposed parking area I discovered that “private property” sign, so I parked on the side of the H Street next to a few other vehicles. I did see a few border patrolling vehicles along H Street but there was none at where I parked.

My route to the high point of “Peak 540”. GPX DL

I quickly crossed the street and then dived into their property. It did feel quite “private” so upon remotely seeing a worker I decided to abandon the road to go into the bushes. I also heard some aggressive barking but the dogs seemed to be inside the house. I was supposed to go into the bushes anyway and the bushwhacking to the true summit was surprisingly straightforward. The dog’s barking continued but I heard someone came to cool them down. While hiking out I met the owner driving in. “Who are you?” “Well, I was here to hike to the highest point in that piece of wood”. “Hiking? From Canada?” “No, just out and back from the road”. The owner seemed like a nice guy and didn’t even bother to lecture me that I was trespassing, so I quickly dashed out and drove away. To my surprise there was no border patrol at my vehicle waiting for my return.