"A surprisingly cool and fun peak. Took the climbers path from the old road, Mailbox Peak-level steepness, but with a little fun scrambling near the top, and with amazing views and far more solitude. Overall rating 8/10, definetly a good under the radar peak for the more experienced I-90 hiker" — MountainQuest • Jul 19, 2023

"Decided to get an afternoon hike in this afternoon, post my failed Mount Hood attempt two days ago, and Humpback Mountain has been on my list, as with some other South I90 peaks to the East of McClellan Butte. This is a tail of three trails. I took the northernmost and shorter access point to the logging road 5510-120 and entered the hiking trail as it rounds the bend. The initial part of the trail is rough raw dirt and looks recently excavated. Once above this section, the trail climbs steeply through dense forest - seems it's been logged multiple times, and the trees are very thin, dense, and little light gets through this. I pushed on and connected to the other logging trail access point up 5510-110, and continued upward. Again the trail is steep, lots of roots and fallen logs (all passable) just need to be careful with the footwork as the logs are slippery when wet. The trail is all dry dirt, carpeted in Douglass Fir needles. About a third of the way up this section, the forest canopy opens up and there are much larger trees spaced apart and a very interesting forest floor covered in young Douglass Fir trees ranging from 4' to 6' in height. Almost as if this were ..." — markhadland • Jun 9, 2019

"First of all, we used the following directions to get to the trail head, since the AllTrails directions were way off. There are two places you can access this trail. For both, take exit 47 off I-90, go south for a few hundred meters, and take a right on the logging road. Follow this for about a mile and take a left at the fork (5510). Go another mile to the second hairpin curve. You can park here by the boulders and hike north .6 mile on an old logging road until you come to an unmarked trail on the right after the bend in the road. The trail is very steep for the first 30-40 feet, goes up over some big roots, and then the trail continues like a normal though steep trail for 1.5 miles to the summit. The other option is to continue driving on 5510 for another half mile or so past the first access point until you come to another turn out on the left. THere's a yellow gate here. Park and hike on the old logging road going north for .9 mile where the trail crosses and goes up to the right. I definitely recommend microspikes or crampons given the steep trail which is icy and slippery at various points. The views from the top were amazing today with clear views of all of the p..." — joeerickson • Jan 29, 2019

"This was a nice hike, especially with sufficiently deep snow toward the top. There were a few big rocks here and there, but the boulder fields I read about in the summer reports are all completely buried. I could not find any sign of a trail in the snow, but it's easy enough to find the NW ridge and head at a constant bearing of SE. If you go off the exact corner, it does get much steeper. Cold and very windy at the top. I had many layers, waterproof everything, microspikes, gaiters, a topo map, compass and altimeter. There is no source of running water above 2500 ft. 3200 ft gain, 7 miles, 7:15 hrs (4:30 up, 2:30 down)." — markgarrett • Mar 2, 2016

"Beautiful view once you make it to the top. Be sure to park at the second switchback off the fire service road. Trail is relatively challenging to find if you haven't been there before. We blazed some of our own trail before we crossed the trail to the summit. " — jake-horn • Nov 22, 2015

"Wow, STEEP! Ascended via the main trail where the mining area is, then look a left on the fire road on the way back for a more gradual descent. Windy, COLD and rainy at the top! Rocks too dangerous for the dog." — North-Bend-Erica • Mar 15, 2015

"We needed a somewhat quick hike that we could pull off after an afternoon work meeting. I'd been looking at this one for quite a while, and it seemed like a good fit. We took the trail that hugs the Northwest Ridge straight up to the summit. The trail is in great shape for now and easy to follow. Pretty steep, with some blowdowns here and there, but as you near the top the trees get larger, the trail gets rockier, and in my opinion the surroundings just get better and better. There's some mellow scrambling at the top over some talus, which had a dusting of snow, making it a bit more interesting than it would have been otherwise. We also found ourselves in a snow flurry for a little bit. We were pretty much in the clouds, so we didn't get to enjoy the 360 degree view we had heard about. I've heard this peak compared to Mailbox often, which isn't all that far off, but this one would be more like a good warm up for Mailbox. It's not quite as steep, not quite as long, and the trail hasn't yet eroded and turned into knee high steps the way Mailbox has in many places. One thing this trail had that you can't get on Mailbox was solitude. We didn't see a single soul all..." — Al-Rashid • Oct 11, 2013

"Biggest hike since Yellow Aster Butte/the day I sprained my ankle last Fall. Also my first snowshoeing trip of the season! Took a few days to recover from this (pain from ankle, bruises on the thighs), but it was well worth it! Great group to hang with, too! " — aimk13 • Jan 12, 2013

"A strenuous 3.8 mile hike - almost 2700 feet of elevation gain in 1.9 miles. I have heard reports comparing Humpback to Mailbox Peak and they are pretty much correct - although the trail up Humpback is in much better shape. The weather was warm and sunny - too warm. Though most of the hike is in heavy tree cover, there was no breeze, what so ever, and it felt like a sauna even in the shade. The last 1/4 mile is probably the toughest part - at least with a dog. There are several talus slopes to cross and I had to pull the dog up in several places as she couldn't make it on her own. The final scramble to the top is really tough - the trail disappears completely and it is steep and slippery. I had seen a trail report from the previous week that said there was a 15 foot wall of snow to climb to reach the peak, but it was either completely gone or I scrambled up in a different place because I saw only patches of snow that posed little problem. The view from the top is amazing - nearly 360º - although it was fairly hazy on this day. We explored the summit a bit before heading back down - which is almost as much work as climbing up. Met a couple heading up at about the 1/2 way point - the..." — mtnhiker • Jul 8, 2012

"I did a quick after work trip to Humpback Mountain. The trail was in good condition. There were a couple of minor navigation challenges. I parked under the trestle on road 5510 and made my way up to the Iron Horse Trail. To find the real trail, go East on the Iron Horse. Look for posts with Orange warnings saying something like Buried Cable on the right side of the trail. The trail starts right at post 720. I started down the wrong trail right by the trestle which soon vanished. The other navigation issue was at the first road. When you reach the first road, go left (east). Look for a gap in the trees and a sandy slope. That's it. Stay to the right. Once you are on the trail it's clear sailing. There is a little bit of snow here and there near the top, but the trail stays near the ridge, so it's easy to find. To get on to the summit ridge, you have to get up wall of snow about 15 ft or so high. Ice axe is handy here. It can probably be done without it. Once on the ridge, the summit is only a short distance away." — MangyMarmot • Jun 25, 2012