Mt Scott

Cindy McCloskey and myself ascended Mt Scott in the Wichita Mountains of southwestern Oklahoma on Saturday October 20th.  I generally climb the south side of Mt Scott every year during the fall and winter, when the threat for snake encounters is lower.  However, October 20th was warm (temperatures near 80F), so we had to watch every step.  The climb starts off by departing a picnic area parking area, crossing a highway, hiking up to the summit road, crossing the road, and then moving up slabs of rock intermixed with boulder hopping.  After moving through this section, bushwhacking through tangles of trees and thorn bushes is required.  Then, a 30 foot cliff is encountered...in order to continue the climb, a weakness in the cliff must be found.  There are multiple options dispersed along the cliff...though a bit of route finding is necessary to find the best option.  Once above the cliff, the terrain flattens out, and the route leads to a road that circles its way to the top of the mountain.  One can follow the road up to the top, or cross it and find a route through additional boulders and slabs.  A large parking lot is present at the top of the mountain, and the true summit is in a grassy boulder area located in the middle of the road and lot.  Though you only gain 1000 feet to the top, the ascent still takes about 1.5 hours due to complex route finding and bushwhacking.  The easiest route back down the mountain is to retrace your path down to the road located on the south side of the mountain, and then angle toward a weather station.  Angle south-southeast from the weather station...this will allow one to avoid the cliff, and find a steep but much easier route back down to the forested terrain below the cliff.  From here, it is just a long southward-slog hopping from boulder to boulder back down to the base of the mountain.