Mt. Fleet lies between Louis Lake and Mt. Lolo.   It rises steeply above the Paul Lake-Pinantan Lake Road.   From below, I have looked up the cliffs and had previously decided to get to the top, just because it is one more local mountain to explore.   From Google Earth, I could see that the easiest approach was on logging roads from the Mt. Lolo side.   On a summer day, I drove up the Lolo Road and turned off at N50 47.627 W120 09.456.   I was surprised that this was an active logging area and I crossed through a log landing before climbing the north slopes of Fleet.   With a 4WD, I was able to climb high onto the mountainside before I stopped, then parked in a high landing in a cut-and-reforested area.   A game-cattle trail helped to get up the hill, but all former logged areas are covered with branches, logs, and debris, now hidden by succession growth.   Slow going and not good hiking.

The top of the mountain has not been logged, but beetle kill and windfall chokes progress uphill there too.   All of this would have been tolerable if there were some good viewpoints, but the top is treed-in and the only decent views were south over the shallow waters of Louis Lake.

Discouraged by the lack of good views, I bushwacked northwest to create a loop route, looking for open spots below in the logged area.   Beyond were the slopes of Strawberry Hill, recovering from the wildfires of 2003.

Mt. Fleet was disappointing, but when I choose to explore, I often have to adapt my goals for the day.   Instead of a good route and fine views, we focus on the small things – wildflowers, fungi, insects, birds, wildlife, artifacts, and micro-ecologies.     There are always wonders and surprises for teh explorer.