0.9 miles, +500 ft, -100 ft
This is a pleasant hike through a thick lodgepole pine forest. The summit is a grassy meadow with some trees and views of the forested hills to the west. It is prudent to take a chain saw for the drive in, in case if the road is blocked. Note that the road is not open to motorized use from Oct. 15 – June 30. The road is suitable for all vehicles.
I approached this peak on a backpacking trip from the west, from Bear Lake, and hiked on Indian Heaven Trail to Lemei Trail; this made it 6 miles and 1100' gain. You can approach instead from Lemei Trailhead, making this a 9 mile, 2500' gain hike.
Gifford Peak is a forested summit above Blue Lake in the Indian Heaven Wilderness. This area is a popular destination for day hikers and backpackers, directly on the Pacific Crest Trail, so be prepared to meet crowds any day with good weather. The lake can be approached from either Falls Creek Horse Camp or the Thomas Lake Trailhead. Once there, take Thomas Lake Trail to the northwest corner of the lake, and proceed up the ridge off-trail. The ridge is pronounced and easy to follow to the true summit.
From Marcola take Tree Farm Road. About a 1/4 mile past the end of the paved road (gravel beyond this point) you will find the locked Gate and Posted No Trespassing. There are homes both sides of the road right up to the gate.
The property is controlled by Giustina Land and Timber. The have a website that you can check on acess:
www.giustinalandandtimber.com/land-acess/
Phone number: 541-345-2304 or 541-345-2301
Extreme Fire Danger - Many Summit Areas Inaccessible - Be Safe
Most (all) of Oregon National Forests are Closed
Most (all) State of Oregon and County Forest Lands are Closed
Brundage Mountain SOTA brings the thought of riding a chair lift at the ski resort to the summit. In actuality, the true summit is a mile north of the ski resort are requires a bushwhack for most of the 4 mile round trip. The views from the summit mostly make up for bushwhack and somewhat dangerous final ascent to the summit.
I have noticed several posts lately and have experienced the dilemma myself several times of encountering closed Forest Service gates. A well planned expedition to activaate a summit can be ruined by an inconviently and unexpected closed gate.
Approach: Rough gravel road in from Hyak. Little parking and congested driving at hairpin curve ~1.7 miles before the trail head. Just past the hairpin curve the road is extremely steep, rocky and potholed, to the point only vehicles with good clearance can get through. (I have an Outlander PHEV that did fine going up, and scraped on one rock coming down.) Once at the trail head it was busy, but easy to find an open parking spot on a Sunday afternoon.
TL;DR version - A nice four pointer and a good place to do a leisurely activation. Enough of a hike to feel like the one worked for the summit. Good APRS coverage, okay ATT data coverage. QRM on small portions of the CW frequencies (40/30/20M). Get there early or risk not finding a place to park and don't forget your WA Discover Pass.
Big Mountain is part of Whitefish Ski Area and in the summer you can take the chairlift to the top ($20) and hike, ride bikes and activate Big Mountain. The communication towers that sit atop the summit are easy to see from the top of the chairlift and it's only a short quarter mile walk up the graded road to the top.