Browns Mountain, west of Sunriver, despite being pretty close to a paved road, was a tough bushwack for Roland-K7FOP and I, as we pursued several "shortcuts." So we recommend walking about 2.4 miles on forest roads, and a final steep ascent of about 1/10 mile. Total is about 900 feet of gain. If there's a better way to get to the AZ, please write up an updated trip report.
Snowking is quite the challenge to get to. The road to the trailhead, not so much. Travis, my climbing partner, and I accessed the trail head via Highway 20, and then via Cascade River Road in Marblemount. Forest Service Road 1570 takes off on the right just after mile marker 14, to get you to the trailhead. There is a couple of Creek crossings, but We went on a thursday night and suffered for the first five miles of super steep climber's trail.
This blog entry is for those wanting to hike to the Mount Hebo summit in lieu of driving. Drive up Mount Hebo Road from Hwy 22 approximately 4.5 miles to the Hebo Lake Campground. There is a day use parking area at the campground with a $5 day use fee. The Pioneer Indian Trail begins from the parking area and heads south into the forest. The trail is well defined and meanders for 4 1/2 miles through the forest with occassional meadows to just below the Mount Hebo summit. Don't be fooled by the
Put it on your calendar, September 14th, PacNW SOTA VHF Summit to Summit distance event! The goal is to get as many LONG DISTANCE S2S contacts. We are timing this to cooincide with the ARRL September VHF contest, which starts at 1800 UTC, or 11am PDT.
We'll plan on starting around the same time, that way if anybody has trouble getting enough S2S contacts to make the activation count, there will still be people around you can make contact with. Plan on 2M FM, 146.58 for the primary frequency with a backup frequency of 146.56.
On Sunday, July 21, 2019, my SOTA Buddy, Tim, KG7EJT, and I Activated for the first time Tucquala Peak. This 8 Point SOTA Summit is on the East side of the Cle Elum River Valley, almost across the valley from Mount Daniel and Chimney Rock. On USGS and Forest Service Maps, the peak is shown as Point 6821 for its elevation. Almost 3,500 feet below the summit, lies Tucquala Lake, one of several lakes and swampy areas that lie along the Cle Elum River.
This summit is a long ridge located between Vernonia, Oregon and Saddle Mountain. Here are the directions to get there.
I started from the Smithbrook Trail #1590 off of NFS Road #6700 which is just east of Steven's Pass on Hwy 2.
The trail goes up 1 mile to a junction with the Pacific Crest Trail. Turn left (Southbound) onto the PCT, continue about 2 miles and turn left down the Lake Valhalla access trail.
2018 Discovery View Hill is a drive-up 2 point summit SW of Sequim. While visiting family in the area, I was looking for a quick activation option in 2018. Since 2018, more of the summit has been logged and the views were amazing from the south side. You are able to see buildings from downtown Seattle, and have great radio line-of-sight to the Puget Sound and Canada.
The Hike
Devil’s Peak is located in the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness area on Mt. Hood. The summit has an altitude of 5045 feet. There is a decommissioned fire lookout at the top (which is available for camping). There are a variety of ways of getting up there. I chose to take the Cool Creek trail, which is short (3.7 miles) but very steep (3200 foot elevation gain). I hiked up here on July 20th, 2019. Also see http://www.pnwsota.org/node/177 for another approach.
Take St Regis Mt. exit head North at stop sign turn left in about 3 miles turn left onto FR road 282. Stay on 282 for 20.5 miles at the top of the pass turn right onto FR road 391 in 5.5 miles you will come to the Trailhead 250. An AWD vehicle would be able to make it. From the trail head to Eagle Peak is a little over 2 mile. To activate Eagle & Ward Peaks make for a great 8 point day.
Verizon cell is available on top.