Here's an opportunity to do an easy summit if you are out in the Gorge for wine tasting, other summits or a hike at Catherine Creek. The road walk is short at 0.75 miles one-way and about 200 feet of gain. The road is Priusable the whole way but note that there are a number of "no turn turns" cited by our phone GPS on the way from Highway 14 to the trailhead - the directions below are general.
For those speedy hikers Rhodes Peak can be hiked in a day. For those like me, a trail sloth, a backpack camp at Goat Lake half-way there is a fine alternative for a multi-day hike to three nearby summits. The lake is within a scenic alpine basin next to W7I/NI-108 and looks across a valley to Williams Peak W7I/NI-003. Rhodes Peak is Clearwater County’s highpoint and is sought by those summiting every County highpoint in Idaho. This popular summit has two elaborate summit register books. We met folks on our hike heading for this popular summit.
Williams Peak is a good trail hike with a short off-trail hike and a short rock scramble. The summit has good views but little room for operating. A good alternative is to hunker-in just below the summit and tie off to one of the few snags or live trees on the south side.
Williams Peak is also an ideal hike for a double activation with Rhodes Peak, W7I/NI-001. Both are just off the well-maintained US Forest Service Trail # 508. Both summits are an easy access up grassy/rocky ridges
Most everyone who has driven to or from southern Oregon has driven over the Sexton summit, one of the main monitored passes during the winter. I never paid attention to the actual mountain until now. It was a nice day drive from my home QTH and we hit one additional summit on the drive back. Unfortunately it was really foggy so there was no view but I think on a clear day it would be nice.
Summary - A long drive then a short, steep hike up to a nice meadow with a view. Good hiking shoes and trekking poles will be handy, as will GPS. Easy to make 2M contacts and APRS spots. Lots of trees for holding up wires and not a bad place to hang out for a few hours. Finding the trailhead can be a little challenging because of the unmapped roads in the vicinity and the Weyerhauser gates. Given the drive and the gates, plan on doing Ginsberg as part of a multi-summit day.
Summary - Drive up summit. A long drive, so do it with other hills in the area. Easy to make 2M contacts and APRS spots. Not a good spot for an extended stay, I'd leave the HF gear in the truck. 2646 is on Weyerhauser land and there are gates to navigate. See my entry on Trask (NC-003) for more info.
Summary - An easy, if not terribly scenic drive to the trailhead and a short hike to the summit. Travel time to the trailhead was almost two hours. VHF contacts were easy, as was APRS spotting. Trask is on public land but the route I followed goes through a Weyerhauser gate. Plan ahead (see below)! Best done as one of three or four summit activations in this area.
K7EEX trip report for Wolfe Point (http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/k7eex/2018-january-13/wolf-point-oregon) mentioned a possible south trail. This report confirms a south access to Wolfe Point.
If coming from Cedar Butte activation, turn off of the road at: N45.57747° W123.63990°. Park at N45.57731° W123.61891° the trail looks like a small drainage (see pic). It is not maintained and hard to follow in places but you can get to the top from this south access.
Underwood Mountain is a 2 pt summit Northwest of Underwood, WA across the river Northwest from Hood River Oregon. The start point is about 4.5 miles off of highway 14. It is an easy 3 mile hike to the summit with 1400 ft elevation gain on forest roads closed to motor vehicles. There is a short 250 foot doable bushwack to the summit. It would be a very feasible mountain bike activation. I hiked in late Dec on 3-6 inches of snow with microspikes, this would be a pleasant snow shoe activation and CC ski tracks were on the roads as well.
Oreana Ridge is a picturesque summit with scattered trees, grass/forb land, an old US Forest Service L-4 Lookout and a log garage. There are fine views of high peaks in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness and the steep slopes of Salmon River breaks. The lookout built in 1934 has been abandoned and is in very poor shape. Though the stairs look inviting, the decking is rotten and hazardous to walk on. Trees are available to string wire antennas.