AA6XA first activated Thunder Mountain on 14 October 2017. His write-up is a great description of the area and his ascent from the east of the mountain.  You can find the link to his write-up on the SOTAmaps Summit page. Ignoring his mention of “cliffs” I opted to plan a route from the west. The directions below describe the drive to the beginning of the west ascent. I knew the climb would be steep, but it would only be around a half mile (.53 to be exact).  This is a total bushwhack from bottom to top.

Route

Mount Pisgah is one of two Mount Pisgahs in Oregon, this one is near Prineville, the other near Eugene. The one near Eugene is a nice hike, this one is a tedious drive up.

The map shows several ways to get there. We drove on forest road 22 past Walton Lake. The pavement ends a bit after the lake. There is a connector road 150 and then we were on Summit Road, aka 2630.

The rode gets interesting at (44.46717, -120.25927). We continued on 2630 here where it splits with 450.

Captain Grey Mountain is a road walk of a few miles gravel through a mix of forest and clear cuts. The road is within the activation zone. It’s on land owned by Lewis & Clark Timberlands, and as such there is no driving up but non-motorized access is free with a Required Annual Permit, link below. **

Wizard Island was on my “Must Do” list since I learned it was a SOTA summit and it did not disappoint. I’d highly recommend it to anyone who is in the park doing some of the other summits or just making a special trip as we did. Plan for 5 hours from start to finish, 30 mins on the boat and 3 hours on the island plus hiking in and out of the boat docks. The total hike was about 4.5 miles from the parking lot down to the ramp, up to the summit and back and back up to the parking lot with approximately 1400ft elevation gain.

FS-370/380 are both unmaintained roads and high clearance/4WD vehicles are highly recommended. FS-370 from Todd Lake to the intersection with FS-380 is passable in a less capable vehicle but FS-380 is very rough. I have driven both in the past in a front wheel drive Honda Element and we did see several passenger cars in the parking area but you have been fairly warned. There is not an established trail and the approach involves some steep and loose cinder slopes. I would classify this as an intermediate to advanced hike, requiring good fitness and route finding skills.

Summary - A drive up on the west end of the Toutle range.

Summary - A short but very steep scramble up game trails will get you to the top of this very visible summit in the Toutle Range. Combine it with 4562 and Castle Peak and hit Signal Peak on the way out to make it a four summit day.

Summary - a soaring rock summit visible from 4562 with awesome views of MSH, Castle Lake, Mount Adams and Mount Rainier. The summit road is 2WD friendly and the hike is steep but short. Bring a mast and don't count on two meters for contacts. ATT service is good, as is APRS.  Combine with 4562 and Spud Mountain for triple the fun.

Summary - At the end of a long drive along the ridge of the Toutle Mountains, a short hike brings you to the open summit with terrific views of Mount Saint Helens and Mount Adams. Bring HF gear and assume VHF contacts will be rare. ATT service is very good, as is APRS. The roads, up to the summit drive are 2WD friendly; the last bit requires high clearance and AWD or an additional quarter-mile of hiking.