Easy Trail

This is a pretty easy hike, with some elevation gain. My watch clocked 1070 ft of gain in 2.6 miles from where we parked the truck. The primary access road is pretty good dirt that turns into a pretty ok jeep track. It would be possible to drive up the ok-ish jeep track to a point where there is a barbed wire fence gate and the road turns into a true jeep road. 

See a detailed report here

I took my kids on a snowshoeing adventure this past weekend.  There were several SOTA activators scheduled to be out activating and we joined them for a fun time.  The distance is around 1.7miles one way but we had very nice snow conditions.

Traffic was very heavy heading up to Mt. Hood and several vehicles turned around but we persevered and it eventually improved.  It did add around 30mins to our arrival time.

Starting from the Frog Lake SNO-PARK and heading across the hwy slightly to the north is the Pacific Crest Trail crossing.

Bunsen Peak is an ancient volcanic cone characteristic of Yellowstone National Park. The peak is a very popular summit hike in Yellowstone Park near Mammoth Hot Springs. The trail is wide and even in October I found folks I could tag along with per the guidelines of not hiking alone in the Park. When I begin to lag, a young woman from Israel with her American boyfriend returned to check up on me and over my macho-objection she kept with me at my slow pace to the summit.  She also reminded me to not hike alone. Makes an old duffer feel quite good. 

Point 118 hosts a Missoula County communication site.  It is a rocky prominence with excellent views of the distant Selway- Bitterroot Wilderness’ rugged northern mountains.  Access is by foot or bicycle on a permanently gated road.  The summit is approximately 200 feet from this communication site. I experienced no RF interference or desense from the communications site at the summit.  There are various sized trees available for hanging antennas or attaching antenna poles.

Hike or Bike miles roundtrip:  4

Elevation gain: 475’

Turner Mountain in northwest Montana is approximately 22 miles north of Libby on Pipe Creek Road #567.  Turner ski area opened in 1961. It is currently active with a mile long double chairlift with 2100’ of vertical rise. The 1.8-mile vehicle access road is closed in the summer but open to mountain bikes and foot travel. I borrowed an ebike and rode to the summit via the reasonable grade ‘jeep road’.  The ride is 2.68 miles from the chair lift base to the summit, a rise of 1380’. Stops along the way were necessary to view the scenery, think ‘panting rest-stops’.

UPDATE March 2023: W7W/CN-024 has been retired and replaced by Frog Lake Buttes W7O/CN-106 ~ 1/3 mile northeast.

Here's an easy 14 points: snowshoe 3 miles up to Frog Lake Buttes (W7O/CN-024) on New Year's Eve.

The snow is usually already packed down by avid snowmobilers and, in our case this year, we didn't even need snowshoes.

Canuck Peak is a forested summit in far northwestern Montana. The summit is identified only by three summit trails all heading downhill, a sign pointing to American Peak and a recently burned cabin. The trail to Canuck Peak is part of the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail system Congressionally designated in 2009. The one-mile trail portion to Canuck Peak is a well-maintained easy grade. The trail traverses’ dense subalpine forest having periodic good crops of summer huckleberries. 

Summit 7112 is at the head of Ninemile Creek and overlooks the Clark Fork valley to the north. It is a pleasant hike on cooler summer days.  The on-trail and off-trail are currently exposed with very little tree cover. It will remain open until lodgepole pine regeneration grows for another decade or two.  The summit offers good views of the Mission Mountains and summits of the Reservation Divide.  Snags are abundant so exercise caution especially on windy days. 

Hike miles roundtrip:  1 on-trail #98 and 1 mile off-trail

This un-named summit is near US Forest Service trail #313 south from Skalkaho Pass. The trail begins in a regenerated timber harvest unit and quickly transitions to old-lodgepole pine/Rocky Mountain subalpine fir forest partly burned by a wildfire in the early 2000’s.  Most of the trail is within this wildfire and is dominated by snags and windfall trees. Use caution traveling this area especially on windy days. In approximately one mile the trail enters a moist unburned large wet area dominated by large spruce.

Summary - 3420 (Mount Beacon) is on Weyerhauser's Longview land northwest of Merrill Lake and is most easily accessed through a gate at the end of Kalama River Road. The highway drive is roughly eighty minutes from PDX; to the trailhead, plan on another hour or so along logging roads. The hike is roughly 1.5 miles and an eight hundred foot climb and ends in a nice operating position with views to the west.  Don't count on two meters to make your four QSOs. There is no ATT cell service but APRS pings get picked up.