Summit does not have a "view"
The weather this week was looking like it would be good, so I wanted to get in my March summit. I wanted to make it a challenge of some sort, so I decided to go for my first first activation. The Olympic Peninsula has a fair number of unactivated hills still, and a lot of them are on USFS land. I started exploring and found Peak 1620.
You can access Wolf Point if you purchase a Weyerhaeuser permit https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. The permit is valid for a year and gets you a map that you can load into an app on your phone as well as a key to the Recreation Access Gates.
I activated Wolf after Meridian Mountain. From Meridian, head down Road 049 then LEFT on 050 then turn right on 1600, then Left on 200, Right on 200P, Left on 220P, Left on 224. Road is in AZ. Pictures of summit on SOTA Atlas.
You can access Meridian Mountain if you purchase a Weyerhaeuser permit https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. The permit is valid for a year and gets you a map that you can load into an app on your phone as well as a key to the Recreation Access Gates. Take I5 N to exit 42, then Ostrander Road to Rec Permit Access Gate 010. Take Road 010 to Road 049 to summit. The AZ is off the road, the true summit is densely treed. Summit pic on SOTA Atlas.
Due to the recent relocation of Frog Lake Buttes from one butte to the other earlier this year, I was anxious to do another double activation on New Year's Eve. See my previous report for details on the route. The only difference is you must continue on from the radio towers down to the saddle and on up the other butte. Still very worth it for 14 pts.
Ball Mountain is a relatively easy drive-near summit in the Oregon coast range, east of Lincoln City. Your passenger vehicle will get you close to the summit, followed by a short walk and then a bushwhack, neither of which is challenging. The summit area itself is treed in with ample space to set up and plenty of trees for antennas.
Nineteen Mountain is one of several two-point summits accessible from Weyerhaeuser rec permit access gate 6110. For permit information see: https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. For this three-summit “expedition” I drove to within a few miles of each summit, parked and mountain biked to each of the summits. There is a small access road that kicks up steeply to the summit and really tested the lowest gear on my bike but once at the top of it, you are at the true summit.
This is a drive-up summit into the activation zone. A couple of concrete blocks and a tall steel antenna mast indicate the site was a possible old Timber Company repeater station when the land was under different ownership. The summit ownership is now US Forest Service. The road access is good for most vehicles down to a ‘Subaru-class’. Some maps and web descriptions term this summit Lolo Springs Lookout.
Drive-up: The access road terminates within the activation zone and an 80’ walk tops the summit.
Elevation gain from vehicle: Less than 40’
Summary - Crazy Hills, along with Lone Butte, is on the western boundary of Indian Heaven Wilderness, near the Lone Butte Sno Park. The drive is mostly on paved roads by way of Carson (Wind River and Meadow Creek) and includes a 1.5 mi hike (mostly cross country). Drive time from Portland is about ninety minutes. The summit hike follows a ridge and requires a short steep climb to the high point. APRS is good, ATT cell is servicable, two meter contacts are a struggle.
Getting There: DO NOT USE GOOGLE MAPS TO GET HERE!!!! Google maps will lead you straight to a gated road. Have your GPS open or a map next to you while you try to navigate this. From highway 14, turn North on Rock Creek Driver like you're headed to Skamania Lodge. Continue half a mile and then turn left on Foster Creek Road. Next turn left on Red Bluff Road which will become CG-2000. Continue a little less than a mile until you see the intersection with CG 2022 splitting up the hill to the left.
The road is in good condition. It is driveable by a Prius. They also ran a brush mower all the way up the road very recently. The corridor is nicely cleared with all the attendant vegetative carnage 12 feet on either side of the road. Sight lines were good, too.
You can drive right into the activation zone where there is a nice, flat clearing with a fire pit in it. There is plenty of space to set up a 67 foot wire antenna.