Trailhead has ample, free, accessible parking
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.
1470 is an unnamed summit near Granite Falls, WA. It is an easy 3 mile walk (6 mile R/T) up a good gravel road. Around 1000' of gain. This is a good candidate for a mountain bike trip. Some nice views of Pilchuck near the top.
Smith 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. The Smith Mountain AZ extends to the road that passes nearby. I did not bushwhack up to the treed “true” summit on this one and activated from the road.
Although this isn't a very spectacular summit, it is located on the Continental Divide and can be either a drive-up in the summer, or a ski-up in the winter. There are also possibilities to snowshoe up in the winter. Each of these options is summarized below. During our activation we hiked up the "Northern Approach". The activation zone for this summit is very large.
Northern Approach Directions (From Priest Pas)
2.24 miles, 1,223 feet – Best Approach for Snowshoeing
4.4 Miles, +1,233 feet, -30 feet
Winter Access Directions to TH:
From I-15 north of Helena – Exit at Lincoln Road (Exit-200) – Head West on Hwy-279 for 22.3 miles
Turn Left (west) towards Stemple Pass – drive 8.3 miles to the Pass (Pass is plowed in winter)
Park in the parking area on the left (west) side of the road at the pass.
Snowshoe/Ski Directions:
Ski or snowshoe (westerly) on the Marsh Creek Road (FS-485) 3.0 miles to the Granite Butte Lookout road.
Scout Mountain is a 13 miles round trip. It is located South of Pocatello and part of the Mink Creek Recreation Trail System. Its a nice 6 pointer with bonus points in winter. There is a large turnout with ample day parking.https://visitidaho.org/things-to-do/nordic-skiing-snowshoeing/mink-creek/
As I mentioned in my previous report from Rattler Benchmark, my Dad and I followed that activation with a trip up to Cleman Mountain. If you are coming down Game Department Rd from Rattler, you need to drive south back towards town for a while on N Wenas Rd until you reach the entrance.
Unfortunately, the map shows many roads leading up the mountain but we were only able to find one that was passable at (46.833565, -120.711814). The signs at the gate read "Closed from Dec 9th thru May 15th."
For Thanksgiving this year, we drove to Yakima to visit with family and the day after my Dad and I drove up to Rattler Benchmark. Starting in Selah, we took N Wenas Rd turning right on Sheep Company Rd up to where it turns (46.778909, -120.563142) to become Bell Telephone Rd (going straight eventually leads you to Gracie Pt aka W7W/CW-096, see my report here). This is a goat trail with many ruts and requires steady nerves and high clearance. Fortunately, my Dad has both. This ro
Beartrap Ridge is a sparsely treed summit having spectacular views of the steep landscape into Owl Creek and the Salmon River. Adding to the view are large wildfire patterns of the mid- 2000’s and exposed geology. The summit is an old lookout site dating to 1919. The only remains of the 1935 lookout are the rock base outline and some rusty stove and other metal remnants. The lookout and outbuilding burned in the 290,000-acre Mustang Complex Fire in 2012.
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’
