Howlock Mountain had caught my eye during the 2023 W7O Campout. It was an unactivated summit off trail north of Thielsen and south of Tipsoo. For 2025, Adam K6ARK and Mark KD7DTS proposed doing the ridge traverse from Tipsoo (W7O/CS-195). After some VHF shenanigans on Tipsoo, we backtracked on the trail briefly before leaving it and descending south.
Panther Mountain is a 2 point summit in the Rogue/Siskiyou National Forest, east of Port Orford, OR. The summit is accessed from a short, disused and deteriorating road, followed by a VERY thick bushwhack up a steep slope. This summit could be combined with Father Mountain (which is en route) or Barklow Mountain, or possibly Chismore Butte.
Pig Iron Mountain is a drive up good gravel forest road plus a half mile light-to-moderate bushwhack through rhododenrons. As such it's reasonably easy enough to reach, though no view at the top to particularly recommend it compared to other local peaks.
We found no pigs, iron or pig iron. Totally misleading peak name. There was just a bunch of bushes. Maybe they are pretty assuming they flower in the spring time. Dunno. YMMV.
After climbing climbing Mt Thielsen (W7O/CS-002) with K6ARK our legs were feeling good, so we decided to try for the first activation of Hollys Ridge (W7O/CS-007). From the junction with the Thielsen climbers trail, take the PCT North. This will wrap east around the ridge line. Exit the PCT at 43.16113, -122.06537 and head down to the glacial stream. Here we crossed to the north side of the stream and bushwacked through the pines (not bad) towards the saddle between Thielsen and Holly. Here we made the mistake of going straight up the saddle.
Frog Lake Buttes is a popular SOTA destination that was moved slightly from its old high point in March of 2023. The old summit plays host to a cell tower and is accessible via both road and trail. The new summit lies approximately 0.4 miles NE of the old one with a deep enough col between the two that a new designator was assigned. This new summit requires a short bushwhack from the old and is easily accessible during summer months.
We spent the night at Elk Lake Campground. Highly recommend it if you can get a reservation. We were in spot 11 which had great views at sunset.
From Bend take Cascade Lakes Highway to the Lucky Lake Trailhead. Fill out the free day use permit here (and put your Northwest Forest pass in your car window), then head up the trail. It's an easy 1.3 miles to Lucky Lake. There was some blowdowns a cross the trail as it's early season and they haven't been chopped yet.
A friend from Eugene wanted to hit Mount McLoughlin in the winter and despite the drive distance from Beaverton, it looked like too beautiful a mountain to pass up. After picking up rental snowshoes from REI in Medford I made it to the Summit Sno-Park TH at sunset. Casey arrived shortly after and we made some quick dinner on our backpacking stoves then turned in for the night.
NOTE: Forest Road 9341 is blocked by a rockslide at 46.23071, -121.82871 and there is an additional 3 mi approach to the trailhead on pavement.
This was summit 2 of a 2 First Activation day.
