K7WXW's blog

Summary - Mud Creek Ridge is a good winter cross country snowshoe hike with an open summit, peekaboo views of Mount Hood and places to hang a wire. The drive from Portland is about ninety minutes on a traffic free Friday.  ATT digital service and APRS were both good.  The hike starts on the road out of the Trillium Sno Park but soon veers off to pick up the nose of Mud Creek Ridge. GPS or a compass are required as the ridge is broad, and it is easy to wander off course on the way up.

Summary - Termination Point, near Old Man Pass Sno Park (west of Indian Heaven Wilderness) is an easy drive from Portland by way of Carson. If you don't want much of a hike, you can drive up most of the way after turning from NF31. Just stop along the way wherever you decide that the giant mudholes or the sound of paint being scratched is more than you can bear. The final summit hike is very steep (trekking poles are a good idea) if short.  ATT cell service is servicable, APRS is good, two meter contacts unlikely.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Summary - Peak 4020 and Aurora Mountain, southwest of Mount Saint Helens (near Ape Cave), are easily accessible by 2WD. I did them as a  seven mile RT traverse hike (two thousand feet of up) with a couple of short cross country sections.  The summits are forested but the views of Goat Mountain and Mount Saint Helens along the way are terrific. From Portland, plan on spending roughly four hours round trip driving on good roads, have a backup plan if two meter contacts are sparse, and bring bug juice for Aurora.  This is a fine hike and two peak activation.

Summary - The hike (at least from the north) through the burn area is a sufferfest of deep, continuous treefall, exposure, and route finding. The trail is mostly gone and you must have a GPS and map or be very good with compass and map to avoid missing several crucial turns. As with most summits in this area, plan on HF to activate unless you know there are other SOTA ops in the area. Bottom line: skip this one, at least from the northern trailhead.

Summary: This eleven mile out and back hike starts at the Douglas trailhead, which begins at the end of Wildcat Mountain Road (paved the whole way) and traverses the ridge between Wildcat and Huckleberry. The hike climbs roughly 2800 feet with a quarter or so of up reserved for the return hike. The trailhead is popular but few people head up to Huckleberry and fewer still to the high point of the ridge. ATT cell service is non-existent, APRS works pretty well, and 2M contacts are fairly easy.