Forested Summit

I did the first activation of Sheridan Mountain in July of 2015. I wrote up a quick trip report for the NASOTA group and planned to write a more detailed trip report later, but I lost my notes for the activation. Sheridan has not been activated again. I am writing this trip report now with the hope that someone will find it useful. Sheridan is not an easy summit to get to or climb, but it's not that hard either.

Let's sart with my original trip report and then I will add some commentary from memory.

Overview

For this activation, I followed the recommendation made by N7LF in

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.

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.

Summary - 2466 (Amplifier Peak) is on Weyerhauser's Longview land northwest of Merrill Lake and is most easily accessed through a gate on Kalama River Road. The highway drive from PDX is roughly eighty minutes; to the trailhead, plan on another forty minutes or so along logging roads to the summit. The last part of the drive is through an active logging area and the road is often closed, so you may want to have a backup plan.  Don't count on two meters to make your four QSOs. Cell phone service is marginal, and APRS pings get picked up.

Summary - Birkenfeld Mountain from the east side is a steep, mostly pathless, ridge bushwhack to a brushy forested summit.   The approach via CG2020, is a logging road with some very steep sections that can also be used to reach Greenleaf Peak.  Drive time to the trailhead was about 90 minutes.

Summary - Frog Lake Buttes doesn't have views but is a nice hike in the summer and a good snowshoe or ski destination in the winter.  Park at the Frog Lake Sno Park and you have a choice of three routes: a 2.5 mile service road (the usual winter route), a 4.5 mile trail hike that starts on the PCT and winds around to the northwest side of the butte, or a 2.5 mile trail hike up the east side.  Two meter contacts into Portland and Vancouver will be tough without a yagi or j pole, self-spotting is easy, and APRS digis ping.

Summary - Big Bull is one of three peaks (LC-100, LC-091, LC-068) in the Northeast corner of Weyerhauser's Longview land. It is a drive up roughly two hours from Portland, much of it over logging roads. There is a very short hike (twenty yards)  to the densely forested summit and the best operating position is in an opening a little below the top.  Don't count on two meters to make your four QSOs. Cell phone service is marginal, and APRS pings get picked up.

Peak 6100, which I am calling Lemcke Peak, as the only thing near it with a name is Lemcke Spring.

Cougar Rock is a six point peak near John Day Oregon. It is 3 miles round trip with 750 feet of elevation gain. Roads are good to the trailhead at 44.5806, -118.7918. The start of the hike is a rough road that was closed to motor vehicle travel when we were there. The road walk is about ¾ of a mile, but doesn’t gain much elevation. So enjoy that part of the walk. We turned off the road at 44.5825, -118.8026.. It’s a bushwhack from there. There are some dead fall to step over, but mostly its just steep.