Summary - Mount Beachie, on the edge of the Beachie Creek Lionshead burn, is hiked from a trailhead above Elk Lake. The fire burned over the top here, so it is a little desolate on top. 2M contacts, with a better-than-stock antenna, are possible. I did not turn on APRS. The trail is rough the whole way and by turns, steep, rocky, buggy, boggy, and overgrown. Trekking poles, sturdy shoes, and a sense of humor are required. On top, ATT digital service was in and out but self-spotting was possible. The road up to Elk Lake is 2WD possible but it is very potholed and rocky. Be sure to check road reports! FR46 and HW22 are both under construction and delays can be hours long. Combine this one with Battle Ax Mountain (W7O/WV-008) for an eight point day.
TL;DR - I hiked Mount Beachie and Battle Ax with Jeff WX7OR and his wife Katrina. Because they are smarter than me, they camped at Elk Lake the night before while I left my house in Portland at 5:00AM to meet them in camp. The trailhead for Battle Ax and Beachie is above Elk Lake and there is a small pullout at the start, leave your vehicle here (44.82529, -122.12487). The trail, which is rough and rocky most of the way, gradually climbs up to the saddle between Battle Ax and Beachie, when you reach it (44.81933, -122.14553) .
At the saddle you will see markers for the Opal Creek Wilderness and Beachie Trail. The new signs are the last trail improvements you are going to see for a few miles! Follow the trail southwest; you will climb gradually through wet buggy forest on a trail that is beginning to disappear. After a couple of stream crossings you encounter the bog: misquitoes, mud, water, holes, and a lot of vegetation. It is a bit of a bushwhack that ends on a rocky path through a scree slope before the steeper part of the hike. As the trail turns south you climb straight up the nose of the summit ridge and into the burn. The trail to 5000ft is steep, rough, and unshaded.
The trail becomes more difficult to follow after 4900ft. Stick to the nose of the ridge and, mostly, the west side but be careful. It is easy to drift well below the ridge and getting back up to it will be a chore. Route finding skills, along GPS and a good map will be pretty handy here. As the trail bears west to bypass the summit, cut up to the ridge again for the final bit of up.
The burn went over the top here, so the long narrow exposed summit is rocks, snags, and black stumps. Bring a mast for HF. We were able to work Portland and Beaverton on 2M and HF was, as it usually easy this high, pretty easy. ATT digital service was in and out but we were able to self-spot. I did not try APRS. The views, as on Battle Ax, are terrific.
Travel notes - The drive from SE Portland is about 2.5 hours but there is construction on HW22 and, more importantly, FR46 is only open for brief stretches between 7:30AM and 5:30PM. Check with the Detroit Ranger station to get the schedule and plan accordingly or you could be stuck for a couple of hours.
Summary - The hike up to Beachie is kinda miserable; the trail includes a bog adventure, is rough and often overgrown, and you'll need to do some route finding to finish it off. 2M contacts are possible and HF is easy. This is one to do because you are hiking Battle Ax but probably not a hike I would repeat.