Mount Bruno is one of a cluster of four point peaks directly off of Oregon
Hwy 22 just east of Detroit. Travel east on Oregon 22 past Marion Forks and
just past milepost 67, turn right onto NF2234. There was a sign there noting
that the road was closed ten miles ahead but you don't have to go that far,
so ignore it.
NF2234 is initially paved but turns to gravel in about 1.6 miles. The road is
easily passable with a passenger car. Continue on NF2234 7.5 miles. At this point
there is a triangle intersection, but you can't see all the corners. Turn right onto
RD170. There are a few posts which probably marked the road but the signs have
been removed. You will immediately turn right again (2nd corner of the triangle)
and proceed on RD170 which for a few hundred yards is paved. Go figure!
Ascend the southern slope of Mt. Bruno on RD170 for about 1.8 miles. There was a
gate at this point but this morning it was open. It has the appearance for
having been open for some time. I drove another 0.1 mile where RD166 goes off
to the left and parked my rig there in a small landing. Mount Bruno is directly
to the northeast. Take a moment here and plan your assault route.
Walk up RD170 another 50 yards where RD167 splits off to the left. Walk up RD167
about 250yds until it begins to level out. At this point, an unmarked spur road
continues up the hill to the right. Take this short spur road till it ends.
At this point, I recommend heading towards the deep timber from the end of the
spur road and going directly to the summit. The second growth area (summit approach
is partially logged) is full of briars, neck high bushes, and tripping vines. The
walk through the thick forest was not too bad, though full of many downed trees.
Needless to say, there is no trail.
I reached the summit area in about 30 minutes from my rig. The summit is completely
forested with thick timber. There was a small cairn marking the summit. There
are plenty of trees for dipoles but no branches for maybe 100 ft. I strapped my
SOTA pole to a downed tree. There are no real views from the summit.
The summit looked like an RF prison. So many big trees, and so close together. I
had to carefully position my EFHW to keep it away from branches. I figured I'd
be lucky to get any signal out of there.
Boy, was I wrong. Contacts came hot and fast. Sunspots were in the 50's. A index
was good. Worked England and Spain plus 20 or so stateside stations. The RF gods
must have been pleased with my efforts. I suppose they wanted a little more from
me however as somehow I left the top cap for my SOTA pole up there. I looked every
where but could not find it.
