Calimus is a drive up summit with manned lookout that was built in 1920. Very cute little lookout and great views of course. When I went Sharon was working and was very welcoming and we had a great tour and visit. She couldn't join me for the activation because she was on extreme fire watch, unable to leave her upstairs and radios. She knew some other hams including a neighboring lookout worker at Spodue.
Went to Little Applegate after Applegate. It was a jeep road the last bit on RD 4513-300, off of road 4518. I started the hike up at 42.68112, -121.70485. There is a bit of an open path up to the summit using an old grown over road. Easy trek, about 1mi RT. The mountains around here are some of my favorite to hike because of the ground. Most everywhere is a layer of pine needles over pumice so it is like walking on a soft cushioned ground.
Applegate Butte is a drive up summit with equipment on top. There are a couple nice flats to set up in between two areas of equipment. I had zero issue with RFI doing hf. We came here from Soloman Butte so not a typical route, taking some of the east side roads from Soloman over to Applegate. Most roads were ok other than on Soloman. Probably the easiest access is from Road 600 east of Chiloquin and then take RD 4510 north.
de AG7GP
Solomon Butte on a map looks like it has roads going everywhere but it really doesn't. To get to a good start you will want to get to RD 4504 that somewhat circles the summit part way up. This is a jeep road with some tight pin striping opportunity in some areas and soft pumice your tires will sink in in other portions.
This was my second time to visit Huffraker. Last year, the property owner had closed the area due to fire danger. This year, it was reopened. However, last year I was able to drive all the way to the edge of Gifford-Pinchot NF and park. This year, there was an incredible amount of blowdown that had not been cleared which added another 4 miles to this hike bringing it to overall 6.3 miles RT. It may be that, due to the late season snow, once the mushroom pickers get busy some of the blowdown will get cleared.
6.0 Miles, +2,400 ft, - 120 ft
These instructions are from the trailhead that is open to full-sized vehicles July-1 to October-14. OHV’s that are less than 50-inches wide can drive to the summit from July-1 to September-7. The full-sized vehicle trailhead is suitable for must vehicles.
WTA has a good Trail Report at https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2015-03-26.4118740807 with good general directions to PCT parking off the paved FS-5603 road.
This was the first activation of the summit. This was a straight-up bushwhack climb of around 500 feet and a ½ mile. Just before the summit there is a 15-foot vertical rock scramble. After searching around I found a route that I felt safe attempting. My fears far outweighed the reality.
This was the first activation of Spring Benchmark. Prior knowledge would have been helpful, but some early google earth research resulted in a successful ascent/activation.
It's rare to find trails that are as well worn as Quartzite in this area. This trail is basically an urban hill near Chewelah, WA and sees regular use. The first half mile is the steepest, with several forks to switchbacks. All trails lead back to the main trail. In every case, take the less steep fork and avoid creating an erosion a path. The campsite at the one mile point is a good rest stop with summit register. The real summit though (and AZ) is another 1/2 mile. Follow the trail as it traverses two false summits to the actual summit at 1.5 mi in.