Getting to Sabe Mountain is an experience traveling the Magruder Corridor road, a 100-mile narrow road much of which is over 7500’, high for Northcentral Idaho roads. The are no services (gas or other) available along this route and the adjoining roads for 130 miles. According to the US Forest Service brochure, the road, constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1930s has changed little over the decades. It shows.
Nez Perce Peak is on the historic Nez Perce route to the eastern bison hunting grounds. It was also used by prospectors and traders. It is accessed by a steep-unmarked trail approximately 3 miles beginning on the Magruder Corridor road along Deep Creek. The open grassland summit has excellent views of the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness and Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. There are trees for wire antennas or lots of open space for other antennas. Only a few wires, outhouse trail and stacked rock remain of the old US Forest Service Lookout.
This old Forest Service Lookout site has only a crumpled outhouse, concrete anchor blocks and a few pieces of rusted metal remaining. Young trees have grown up and have limited somewhat the view of the surrounding landscape. It is a short, but steep hike very typical of the ‘ridge access trails’ climbing out of the Selway River. Along the trail though are many old ponderosa pine with large rectangles of missing bark on their boles where the historic Nez Perce people peeled back the bark centuries ago to remove the underlayer of sweet cambium, the growing part of a tree (see photo below). Peoples footprints have been on this area for thousands of years.
This summit had never been activated and I now know why! The USGS maps would have you believe there is a road to the summit. There actually was a road when the forestry lookout was standing, but the last 1-1/2 miles of road is now overgrown and would take some guts and a great off-road 4-wheeler to traverse it. These same last miles are steep and unrelenting, though completely forested. When the so-called road ends. there are a few hundred feet of vertical trail required to reach the summt.
On a family vacation to the Lake Tahoe Basin in Nevada and California, I was fortunate enough to Activate 4 peaks in 3 days. This is a description of the Monument Peak Activation. Monument Peak is a 10,067 foot / 3,068 meter high, 8 Point SOTA Summit, which is the apex of Heavenly Ski Resort. It has been activated in winter, via ski lifts and skis, and in summer via trails. This was my second time ascending the peak, the first being in 2009, well before I got into SOTA." src="file:///C:/Users/Mark/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif">
Rock Butte is a short bushwhack with no views or other redeeming qualities in the Activation Zone. It's just past Timothy Lake east of Mount Hood.
In the last few years, I've developed a desire to activate the top 10 summits in the
Willamette Valley region. Miller Mountain is in that list but I've put it off because
its so far from the valley. Its located in south-central Oregon, closest to the town
of Chemult. I guess the placement algorithm treated it like a lost sock that you can't
throw away but you're not sure where to put it.
My approach to Miller Mt. was to take US Hwy 97 south towards Chemult, Oregon. About
0.5 mile north of Chemult, FS 9772 heads west. This road is also marked "Walt Haring
