Easy Trail

If ever in the area I highly recommend detouring up to Agency Hill. The mountain itself recently burned in the 2-4-2 Fire but the view from above is amazing. You look down at Crooked Creek, a winding creek in the basin that eventually gets to Agency Lake. Upper Klamath, Shasta, Mountain Lakes caldera, Crater Lake rim, McLoughlin, Pelican. You can see so much. This whole area has a lot to offer. Lots of eye candy! High clearance vehicle recommended. Follow any map straight up to summit. Plenty of area to set up but you may get a little sooty and it can be dusty.

In looking for my next winter activation, I came across Tom Dick and Harry (W7O/CN-032) which is on the upper portion of SkiBowl West.

We did this summit as a winter snowmobile trip with Cooper Mtn. and Poison Peak.

See full report here:

http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/wu7h/2022-march-04/cooper-mountain-wa-feb-2022

We did this summit as a winter snowmobile trip with Cooper Mtn. and Fox Peak.

See full report here:

http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/wu7h/2022-march-04/cooper-mountain-wa-feb-2022

WW7D and I set out on an adventure to see if we could activate Cooper Mountain via snowmobile. We knew that it was theoretically possible since Cooper Mountain lies on a groomed snowmobile trail. The only intel we had was a 7 day old trail grooming report. We knew from past experience that we might arrive to find the snow park gated or the trail impassible due to downed trees, lack of snow, etc. We decided to roll the dice and make the long journey from the Seattle area to Chelan, WA.

Here is a pavement to trailhead activation if you find yourself in the Columbia River Gorge near White Salmon, WA. A short hike of 1 mile and 700 feet of elevation gain will get you the chance at this 2 pointer. The hike is mostly on a good gravel road and the last bit is easy cross country (for now) as they ran a cat over almost all of it, so not much to push through or step over. There are stumps around and a couple of tall “habitat trees” that are likely in the AZ if you need that sort of antenna support.

We were down in Philomath, OR and decided to check out Marys Peak while we were in the area. I know Marys is thought of as a mostly drive up, but I found a popular hike from lower down on the mountain. The East Ridge trailhead "Connor's Camp" has nice parking and a pit toilet. It is a fee site, so you'll need your forest pass or $5 to fill out a permit. 

I read Tim N7KOM's summit report from last week and decided to get while the getting was good.  Things were still pretty much as he described from the previous weekend.  The 2 trees were still blocking the road.  The good thing about that is that there is a wide spot in the road just around the previous corner to park.  There was only one other wide spot after that to park before the gate and nowhere to turn around. 

UPDATE Jan 2023 - Beacon Rock Trail is closed. You might find status here:

https://www.parks.wa.gov/AlertCenter.aspx?AID=3530&fbclid=IwAR16QwFmuw_Y...

On a overcast Friday morning, I headed out to Beacon Rock State Park to activate this summit.  I was accompanied by KJ7UIP and we parked at the trailhead parking lot.  There are 2 parking lots off highway 14, the eastern one having the restrooms.