Exposed Trail

I went a different route than K7ATN and drove past the Crooked Creek TH and camp spot on 3615 (which by the way looks like a great spot to camp if not occupied), and drove up 3615-189 on the right. It did require a tight, high clearance trek up the road and moving one log. If you don't make it to the end of the road you may add about 1-2 miles to you trek but it isn't too bad since it is old road. I chose to hike up from the deadend of RD 189 somewhat east eventually making it to the more gradual NW ridge of the mountain and activated from the north peak that is in the AZ.

  Located approximately 50 miles South of Pocatello Idaho. Take the Downey Idaho exit from I-15 . Head south on Highway 91 which takes you through Downey. Turn right onto the old highway 191 (old Malad Hwy). Watch for Cherry Creek road which will be on your left and takes you to the Cherry Creek Campground/Trailhead. 

East Crater Summit can be accessed from the Northwest via PCT (See http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/k7ahr/2020-october-10/east-crater-wa-september-2020 )  or from the east side via East Crater Trail #48 (https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giffordpinchot/recarea/?recid=31748).  This report is for the east side access.

Weaver would possibly be a bit easier with some trail maintenance but the real challenge is the last ascent. Basically all of the 1000' gain is in the last half mile out of about 2 miles OW. Park at the trailhead for Rogue/Umpqua Divide Trail 43.04046, -122.45929. You will hike around the westside of Jackass Mountain then start hiking around the eastside of another peak between Jackass and Weaver. This is where it gets tricky. I continued down trail and then went off trail to summit and it was pretty difficult.

Sherman Peak has an exposed summit / activation zone. I hiked to the summit from Trail 72 along the western slope. Be prepared to hike through large boulder fields; trekking poles helped greatly. Plan to use a mast if using a wire antenna. I ended up using a trekking pole and the tallest dead tree which put my EFHW at around 6' off the ground.

On a recent trip to Riffe Lake, I had the opportunity to activate this summit.

On the way over to Bend, I stopped to activate Black Butte.  I came on Hwy 20 and turned at NF-11 which is also the turn for Indian Ford Campground.  From there I followed north to the turn for NF-1110 (also known as Black Butte Rd) and on around the north of the mountain.  After a hairpin turn, there is one more sharp turn to the right which takes you to the upper trailhead.  The road up to the last turn was in good shape as of this writing.  The upper portion after the last turn was not as good but still very drivable.

This was my first summit on the day of the Central Oregon S2S party.

I had spent the night at the Pine Mountain Observatory Campgrounds which is FCFS so get there early.  If it's full, there are dispersed locations but it's hard to find one in the pitch black dark.  The observatory requires no headlights (only running lights) at the top so take that into account.

In the morning, I drove back down NF-2017 to the trailhead which also double as a cattle watering station.

This was my second summit for the day of the Central Oregon S2S party.

I had spent the night at the Pine Mountain Observatory Campgrounds which is FCFS so get there early.  If it's full, there are dispersed locations but it's hard to find one in the pitch black dark.  The observatory requires no headlights (only running lights) at the top so take that into account.

Bill K7WXW is an early riser, and I was stoked to find someone keen to get up South Sister for a sunrise activation. We set out from the trailhead in the dark at 2:12am PST. Bill had an issue with his headlamp battery. Luckily, I had a spare headlamp to loan him. With that sorted, we hit the trail.