Good Parking At Trailhead

Between October 21 and October 30, 2020, we visited the Sunriver / Bend areas of Oregon.  The cold but clear weather allowed us to Activate 8 SOTA summits in 6 outings.  This report is one of a series, and deals with the Activation of Pine Benchmark, W7O/CE-068.  A little earlier in the day, we had Activated Pine Mountain, W7O/CE-058, approximately 1.6 miles SE away, as the crow flies.  This duo makes a fine single day Activation with minimal effort getting from one TH to the other.

Between October 21 and October 30, 2020, we visited the Sunriver / Bend areas of Oregon.  The cold but clear weather allowed us to Activate 8 SOTA summits in 6 outings.  This report is one of a series, and deals with the Activation of Pine Mountain, W7O/CE-058.  On the same day, a few hours later, we also Activated Pine Benchmark, W7O/CE-068, which lies approximately 1.6 miles NW of Pine Mountain.  That Activation will be subject of separate report.

Haystack Mountain is one of several SOTA summits near the Magruder Corridor.  This road divides some of the most wild-country in Idaho, the Selway Bitterroot and Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness areas.   A trail system FS#26, and a non-system hunter trail is near the summit however it is much shorter to just bushwhack from the road through mostly open forest.  Only a short obstacle of downed trees slows the otherwise easy hike.&nbsp

An opportunity for a one-day, three summits activation.  A good US Forest Service road system gets one close enough to activate three summits easily in one day, rare in Western Montana.  Babcock Mountain is forested summit.  The other two summits, Golden Mountain (W7M/GA-141) and Burnt Mountain (W7M/GA-145) are open summits and accessible via short hikes from the same US Forest Service road system.  Trees are available for attaching wire ante

Between our October 21, 2020 arrival in Sunriver, Oregon, and our October 30 departure, we were fortunate enough to have a spell of mostly cold and dry weather.  This allowed us to Activate 8 SOTA summits in 6 outings.  We also had the opportunity of doing 2 joint Activations with Ron, W6PZA, of Bend, Oregon - which was a lot of fun!  This report is one of a series, and deals with Mount Bachelor, W7O/CM-005.  The mountain is a Strata-Volcano, standing 9,065 feet in elevation.  It is in close proximity to the Three Sisters Wilderness, with its 3 namesake volcanos, all over 10,000 feet elevation.  Also in the vicinity is Broken Top, a collapsed volcano of over 9,000 feet elevation.  This nearby combination of peaks, together with a parade of many other strata volcanos from Washington State into Northern California, gives Mount Bachelor stunning vistas in all directions.

One-day, three summits.  A good US Forest Service road system gets one close enough to activate three summits easily in one day, rare in Western Montana.  Burnt Mountain is an open grass/scattered-tree summit.  The other two nearby summits are Golden Mountain (W7M/GA-141) and Babcock Mountain (W7M/GA-146).  Both accessible v

East Tonga Ridge is best paired with nearby Mt. Sawyer (KG-052). It is quite a bushwhack to get to the summit of East Tonga, but worth it!

The drive in from HWY 2 is very straightforward. I recommend you read WW7D's report for a good description:

http://www.pnwsota.org/node/610

One-day triple-summits activation.  A good US Forest Service road system gets one close enough to activate three summits easily in one day, a bit rare in Western Montana.  The other two summits, Burnt Mountain (W7M/GA-145) and Babcock Mountain (W7M/GA-146) are accessible via short hikes from the same US Forest Service road system. 

This summit is located South of Pocatello Idaho. Take Bannock Highway through town and turn at Gibson Jack Rd. The Trailhead is approx 3 miles on paved road. Once at the Gibson Jack TH take either trail 7015 which is a steep, exposed motorized trail...I would only take a dirt bike or 4 wheeler due to the condition of the trail or you can take single track non-motorized trail number 7014 which is longer but less exposed. I generally choose to hike the motorized trail due to time constraints.

  Indian Mtn is South of Pocatello Idaho.  Travel to  Mink Creek Recreation Area Rd. Take a left and head South on Mink Creek Road several miles.You will see a sign saying Kinney Creek Trailhead on your left.  There will be a trail heading East following the creek. About 3 miles up the creek watch for a single 4x4 board going across the creek which connects to a single track trail that will lead you to the summit of Indian Mountain.  .  It is all exposed.