Boulder Mountain is one of prominent mountains to the East of McCall Idaho. It is just north of the very recognizable Jughandle Mountain. Boulder Reservoir, Boulder lake and Louie Lake (at the base of Jughandle Mountain) are fairly popular summer day hikes in the McCall Area. Boulder Mountain itself is probably rarely visited as it quite a bit farther than the popular lake destinations.
A nice hike through second growth forest will get you to the former fire lookout site on top of Stormy Mountain. You might consider activating Slide Peak, W7W/CH-202 as you'll be passing right by the trailhead for that summit.
A short, steep and rough climb will get you to the summit of Slide Peak.
W7M/CL-023 may be climbed easily climbed from the Scapegoat Plateau. The approach is 17 to 21 miles – depending upon which route one chooses to access the plateau. The southeast ridge of the mountain is a good approach and offers great views of the plateau. The Plateau is prime grizzly bear habitat – so be “Bear Aware”!
Walk up the relatively gentle northwest ridge from the Scapegoat Plateau to attain the summit. The approach is 17 to 21 miles – depending upon the route that one chooses to access the plateau. The summit ridge has an interesting and fragile rock outcropping that is decaying to become talus. The summit offers incredible views of the surrounding mountains and the magnificent Scapegoat Plateau. The Plateau is prime grizzly bear habitat and the grassy meadows at the base of this summit are a favorite foraging area – so be “Bear Aware”!
Flint Mountain may be easily climbed up its southeast sloping ramp from the Scapegoat Plateau. The approach is 17 to 21 miles – depending upon which route one chooses to access the plateau. The cliff band that guards the eastern side of the mountain slopes downwards to the left (south) and can easily be topped towards the left. After topping the cliff band, walk along the bench northwards until you reach a trail (visible in photo) that ascends the steep side-slope towards the summit ramp. Follow the grassy ramp to the summit.
Githens Mountain in the Clackamas River drainage is a short, one mile hike and only about 500 feet of gain. It can be activated along with nearby Tumala (Squaw) Mountain from the same trailhead. Finding the summit may require a GPS, as it's not on the trail and isn't particularly distinct.
Tumala (or Squaw) Mountain in the Clackamas River drainage is a nice walk through the woods of about 2.5 miles RT and about 800 feet of net gain.
Once you find Sharps Creek Road, you can follow it to the trail head with ease. You should not try the road to the trail head unless you have a 4x4 as rocks and ground clearance will give you trouble. During the summer, the look out is manned only from around noon to 4:00 pm. This is when the gate will be unlocked at the trail head. Otherwise, it is a very nice trail (1.1 mile dirt road ) to the summit. At the top I had ZERO cell coverage! (AT&T) No way to spot myself! So I called CQ on the usual 20m SOTA freqs with no respnse.
On Saturday 25 June we were once again heading back from Eastern Washington. It had been almost 2 years to the day since I had been on Red Top lookout. The days are long so we had plenty of time to head up. It was an amazing hike and amazing views.
The directions at WTA are perfect for getting to the Trailhead: http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/red-top-lookout. The WTA site says round trip 1.5 miles. My GPS said it was right at 1 mile and 345 ft of elevation hike.