Good Views From Summit

Climb:                 3.3 mi, +2,461 feet

Approach:           6.4 mi., +874 feet, -535 feet

Overview:

Ascent:

Our adventure began at 8 a.m. from the Hannegan Trailhead. The trail offered a mostly shaded ascent to Boundary Camp, which was a welcome relief in the early hours. However, it's worth noting that this section is south-facing and can become quite hot by midday. The initial elevation gain was relatively gradual, with about 500 feet per mile over the first four miles.

Heading into the 2024 W7O Campout weekend, I was 36 points shy of Mountain Goat. K6ARK and I hit some strategic drive ups on the way down for 10 points, and then knocked out 24 points on the Siskiyou Crest. That left me at 998 points going into Saturday. I didn't want to activate just any summit for my MG, I wanted something that called back to the mountaineering I was doing when I first got licensed and learned of SOTA.

Summary - Table Rock from the Rooster Rock trailhead is an adventure hike: rough trail, one bog, some very steep sections, a bit of bushwhacking and route finding. The hike, which climbs to Rooster Rock and then traverses the ridge to Table Rock is 8.5mi round trip with 3000ft of up, is probably not for the faint of heart.

This is a fairly easiy ascess summit, good for a quick activation if in the area. Start by taking Parish Lake road off Highway 22 at (44.525530, -121.994293).

I hiked this with Bill K7WXW and my wife as part of a two summit hike.  Bill did a good job of covering the hike.  There is lots of overgrown shrubbery on the bottom half, but it is does not rise to the level of bushwhacking at this time.  Give it a few more years wihtout trail maintenance and it will be more interesting.  This was a enjoyable hike with great views and good 2m contacts into Portland.

Summary - Rocky Top, on the edge of the Beachie Creek Lionshead burn, is a short hike, about .75mi and 700ft, from the trailhead. The drive up from HW22 is 8.5 miles, much of it narrow, exposed and rough but doable with 2WD. You may want to stop at the trailhead for the Arch and hike the last two miles of road up.  The hike, unshaded and generally steep, ends in a small, rocky, burned over, summit.

Summary - Mount Beachie, on the edge of the Beachie Creek Lionshead burn, is hiked from a trailhead above Elk Lake.  The fire burned over the top here, so it is a little desolate on top. 2M contacts, with a better-than-stock antenna, are possible. I did not turn on APRS.  The trail is rough the whole way and by turns, steep, rocky, buggy, boggy, and overgrown.

Summary - Battle Ax, on the edge of the Beachie Creek Lionshead burn, is hiked from a trailhead above Elk Lake. The trail is often rough and rocky and the last quarter mile, steep. The hike from the trailhead to the summit is about 2.6mi and 1700ft. Trekking poles and shoes good on rock are handy. The summit is open, with the remains of a lookout and views of all the big mountains; you'll need a mast to put up an HF wire.  2M contacts, with a better-than-stock antenna, are possible. I did not turn on APRS and ATT digital service was in and out.