The hike to Eagle Cliff on Stateline National Recreation Trail #738 has many scenic views along the route including alpine cirque basins and alpine lakes, Cliff and Diamond, and some small unnamed lakes. Wildlife encountered along the trail were mule deer, several dusky grouse and a family of Clark’s nutcrackers.
A steep trail climb breaks onto an open grassland with scattered Rocky Mountain subalpine fir makes this summit a great operating position. Located on the Idaho/Montana border it has panoramic views of the regrown forest after the great burn of 1910. Early season wildflowers can be abundant including glacier lilies, buttercups and western pasqueflowers.
Blackrock Peak is named for the dark gray to black lichens growing on the summit boulder field. The rock itself is mostly light tan-colored and from a distance the dark lichen patterns appear like large stationary cloud shadows draped over the summit and adjoining ridges.
The Skinny:
Trail head: 44.9022, -121.7979
Trail Turn: 44.8958, -121.8424
Hike Distance : 6 miles round trip
Hike Elevation gain: 1600 ft
The Story:
Bad Luck Mountain is an old US Forest Service Lookout site that had a structure from 1939 till about 1980. Only a few concrete blocks remain today. The summit is mostly forested now with 25-40 year-old Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine. Open grassland falls steeply from the summit to the south.
NC-066, in my head named "Souther Saddle" (even though it's not part of a saddle pair), was a nice bike ride into Stimson forest land. This peak forms the lower point of a triangle between South Saddle NC-002 and NC-065, commonly a paired activation. One could easily do both NC-065 and 066 in a day, provided enough time to hike or bike this route. There are also a number of other nearby peaks on the way in/out of the forest area that could be paired if you had time in the day.
4.8 mi, +1,870 feet, -600 feet
This is a nice hike on a good trail with great views – particularly of the Red Mountain & Caribou Mountain regions of the Scapegoat Wilderness. This hike is close enough to the Scapegoat Wilderness that it is prudent to be Bear-Aware.
This was literally my first activation. I've been thinking about SOTA on and off for 7+ years now. Ray & Max posted a trip that they took to this same summit maybe 6 years ago, but I took a different route. Looking at the maps, and reading the rules, the route they took is along the OHV roads which are closed to vehicle traffic. The entirety of Horse Ridge is closed to motorized vehicle travel. Instead, I parked along the south edge of the Horse Ridge area along Ford road, along a spot where I could easily pull off and not be in the road itself.
3620 is a fairly easy summit to reach and activate when visiting the Camp Sherman-Upper Metolius River Area. Access involves a half-mile hike up from Forest Route 1270 with about 300ft elevation gain. The downside to this summit is the area was burned badly from past wildfires and the hike requires a bushwhack up an abandoned fire road.
The summit is somewhat flat with a wide activation zone, but very brushy. There are some live trees to hang a wire, but a support mast is recommended. I had good Verizon service and was able to self spot.