No View From Summit

The mountains near Marble Mountain hold snow for longer at a lower elevation than other nearby mountains, so keep that in mind. Even at 2600 feet elevation, which is pretty low, there was still 2 feet of snow on the road all the way up to where I left the road to bushwhack the rest of the way to the summit. 

There is a bridge out but someone has laid the guardrails from the old bridge across the creek and that works for crossing on foot. You could carry a bike across if needed. 

The weather this week was looking like it would be good, so I wanted to get in my March summit. I wanted to make it a challenge of some sort, so I decided to go for my first first activation. The Olympic Peninsula has a fair number of unactivated hills still, and a lot of them are on USFS land. I started exploring and found Peak 1620.

You can access Wolf Point if you purchase a Weyerhaeuser permit https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. The permit is valid for a year and gets you a map that you can load into an app on your phone as well as a key to the Recreation Access Gates.

You can access Meridian Mountain if you purchase a Weyerhaeuser permit https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. The permit is valid for a year and gets you a map that you can load into an app on your phone as well as a key to the Recreation Access Gates.  Take I5 N to exit 42, then Ostrander Road to Rec Permit Access Gate 010.

Due to the recent relocation of Frog Lake Buttes from one butte to the other earlier this year, I was anxious to do another double activation on New Year's Eve.  See my previous report for details on the route.  The only difference is you must continue on from the radio towers down to the saddle and on up the other butte.  Still very worth it for 14 pts.

Ball Mountain is a relatively easy drive-near summit in the Oregon coast range, east of Lincoln City. Your passenger vehicle will get you close to the summit, followed by a short walk and then a bushwhack, neither of which is challenging. The summit area itself is treed in with ample space to set up and plenty of trees for antennas.

Nineteen Mountain is one of several two-point summits accessible from Weyerhaeuser rec permit access gate 6110. For permit information see: https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com.

This is a drive-up summit into the activation zone.  A couple of concrete blocks and a tall steel antenna mast indicate the site was a possible old Timber Company repeater station when the land was under different ownership. The summit ownership is now US Forest Service.

Summary - Crazy Hills, along with Lone Butte, is on the western boundary of Indian Heaven Wilderness, near the Lone Butte Sno Park. The drive is mostly on paved roads by way of Carson (Wind River and Meadow Creek) and includes a 1.5 mi hike (mostly cross country). Drive time from Portland is about ninety minutes. The summit hike follows a ridge and requires a short steep climb to the high point.  APRS is good, ATT cell is servicable, two meter contacts are a struggle.

Getting There: DO NOT USE GOOGLE MAPS TO GET HERE!!!! Google maps will lead you straight to a gated road. Have your GPS open or a map next to you while you try to navigate this. From highway 14, turn North on Rock Creek Driver like you're headed to Skamania Lodge. Continue half a mile and then turn left on Foster Creek Road. Next turn left on Red Bluff Road which will become CG-2000. Continue a little less than a mile until you see the intersection with CG 2022 splitting up the hill to the left.