Shady Trail

This blog entry is for those wanting to hike to the Mount Hebo summit in lieu of driving.  Drive up Mount Hebo Road from Hwy 22 approximately 4.5 miles to the Hebo Lake Campground.  There is a day use parking area at the campground with a $5 day use fee.  The Pioneer Indian Trail begins from the parking area and heads south into the forest.  The trail is well defined and meanders for 4 1/2 miles through the forest with occassional meadows to just below the Mount Hebo summit.  Don't be fooled by the

Depending on how far you choose to drive, Gray Butte will be a 1.4 mile road hike (OW) with about 1200 feet gain. There's another summit that could add another two points with 1.8 miles of hiking. Although I was thinking that the road might require high clearance, a Prius drove up after me - so know your vehicle.

Lookout Mountain is a lovely hike of about 1.75 miles (OW), close to Round Mountain-W7O/CE-045 so you might consider doing both of those peaks. Note that there are MANY Lookout Mountains - this one is east of Prineville.

La Forêt is a forested one-point summit near La Motte-Servolex, France. Heading east on A43, just before the tunnel, exit at Lac d'Aiguebelette, pass through the toll plaza, take the first exit from the roundabout and then the next right. After you pass under the A43 and after about 400m, take a sharp left onto Route du Terreau and wind up the hills towards Ayn on D36E. Pass through Ayn and continue on D37 to Route du Montigon. A GPS will be quite useful in getting to the trailhead.

Quick notes: I have Google Fi, which uses T-Mobile and Sprint. Cell service is great, if you have a view to the northeast. Otherwise, it dies, and quickly. This was obvious when I was trying to stay in contact with people throughout the hike, leading to cutting in and out throughout the trip. I got it into my head to try a 4-pointer with no activations, and I saw a prime candidate, of only .7 miles with a gain of only a few hundred feet! What a find! Only problem is, there's no trail. Well, that's no problem!

After reading K7EEX's warning about Stimson land, I reviewed the maps and Peakbagger reports, and found that a 2.6-mile trail existed starting right from the edge of US 26, up Shields Road, and staying on Tillamook State Forest land for the majority of the trip. In fact, this summit can be activated without ever stepping foot on Stimson land, as the boundary of their land is just a little higher than the activation region, but Stimson has a permissive access policy for non-motorized, leave-no-trace day use, so read their stipulations and head right up.

Here's an easy road walk in Eastern Oregon of about 2.1 miles round trip and 400 feet of gain. Interestingly, there's only one "Lake Butte" in Oregon - and there's no lake near it.

Here's a nice 2.4 mile round trip hike on a quiet forest road, east of Prineville. Don't get this Wildcat Mountain mixed up with the other three summits with the same name in Oregon.

Humbug is a great hike on the South Coast, even if it is a steep six miles round trip and 1700 feet of gain. Find the well-marked and large parking lot for the trailhead about five miles south of Port Orford, Oregon on the west side of Highway 101. No parking pass is required.

After you climb about a mile, there is a slightly shorter (and slightly steeper) option to take the West Trail - I suggest that you try both, as the West has some nice peak-a-boo views, and the East has some amazing old growth. All trails are well-graded and likely busy during the summer months.

After my first activation on Black Mountain VE7/GV-013 a week ago, I wanted another activation before the rain season starts. I chose Hollyburn Mountain VE7/GV-011 because it seemed just a little more difficult than GV-013. An extra 100m gain shouldn't be too much, right?