Highwood Baldy, MT | July 2023
2.73 miles, +1,895 feet
Instructions to Trailhead (Note that there are few, if any, road signs along this access route):
Trail contains no technical obstacles
2.73 miles, +1,895 feet
Instructions to Trailhead (Note that there are few, if any, road signs along this access route):
See Etienne's report for more details. I wanted to add just a few words on the road condition to the upper trailhead (road 370).
It is definitely high clearance and 4WD recommended, quite bumpy with large ruts in places.
However, we made it here and were able to park 500 ft east (43.140115, -122.280369) of the upper trailhead (43.139310, -122.281990).
Frog Lake Buttes is a popular SOTA destination that was moved slightly from its old high point in March of 2023. The old summit plays host to a cell tower and is accessible via both road and trail. The new summit lies approximately 0.4 miles NE of the old one with a deep enough col between the two that a new designator was assigned. This new summit requires a short bushwhack from the old and is easily accessible during summer months.
Hager Mountain, W7O/CE-028 is a moderate to hard hike depending on the length you choose. It can be done as either an 7.5,6 or 4.5 mile RT depending on where you park. Parking at the trailhead on FS RD 28 is the easiest access with longest hike, but if time or energy is a concern driving up the 28-000012 road a couple of miles is worth it. Bring plenty of bug spray and extra water... also some kind of shade if you have it, summit is pretty exposed. There is a picnic table, vault toilet and the fire lookout on summit.
Tallowbox is nice easy summit. <.5mi hike up a gated road. There is equipment, camera lookout, etc up there and I did not get any interference this trip on 20 and 40 with my MTR3B. The drive up is very nice too, paved part way. Great 360 views. de AG7GP
W6/NW-388 is a pretty summit with views of Shasta Bally to the West and Lassen/Mt Shasta to the East. It overlooks the Whiskeytown Lake to the west and the greater Redding area to the east. Simple route finding and around a 3 mile round trip made me wonder why it hasn’t been activated more frequently, I being the second.
TL;DR - Posts on official Multnomah county blogs indicate that E Larch Mountain Road is closed at the ten mile gate for 2023, see: larch mountain road closed and multnomah county larch mountain, so this hike starts at the gate. Note that it requires a 1.6 mile traverse along the road before turning onto FS road 315 (which intersects with trail 441) for a 3.75 mile hike with
Steep, but Priusable route for activating Peak 2905. A one way hike of about 0.9 miles and 100 feet gain. The AZ is on Stimpson Timber land . - not accessible during weekday hours or active logging.
Near Highway 26 milepost 30, turn south onto Shields Road. (About 1.3 miles east of the Sunset Rest Area.) Travel uphill on the main track for 2.1 miles. Note that Google Maps offered several turns just before Shields Road that DO NOT lead to the TH.
I thought I would do an update and pull together the two trip reports for this summit.
http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/k9wbz/2019-april-23/w7onc-060-lone-ridge-ac…
http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/n7un/2016-september-07/lone-ridge-w7onc-060
It is 9.5 miles round trip and 1200 feet of gain from the gate to the summit.
Dusk Point is a 1.8 mile round trip (500 ft vertical) hike off of FR-2364 in the South Olympics. Access is straightforward (once the snow melts!) but FR-2364 does require a high clearance vehicle. The summit is exposed with limited to no shade even though some trees line the perimeter. I did not have any ATT cell service but there is excellent APRS two-way messaging to enable spotting.