No View From Summit

Start at the Lewisburg Saddle in the OSU research forest. Hike the Vineyard Mountain Trail shown on the maps provided at the trailhead or you can walk the Nettleton road. Trail was by far the better choice. while hiking you will pass mountain bikers on the way down as well as other hikers and this trip we came across some horseback riders. Roughly 2.5 miles to the summit. you can either go through the gate on the right side at the end of the trail and walk to the top past a private house. End of the road is a gate to the tower site. No trespassing signs are visible.

Vineyard Mountain is 2 miles north of Corvallis, OR. Its an easy,
summit for beginners.

From Corvallis, travel north on OR-99W till reaching the "City
Limits Store" at Lewisburg (red light). Turn left onto Lewisburg Rd.
for 1.3 miles. Then, take the right side fork onto Sulfur Springs Rd.
Go another 1.3 mi up to Lewisburg Saddle. At the Saddle, there is
parking for maybe a dozen cars. It's a popular and crowded place.
Go slow near there.

From the trailhead at the Saddle, head NNW on Nettleton Rd. #500.

6.5 miles RT with 1100 feet of elevation gain from the pavement. I suggest this is where you start. None of the track is steep, but there are some steeple chase logs and at one point the road was so over grown we lost it.

This is another peak in the Stimson family of parcels, specifically the region they call "Wildcat/Munson Creek". Pleasantly, this parcel is open to recreational walk-in access all days of the week from sunrise to sunset. Note though as with all Stimson property, it will be closed during the summer fire season starting at IFPL2 and higher. Access aside, it's a pleasant enough hike and nice open summit but not much for views. The ascent takes you around the back of Munsen Falls State Park. The path is a 2.3 mile hike one-way with 1700ft gain.

 Driving directions:

This summit is a good pairing with Cedar Mountain (W7I/NP-119), though a bit of a long hike around 8 miles RT for both.

Starting from State Highway 231 northbound towards Chewalah and turn right on Hafer Rd.  The turn left on Cottonwood Creek Rd and then right on Horseshoe Lake Rd.  Finally, there is a left turn on Mud Lake Rd.  This is somewhat rough and I would not do it after a heavy rain.  Alternatively, follow 231 into town and turn right on Flowery Trail Rd to the other end of Mud Lake Rd.  In any case, you can park at the Quartzite Mt Trailhead.  There are several spots available up and down the road.

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.

I activated Wolf after Meridian Mountain.  From Meridian, head down Road 049 then LEFT on 050 then turn right on 1600, then Left on 200, Right on 200P, Left on 220P, Left on 224. Road is in AZ.  Pictures of summit on SOTA Atlas.

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. Take Road 010 to Road 049 to summit.  The AZ is off the road, the true summit is densely treed.  Summit pic on SOTA Atlas.