Trailhead has ample, free, accessible parking
On a brief vacation in Southern California to visit family, I managed to activate three (3) SOTA peaks. This is report 1 of 3 for this trip.
San Gabriel is 1,878 Meters, 6,161 feet elevation. It is a 6 point SOTA Summit.
Identified by SOTA as Chuckanut Mtn, this peak is better known as Blanchard Mountain and is part of the Chuckanut Range. it is located on State Trust Land managed by the DNR. More information about the area may be found at:
A DNR Blanchard Forest Block map can be downloaded at:
http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/amp_rec_blanchard_fb_2012.pdf
When the snow is gone, this is a easy two point summit not far off of Highway 26 east of Mount Hood.
A bit past milepost 63 and just before Blue Box Pass there is a right turn onto two forest roads - take the right one (pictured). A carefully driven passenger car might be able to navigate this road, but having high clearance would make it easier. And the distances are reasonably short so parking when the road gets too rough and walking a mile or so on a forest road could be an option.
All of our trips to Lopez Island seem to involve a bike ride, and today was no exception. After a brisk ride in this year's annual Tour de Lopez, KG7JEH and I left the latex-clad crowd at the finish line for some SOTA de Lopez action. As it turned out, that action didn't last too long before my battery was down to 10 volts and I called it a day.
After taking the ferry ride from Anacortes to Lopez Island, getting to the trailhead is easy, and directions can be found with Google Maps - search for "Lopez Hill Trailhead".
This Friday afternoon activation happened on a cool day with the sun breaking through a few clouds for a beatiful sky above the epic scenery. It takes a ferry ride from Anacortes to Orcas Island to get here, but it's sure worth the trip! The main road goes from the ferry dock right through Moran State Park. Turn left at the Y onto the Mt Constitution road, which can take you all the way to a sizeable parking lot at the top. A brief pathway leads up to the peak with a stone lookout tower that is just too cool not to climb.
An early ferry ride out of Anacortes took me to Orcas Island and, after a short drive, I arrived at the Cascade Falls trailhead by about 7 AM. My plans included biking in about 3 miles and hiking up the last 3/4 mile to the summit. Wrong. I was 1/2 hour into the ride when 2 facts became clear: 1. My hybrid bike was not up to the task of handling that muddy, rocky, slippery road - no matter how much air I let out of the tires. 2. My lungs, legs, and nerves weren't up to the task either. I took the bike back down to the truck and began again.
There are at least four trails that approach the summit of Big Huckleberry Mountain - we choose the Pacific Crest Trail from the south for about 8.6 miles round trip and 1400 feet of net elevation gain (1900 total).
Here's a six point summit to tackle on a nice summer day - we tried it with lots of snow and found a blizzard at the top in mid-April. The trail is on a road of about 7 miles round trip and about 1800 feet of gain.
On 27 March Etienne (K7ATN) and I activated Silver Star mountain. The weather report called for rain with a break around mid day. We headed to the trailhead, Route: Washougal, WA to Washougal River Road (approx. 10 mi), to Skye Rd to 412th AVE to Skamania Mines Rd. Follow the signs to silver star. We reached the TH at about 0840 and started up the trail. At about 1/8 of a mile the trail splits, take the right split. We found out the hard way and got about 1/4 mile down the trail before I checked the map and realized we were on the wrong trail.
Check out my blog at http://kf7pxt.blogspot.com/2014/03/larch-mountain-w7wlc-103-sota.html for additional information.
Here is my everytrail post with downloadable GPX tracks - http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2713566
