Treacherous Trail

Between October 21 and October 30, 2020, we visited the Sunriver / Bend areas of Oregon.  The cold but clear weather allowed us to Activate 8 SOTA summits in 6 outings.  This report is one of a series, and deals with the Activation of Burma Rd HP, AKA Point 4,230, W7O/CE-304.  Prior to coming to the Bend / Sunriver area, I had contacted Ron, W6PZA, who lives in Bend, Oregon.  I had seen on-line that he had been a very consistent Activator in this area, and reached out to him to possibly arrange some joint Activations.  Happily,

UPDATE: 2025 I found a bit easier trek up, still steep and unstable ground but the take off from the road up the bank is easier. They just logged so there is a clearing up to the BLM line. New track loaded on maps.

TL;DR - Peak 3534 is a twenty to thirty minute drive from South Saddle Mountain (W7O/NC-002) over logging roads. You pass South Saddle to get to 3534 so a two summit, four point day is easy. 4WD, good directions, and GPS are really handy. Once you park, the short hike up is steep but no worries, there's a longer, gentler path, too. The summit has no views, a small open space, trees, good APRS signals, and is RF quiet. Not a summit for hanging out nor the best place for HF antennas but easy to activate with 2M FM.

Between our October 21, 2020 arrival in Sunriver, Oregon, and our October 30 departure, we were fortunate enough to have a spell of mostly cold and dry weather.  This allowed us to Activate 8 SOTA summits in 6 outings.  We also had the opportunity of doing 2 joint Activations with Ron, W6PZA, of Bend, Oregon - which was a lot of fun!  This report is one of a series, and deals with Mount Bachelor, W7O/CM-005.  The mountain is a Strata-Volcano, standing 9,065 feet in elevation.  It is in close proximity to the Three Sisters Wilderness, with its 3 name

East Tonga Ridge is best paired with nearby Mt. Sawyer (KG-052). It is quite a bushwhack to get to the summit of East Tonga, but worth it!

The drive in from HWY 2 is very straightforward. I recommend you read WW7D's report for a good description:

http://www.pnwsota.org/node/610

A 'sorta' near drive-up in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest north of Carson. You can drive within a mile of this unremarkable peak and likely have a nice quiet time playing radio.

East Crater is a peak in the Indian Heaven wilderness. Three years ago, the south side and ridgeline of East Crater were completely burned by a fire that ended up burning about 500 acres in the area, and this fire caused the evacuation of the entire Indian Heaven wilderness area in September of 2017. Not much has grown back on the south side, while the north side, essentially untouched by the fire, is thick with trees.

Turn east off of Fields-Denio Road at 42.1606, -118.6033 onto Whitehorse Ranch Lane.

Turn off of that onto an unmarked road at 42.3111, -118.2625

Go past the right turn to Willow Creek Hot Springs to turn left at 42.2769, -118.2624

Park at 42.2463, -118.2392

From here it is cross country 3.6 miles round trip with 1400 feet of elevation gain.

Pueblo Mountain with 4x4.

Turn off of the Fields-Denio Road at 42.1447, -118.6038.

Make a sharp left at 42.1346, -118.6350.

Stop driving a start walking at 42.0996, -118.6686.

From that last point it is about 2.2 miles round trip with 2200 feet of elevation gain. It is steep, but not technical at all. Route is obvious, but a GPS is always helpful.

Brundage Mountain SOTA brings the thought of riding a chair lift at the ski resort to the summit.  In actuality, the true summit is a mile north of the ski resort are requires a bushwhack for most of the 4 mile round trip.  The views from the summit mostly make up for bushwhack and somewhat dangerous final ascent to the summit.