Blogs

Climb:                   3.2 mi, +2,423 feet (From White River trail at Cliff Creek)

Approach:           27.4 mi., +4,544 feet, -4,281 feet (From Benchmark)

Cox Benchmark is a Drive up summit near Lakeview OR.

There is a small RF site on top, but we experienced no interference from it.

The last bit of road, approximately one mile and 500 feet of gain, is a bit rough and overgrown in places. We drove it in a Rav4, but you could park near the start of it at 42.39478, -120.36527. This would avoid needing higher clearance and northwest pin stripes.

Abert Rim is a 6-point drive-up summit in the Warner Mountains area of the Fremont-Winema National Forest.

Fish Creek Mountain is a 6.3 mile RT hike with 2300 feet of elevation gain.

Access to the trail head is on good roads, mostly paved with good gravel for the final bit.

East Canyon Ridge is a summit in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, near Mt. Adams. The summit is along a well used multi-mode trail that sees some mountain bike and moto traffic, though very light on the day of my activation. Huckleberries were ample during my visit in late summer, as well.

Climb:                   4.6 mi, +3,170 feet

Approach:           11.8 mi., +1,102 feet, -925 feet

Getting there: I rode my mountain bike from Sherman Pass, activated Columbia Mountain, and then continued on to Wapaloosie Mountain before backtracking and descending Jungle Hill. Trails are in decent enough condition and there is nothing about the tread that would make them difficult to hike. I did drive the roads to all the trail heads and the road to this one is in good condition. I found it quite passable in my Subaru Forester.

Forbidden Peak is a ten point summit that is one of the most popular rock climbing objectives in the Cascade mountains. The summit can be approached from three ridges, with the West Ridge being the easiest and most frequently climbed. The West Ridge is famous for high-exposure, high quality 4th and easy 5th class climbing and a crux at 5.6. It is listed in the 1979 climbing guidebook "Fifty Classic Climbs of North America" by Steve Roper and Allen Steck.

Augspurger Mountain in the Columbia Gorge is a 4-point summit near Dog Mountain and Wind Mountain. Historically, the approach from the south (via Dog Mountain) was considered de-facto and is reputed to be long and strenuous. An alternate was found, however, from the north side that, while steep in places, is shorter. 1.6 miles and 1300ish feet of elevation get you to the AZ with good gorge and mountain views, some nice duffy sections and some moderate exposure in areas, requiring careful footing.

3914, SE-178 is a non-prominent prominence located near nothing, well between Vale Oregon and Lake Owyhee Reservoir. For a real 4x4 it’s a drive up, but the ruts became to deep for our Rav4 (eight inches of clearance.) The road we took was not on a map and the road were looking for that was on the map wasn’t discoverable by us on the ground. As you can see from the track attached to sotl.as there is almost no elevation gain. The summit is a long ridge in a bumpy landscape. We had difficulty figuring out which lump it was.