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Groundhog Mountain, OR | July 2022

K7AHR's picture
Summit: 
W7O/CM-045
Voice Cellular Coverage: 
Decent, workable
Data Cellular Coverage: 
Decent, workable
Cellular Provider: 
Other
APRS Coverage: 
Don't know

I headed out to do this one as a combo with W7O/CM-050; I did not due to heat and a boulder, but I recommend attempting it if you're in the area.

From Oakridge, turn south on the east side of town onto NF23. Turn left onto NF2308 (one lane paved road, named, but I forgot the name) then after a little over a mile, bear right to go uphill, onto now a gravel road 2307 (Verdun Creek Road?) Maybe two miles later, you may not notice that you continue straight onto NF-2309 (Groundhog Mtn Road on some maps) instead of turning right to continue on NF-2307. Just continue to follow this road up til you get to 43.575, -122.336, then turn right up a more-rocky road, but still navigable by a careful Honda Fit driver.

 

Park at the pullout at 43.581, -122.328, and scramble up the embankment into the adjacent meadow. Ascend to the ridge, then just walk through the forest along the Ridgeline towards the west. I found the south side to be clear sometimes when the Ridgeline was a little full, and it's much steeper to the north in post places, so the south side is your best bet. When you get to a little (natural) wall of rocks that need to be scrambled up, the summit is at the top of them, or just activate from below them-- but climbing up was no big deal.

 

All in all, a very manageable 1.8-mile, 500' hike. I highly recommend pairing this with CM-050 to the east (for the direct route, follow NF-2309 another .6 miles, turn left on the very pleasant connector road NF-437, then left again on NF-2120, which continues past Moss Mtn, and eventually down to NF-23 again, on the far side of Wolf Mtn, and all pretty pleasant for a passenger car) and also CM-031, Wolf Mountain, a drive-up.