Howlock Mountain, OR | July 2025

Howlock Mountain had caught my eye during the 2023 W7O Campout. It was an unactivated summit off trail north of Thielsen and south of Tipsoo. For 2025, Adam K6ARK and Mark KD7DTS proposed doing the ridge traverse from Tipsoo (W7O/CS-195). After some VHF shenanigans on Tipsoo, we backtracked on the trail briefly before leaving it and descending south. 

The initial descent from Tipsoo and crossing of the PCT is fairly open country. After crossing the PCT we ascended a bit and then did our best to contour along the west side of the ridge. Eventually trees are left behind and the path forward is through talus fields under rocky cliffs. Like typical Oregon talus, it requires careful navigation through the often loose blocks. See below photo for the approximate route. 

We turned the corner at 43.19333, -122.04131 and headed up scree towards the Howlock saddle. The hiking is steep and trecherous in places. Once on the saddle, we were greated with some of the butterfly migration that had be reported throughout the campout. The scramble up the summit block was on solid rock and easy moving. 

Howlock's summit is small, but there are some good operating positions. It was crowded with the three of us. Mark and Adam set up a 70cm double zepp that is also resonant on 2m and Mark got the FA on 2m CW with the Quansheng. After him, I took a turn and tried out his straight key. I got my first ever straight key QSO (Thanks KD7QOW!). We did not find a summit register, but there is a stick wedged in the rock. 

Adam set up his Virbroplex Bug and did a run on 2m cw. Shenanigans was the theme of the campout and especially this activation. I set up my KX2 and EFRW for some HF runs. I would recomend a vertical antenna like the AX1 given the small amount of space on the summit, but we made the compromised deployment work. 

For the descent, we opted to scree ski straight down from the saddle. This made quick work of the descent and we bushwacked our way through some tight trees to the PCT. I think this could be an alternative ascent route. We followed the PCT until 43.21088, -122.04060 where we cut left to contour back to the Tipsoo trail. Here is the track from this hike. All in all this was a great adventure hike with friends. 

Pictures: