In my quest to activate all the Portland Metro summits by bike I decided to link together a route that would have me hit Mt Scott (W7O/WV-095) and Mt Sylvania (W7O/WV-096).
N7KOM's blog
Lava Butte, OR | April 2022
Chris KC7UJO and I took advantage of some sunny weather to bike the Deschutes River Trail to Lava Butte. We met at Meadow Camp (Meadow Day Use Area on Google Maps). Chris was on a hardtrail MTB and I was on my cyclocross bike. The first (and last) mile of this out and back is pretty rocky. MTB reccommended, or catch the river trail at another point. I managed as best I could with my commuter tires and dropbars.
Mt St Helens, WA | March 2022
On the last weekend of no permits a weather window opened up for an overnight hike & early morning activation of Mt St Helens. The trail was covered with snow to the parking lot. I hit the trail at 1:20am and made good time to chocolate falls on skis. Somewhere heading up the ridge I had to make the switch to bootpacking the skis. Heavier backpack, but faster travel overall.
Mount McLoughlin, OR | Feb 2022 (Winter Route)
A friend from Eugene wanted to hit Mount McLoughlin in the winter and despite the drive distance from Beaverton, it looked like too beautiful a mountain to pass up. After picking up rental snowshoes from REI in Medford I made it to the Summit Sno-Park TH at sunset. Casey arrived shortly after and we made some quick dinner on our backpacking stoves then turned in for the night.
Marys Peak, Oregon (via East Ridge Trail) | Feb 2022
We were down in Philomath, OR and decided to check out Marys Peak while we were in the area. I know Marys is thought of as a mostly drive up, but I found a popular hike from lower down on the mountain. The East Ridge trailhead "Connor's Camp" has nice parking and a pit toilet. It is a fee site, so you'll need your forest pass or $5 to fill out a permit.
Rogers Peak, OR | Jan 29, 2022
Treefall has been cleared!
When I did this activation there was treefall at 45.64442, -123.54488. This added approx. 1.5-2mile-ish round trip to the hike.
Mt Hood, OR | Jan 2022
Yesterday morning I climbed Mt. Hood (W7O/CN-001) for a sunrise SOTA. I think this was my 6th ascent of Hood. Conditions on the mountain change daily & weekly. This was one of the more difficult ascents & descents.
My friends and I left the climbers lot at Timberline just before 2am. We took our time and made the top of Palmer around 3:40am. After a quick breakfast we continued up the mountain on good solid snow. We were hit with sulfur from Devils Kitchen throughout the hike up.
McKinley Ridge, WA | November 2021
TL;DR: Trailhead for a good "trail" to the AZ: 45.79083, -122.17261
McKinley Ridge, WA | November 2021
TL;DR: Trailhead for a good "trail" to the AZ: 45.79083, -122.17261
Hat Rock, Washington | October 2021
NOTE: Forest Road 9341 is blocked by a rockslide at 46.23071, -121.82871 and there is an additional 3 mi approach to the trailhead on pavement.
This was summit 2 of a 2 First Activation day.