Ascent:
Our adventure began at 8 a.m. from the Hannegan Trailhead. The trail offered a mostly shaded ascent to Boundary Camp, which was a welcome relief in the early hours. However, it's worth noting that this section is south-facing and can become quite hot by midday. The initial elevation gain was relatively gradual, with about 500 feet per mile over the first four miles.
Summary - Mount Beachie, on the edge of the Beachie Creek Lionshead burn, is hiked from a trailhead above Elk Lake. The fire burned over the top here, so it is a little desolate on top. 2M contacts, with a better-than-stock antenna, are possible. I did not turn on APRS. The trail is rough the whole way and by turns, steep, rocky, buggy, boggy, and overgrown.
Summary - Battle Ax, on the edge of the Beachie Creek Lionshead burn, is hiked from a trailhead above Elk Lake. The trail is often rough and rocky and the last quarter mile, steep. The hike from the trailhead to the summit is about 2.6mi and 1700ft. Trekking poles and shoes good on rock are handy. The summit is open, with the remains of a lookout and views of all the big mountains; you'll need a mast to put up an HF wire. 2M contacts, with a better-than-stock antenna, are possible. I did not turn on APRS and ATT digital service was in and out.
General: As a Klickitat Cunty highpoint, this is surprisingly activated often by the PeakBaggers. I saw a lot of boot traffic. See https://peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=310 for a lot of trip reports and .gpx tracks.
Directions: From Goldendale WA, take SR97 north 14.5mi to Ski Lodge Rd. West exit. Go past the old Ski Lodge and west past Simcoe Butte/MC-051 which is on Yakima Tribal Lands. Side trip: drive up the narrow road to the summit for spectacular view of the Yakima and Simcoe valleys.
I had corresponded with Matt W7MDN and he graciously sent me a GPS track for this summit. His previous account is here.
However, upon arrival at the gate, I was met with a No Trespassing sign which included rather explicit details about the lead that would be sent my way if I chose to ignore the sign.
I was unable to locate another way across the private property from Rail Canyon Rd to the WA Resource Management Area.
The summit is in the middle of a Christmas tree farm owned by Fox Farms. There is a graveled road (about ½ mi) to the top. There is several commercial comms at the summit and all protected by cameras. The access road is “generally” wire rope gated. The property is not posted.
This is a burned-over scattered forest summit with few live trees. Parking at the trailhead is limited but several places within 200’ exist. Finding a place without snags limited parking to a couple of areas west of the trailhead at the curve in the road. The one above the road is near an Idaho/Montana boundary post. That post was placed in 1905 at mile 393.121 per information received from W7LIX.
From Pocatello Idaho go South on I-15. Turn off onto Highway 30 towards Lava Hot Springs. Proceed to the Lava Hot Springs golf course and take Smith Canyon Rd South approximately 3.2 miles until you hit the Forest Service Boundry at 42.54653, -112.06385. There is no trailhead so you will have to park safely on one of the nearby pullouts.
This summit is located off of Highway 30 Northwest of Soda Springs ID. Turn North off of Hwy 30 at the Old Oregon Trail highway. Take this road a couple of miles until you reach Windmill Flat Rd on your right. Follow this road approx. 1.75miles stopping at the cattle guard. From here you will see an old 4 wheeler trail going up the fence line on your right which is now closed by the BLM. Follow the fenceline until the corner posts. Here you will need to bushwhack approx 1.3 miles to the summit. There is approxiately 1000 ft lift in this bushwhack.
Pinnacle Peak is quite a drive, at which there is no real parking, and no trail, which I suspect is why it hadn't been previously activated - that and the two points. Fun nonetheless, a sense of accomplishment, and some good views to the east.