Lick Benchmark is a six point summit located near John Day Oregon. It is a bit more than ½ miles round trip and 420 feet of elevation gain. So a bit steep. Trail starts at 44.5755, -118.7617. There is a wide spot to park and turn around there. There is an old jeep track that turns into a trail for a bit and then disappears. It is not a bad bushwhack though, in terms of whacking bushes. The benchmark is on a rock outcropping at the summit.
Ingle Mountain is a six point summit near Mt. Vernon Oregon. It is a little over 4 miles round trip with a total elevation gain of ~1100ft, but it seems a bunch more. That is because net elevation gain is only about half of that. So one keeps seeing false summits followed by saddles followed by false summits …
This summit is on BLM land but is landlocked by a large private ranch. I lucked out and talked to the ranch manager and explained SOTA to him, and since it has never been activated, he had his ranchhand escort me to the summit to activate it. He emphasized, in a very nice way, but in no uncertain terms that no one, including myself would activate it again since the access to it is on the ranches property.
*as a side note, they have and will prosecute trespassers so be forewarned.
Thanks,
Bill- de N0DNF
Davis Mtn could be activated with Purcell, W7W/PL-057, via the same access Davis Creek Road. Davis Creek Road goes north from SR12, a few miles east of Randle. Davis Creek Road becomes NF63 which is easily driveable by street vehicles, i.e. "priusable" for about 8 miles. Turn right at 46.58361, -121.81340 onto a high-clearance, at least an AWD, heavily rutted road.
We headed up to Tropo after getting some excellent pointers from Etienne K7ATN. He and Darryl WW7D were also up here a few days ago.
The route we took started from Morton, WA on Hwy 7 northbound. Unfortunately, Google Maps wants to route through private gated property. So we continued on north until NF-74 and turned off there. We followed NF-74 to the crossing with NF-295. Beyond that point, you will need to disregard your vehicle's paint job. The scrub brush is very ingrown on the next section of NF-74.
This was my second time to visit Huffraker. Last year, the property owner had closed the area due to fire danger. This year, it was reopened. However, last year I was able to drive all the way to the edge of Gifford-Pinchot NF and park. This year, there was an incredible amount of blowdown that had not been cleared which added another 4 miles to this hike bringing it to overall 6.3 miles RT. It may be that, due to the late season snow, once the mushroom pickers get busy some of the blowdown will get cleared.
W7I/SI-151 is located near Lava Hot Springs Idaho. The summit is on Idaho Public Land but accessed through posted private land. You MUST get permission from the land owner who is generally reasonable when permission is asked and he has no cultivated crops.
This is a two pointer just outside of Plains Montana. It's a 13 mile drive on forest service roads and then a difficullt scramble over steep, heavily wooded terrain. Add to that the Forest Service cut down hundreds of juvenile trees two years ago in an attempt to eliminate potential fuel for fire prevention. You have to step over many many logs to get to the summit. The scramble is just about two thirds a mile so it's very doable. The view from the top is worth it. Cell coverage is excellent. Carry bear spray as we spotted one on the drive up.
I thought I would update this summit. It has been 10 years since KG7E put up a blog.
if you are planning on doing this summit make sure you do it from Atomic City off of highway 26. If you use Goolgle maps it will suggest you take highway 20 if you are heading from Arco Idaho or Idaho Falls/ Pocatello. if You take Highway 20 you will be going through the Idaho National Energy Laboratory which is closed to the public.
Depending on how much you like the paint on your vehicle, Quilcene Ridge might be a drive-up. Even so, where the slide alder starts significantly encroaching on the road it's only a quarter mile to the summit. So walking is an option.