Snowking is quite the challenge to get to. The road to the trailhead, not so much. Travis, my climbing partner, and I accessed the trail head via Highway 20, and then via Cascade River Road in Marblemount. Forest Service Road 1570 takes off on the right just after mile marker 14, to get you to the trailhead. There is a couple of Creek crossings, but We went on a thursday night and suffered for the first five miles of super steep climber's trail.
This blog entry is for those wanting to hike to the Mount Hebo summit in lieu of driving. Drive up Mount Hebo Road from Hwy 22 approximately 4.5 miles to the Hebo Lake Campground. There is a day use parking area at the campground with a $5 day use fee. The Pioneer Indian Trail begins from the parking area and heads south into the forest. The trail is well defined and meanders for 4 1/2 miles through the forest with occassional meadows to just below the Mount Hebo summit. Don't be fooled by the
On Sunday, July 21, 2019, my SOTA Buddy, Tim, KG7EJT, and I Activated for the first time Tucquala Peak. This 8 Point SOTA Summit is on the East side of the Cle Elum River Valley, almost across the valley from Mount Daniel and Chimney Rock. On USGS and Forest Service Maps, the peak is shown as Point 6821 for its elevation. Almost 3,500 feet below the summit, lies Tucquala Lake, one of several lakes and swampy areas that lie along the Cle Elum River.
The summit is a developed overlook with a large parking lot for turning around. Great views in all directions, from Pomerelle to Sun Valley, and beyond.
Sisters View is 1.8 miles RT hike of about 600 feet gain or, perhaps less if your vehicle is capable.
This summit is near several others, Gray Butte-W7O/CE-180, Grizzly Mountain-W7O/CE-135 and Pine Ridge-W7O/CE-208.
Depending on how far you choose to drive, Gray Butte will be a 1.4 mile road hike (OW) with about 1200 feet gain. There's another summit that could add another two points with 1.8 miles of hiking or, less if your vehicle is capable.
This summit is near several others, Grizzly Mountain-W7O/CE-135 and Pine Ridge-W7O/CE-208.
Pine Ridge is a steep hike of a little less than one mile (OW) and 800' vertical, close to Gray Butte-W7O/CE-180 and Grizzly Mountain-W7O/CE-135 so you might consider doing other peaks in the area.
Lookout Mountain is a lovely hike of about 1.75 miles (OW), close to Round Mountain-W7O/CE-045 so you might consider doing both of those peaks. Note that there are MANY Lookout Mountains - this one is east of Prineville.
Round Mountain is a road hike of about 2 miles one-way and 1000 feet of gain. It's close to Lookout Mountain-W7O/CE-039 so you might consider doing both of those peaks.Note that there are FIVE Round Mountains in Oregon, with one in CE near Lakeview. This is the Round Mountain east of Prineville.
My son and I did this activation. The starting point for our hike was the intersection of FR 5603 and the Pacific Crest Trail. We parked at this location and started walking down the PCT which was adjacent. We found no trail to the summit so we started bush whacking. It was not too hard. After about an hour, we made the summit.