Exposed Trail

Lake mountain has been on my list for quite a while but for some reason I had the impression it was going to be much harder.  I was waiting to do it with a partner for safety reasons but it ended up being a great day of just me and Maggie. It is a steep mountain but most of it is either trailed or open meadow until you get towards the very top. I made the mistake of going straight up not looking at my GPS satellite images and got very tangled up in the manzanita and buck brush. This is definitely not Maggie's favorite way to hike, sometimes refusing.

W7O/SC-214 was a nice little mountain that I did after Holcomb Peak. Basically you drive past Holcomb peak a bit SE and it's pretty self explanatory of where to go. You'll take a small spur road and depends on your vehicle how close you can get. You can park in some large pullouts just a little ways up the road or jeep it another 1/4mi or so. Depends on how much pinstriping you're looking for, it gets narrow with sharp manzanita and no easy turnaround. 

Rock Candy Mountain is an old US Forest Service Lookout site. The summit views are great with cliff cirque basins full of chipmunks, golden-mantle squirrels and chirping pikas, and distant high peaks of the Cabinets Mountains to the south, the Selkirk Mountains to the west and into Canada to the North.

I completed the first activation of Tenas Mountain today. The hike I took and the peak itself are both located within Indian Dan State Wildlife Recreation Area. My route is about a 4 mile round trip with 1000 feet of elevation gain. I parked at the parking area at (48.11129,-119.86790). A Discover Pass is required. The last two miles of the drive was on a dirt road, but it was in excellent condition. From the parking area, I hiked along an old double track road towards the summit. It's easily visible from aerial imagery.

Ice Cave Mountain (Peak 2220) is a moderate hike that requires some route finding, with no established trail. Parking is along the shoulder of a paved road at an elevation of 1350 feet. I estimate that the hike is about 1.5-2 miles round trip, with about 900 feet of elevation gain. The peak and the approach are all on public land.

Whisky is a fun hike up a rocky trail to where there used to be a lookout and still are remnants of it and other buildings including the outhouse. I had never seen a lookout built so close to the edges of the mountain. Two sides of the foundation basically came to the edge that to get to the far side of the lookout you would have to go through it when it was standing. Some of the best views of Red Buttes and the wilderness, and beyond. 360 view.It was very windy when I was there so I set up a little below, near a pile of rubble for a bit more elbow room.

9/25/2021 had a favorable weather forecast and also happened to line up with the first weekend where permits are no longer required. Casey (non-ham) drove out from Eugene and met me at the Devils Lake trailhead at 10pm (9/24). We slept a couple hours and started the climb at 2:10am. 

This is almost a drive-up, with a 200-ft scramble through what is currently totally-burnt forest. In a few years, this will probably be thick low trees. Drive as in my report of nearby Sister Rocks, but turn north onto NF-6406 to NF-214, which leads almost to the summit. All of these roads are passable to the average passenger car. Park at the end of the road, and head west up the slope. The route is steep and the soil is especially loose because of the burn, but you can get up it with care.

Calamity Peak is a road walk or drive with a short bushwhack portion. Take Wind River Road north through Carson, WA. Turn west onto Hemlock and then north on Szydlo, which turns into NF-54. Follow NF-54 to the junction by the Soda Lakes trailhead, then go straight (rather than bearing left) to continue on 5407 to the junction with NF 324. Google Maps also gives good directions to this junction, 45.9118, -122.0982.

This peak is the quintessential reason I do SOTA. It is a nice hike to a scenic summit that I never would have visited without the activating imperative.

It is located near Dayville a mile or so west of the US-26 and OR-19 junction. It is part of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.