Forested Summit

I went to do Mud Springs as a new activation after doing Chase. I typically do Chase and Hamaker but I was at 994 points and didn't want to do a late activation as my MG activation so went to this 2 point mountain instead. It is a bit of a drive for 2 points alone so I have ignored it in the past. It was a nice short little hike. Some views through the trees including a glimpse of Shasta. We parked at the south side of the mountain and hiked up, only about 1/4 mi up is my estimation. Plenty of area to set up, can pick shade or sun.

NC-106 is a long drive from Portland, and a bit of a hike, all for one point operating at barely over 2000 feet. If you don't mind the green canopy though, it's one of the prettiest forests I've walked in the NC region.

WARNING: Google Maps will route you on a road that is no longer publically accessible.

After activating Tumalo Mountain (W7O/CM-011), I proceeded south to Wampus Butte (W7O/CM-095) for another activation and winter bonus.  This summit had not been activated since 2014 and significant changes have occured.

The Nestucca River Byway is a very secluded and off-the-beaten-path route through the North Coastal Range, between HW6 to the North and HW18/HW22 to the South. It's paved from Carlton at least as far West as the turnoff South to Willamina, but not maintained in the winter, so the sign says when approaching from the East from Carlton.

Previous writeups and activations have accessed Wildcat via the Stimson parcel that starts at Northwest Hayward Rd. Email communication with Stimson confirms that they have closed this parcel to public access, and activators should not use this path. Signage has been mixed, but the core issue is firearms use in the area that bothers the private neighbor. According to Stimson, "The entry point is actually on their property and we try to be accommodating with our neighbors."

All is not lost! Fortunately the summit itself, and a complete path of access, is on public state land.

7 Mar 22: Parked at the "Blanchard Hump" parking area on East Blanchard road. Ample parking, only one other car present on a weekday. I elected not to take snowshoes based on trail conditions at the parking lot. Most of the trail is exposed; almost no snow in sunlit areas. I followed the trail and track from K7DJL [available on SOTL.as] to the summit, about 2 miles. The trail is an ATV track and goes steeply up the face of the summit. There are a couple false summits and snow coverage increased approaching the final hill.

We did this summit as a winter snowmobile trip with Cooper Mtn. and Fox Peak.

See full report here:

http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/wu7h/2022-march-04/cooper-mountain-wa-feb-2022

I read Tim N7KOM's summit report from last week and decided to get while the getting was good.  Things were still pretty much as he described from the previous weekend.  The 2 trees were still blocking the road.  The good thing about that is that there is a wide spot in the road just around the previous corner to park.  There was only one other wide spot after that to park before the gate and nowhere to turn around. 

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. 

Wickiup Mountain is a summit on the edge of Astoria's Bear Creek Watershed, from which they draw their water, as well as an active radio site. As such, access from the south is gated, and road access from the north stops just shy of the summit. What followed is one of the thickest, roughest bushwhacks, mile for mile, of my SOTA career, but it was nice to tick this one off the list. If you route find a little better than I do, you might have a better time, and if you hit it earlier in the year, the die-back of the brush might benefit you.