Forested Summit

Summary - There are two routes up from Zigzag Mountain Road (Road 27 from HWY 26).  The longer route follows the West Zigzag and Zigzag Mountain trail and ends in a bushwhack up the northwest ridge of Zigzag Mountain (about 5.5mi OW). The shorter route follows Burnt Lake trail to Devils Tie to Zigzag Mountain trail and ends in a bushwhack up the north side of the summit. (about 3.5mi OW).  I recommend the longer route, which meanders along the mountain ridge, and is less used. ATT digital service was spotty, APRS was full strength, 2M contacts aren't difficult.

W6/NW-388 is a pretty summit with views of Shasta Bally to the West and Lassen/Mt Shasta to the East. It overlooks the Whiskeytown Lake to the west and the greater Redding area to the east. Simple route finding and around a 3 mile round trip made me wonder why it hasn’t been activated more frequently, I being the second.

We spent the night at Elk Lake Campground. Highly recommend it if you can get a reservation. We were in spot 11 which had great views at sunset. 

From Bend take Cascade Lakes Highway to the Lucky Lake Trailhead. Fill out the free day use permit here (and put your Northwest Forest pass in your car window), then head up the trail. It's an easy 1.3 miles to Lucky Lake. There was some blowdowns a cross the trail as it's early season and they haven't been chopped yet. 

3020 (Receiver Mountain) is a summit for the persistent activator – you will find it has both good and challenging aspects. The approach roads require 4WD and most sections are in good shape but foliage in some sections of the road encroach and could scratch your vehicle.

The summit of Rock Point is a steep short climb up from either the Paradise Trail #124 or FR-6401.  Both the forest road and summit are shaded and would be a good choice for a hot sunny day. In good weather, it could be combined with other peaks nearby W7W/LC-059 Timbered Peak and W7W/LC-064 Sister Rocks. If doing multiple peaks, I would do this one last as it is the most shaded route of the three due to recent fires.

NC-130 is another of the recently added peaks during the 2023 ARM update, currently the last of the Oregon NCs. If that's a goalpost you're looking to achieve, or you're feeling particularly completionist, or you just like a good bushwhack, proceed on. Otherwise, maybe skip this one. It's on public land, and consists of a 6 mile forest road drive, combined with a 1.5 mile hike and bushwhack. This peak is easiy paired with NC-099.

Pilot Knob is a quiet peak inside the boundary of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, and a stone's throw away from the Pacific Crest Trail. The approach is just short of 2 miles one-way, with some travel on an old trail and some bushwhacking.

The drive is about 1 hour and 15 to 30 minutes from somewhere in Portland. The hike is about 2 miles one-way with 1300' elevation gain and took about 1.5 hours to complete in the dry season.

Maidenhead Mtn (W7W Summit 1930) is accessible with a 1.5 mile (800 ft vertical) hike up an abandoned Forest Service Road bed.  The road bed is overgrown with trees that look around 8 years old. There is a trail that is established for about 50% of the way.  The second half of the route has a significant amount of blowdown and really slows you.

First of all Brian, AB6D was the first on this mountain. New updates and advanced accuracy apparently changed the true summit to the NE peak rather than the SW. I wouldn't have gone if I hadn't read his summary. Same mountain, nearly same trek, just a slightly different finish.

This was #3 of 4 summits in a day up May Creek. This was a little difficult set up. Crowded brush and timber. One thing to realize is the NE peak is also in the AZ, the saddle doesn't drop below the AZ mark. I just hiked up the this peak. It is steep country and once you reach the AZ it is very thick. Luckily the NNW ridge up the NE peak has been thinned and fuel break up to the BLM boundary so you can trek most of the way with little bushwhack.