Summary - Mud Creek Ridge is a good winter cross country snowshoe hike with an open summit, peekaboo views of Mount Hood and places to hang a wire. The drive from Portland is about ninety minutes on a traffic free Friday. ATT digital service and APRS were both good. The hike starts on the road out of the Trillium Sno Park but soon veers off to pick up the nose of Mud Creek Ridge. GPS or a compass are required as the ridge is broad, and it is easy to wander off course on the way up.
Good Parking At Trailhead
1620, WA | March 2024
The weather this week was looking like it would be good, so I wanted to get in my March summit. I wanted to make it a challenge of some sort, so I decided to go for my first first activation. The Olympic Peninsula has a fair number of unactivated hills still, and a lot of them are on USFS land. I started exploring and found Peak 1620.
Baldy Mountain, WA | Feb 2024
You can access Baldy Mountain if you purchase a Weyerhaeuser permit https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. The permit is valid for a year and gets you a map that you can load into an app on your phone as well as a key to the Recreation Access Gates.
Baird Mountain, WA | Feb 2024
You can access Baird Mountain if you purchase a Weyerhaeuser permit https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. The permit is valid for a year and gets you a map that you can load into an app on your phone as well as a key to the Recreation Access Gates.
2060, WA | Feb 2024
You can access 2060 if you purchase a Weyerhaeuser permit https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. The permit is valid for a year and gets you a map that you can load into an app on your phone as well as a key to the Recreation Access Gates.
Wolf Point, WA | Feb 2024
You can access Wolf Point if you purchase a Weyerhaeuser permit https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. The permit is valid for a year and gets you a map that you can load into an app on your phone as well as a key to the Recreation Access Gates.
(New) Frog Lake Buttes, OR | NYE Dec 2023
Due to the recent relocation of Frog Lake Buttes from one butte to the other earlier this year, I was anxious to do another double activation on New Year's Eve. See my previous report for details on the route. The only difference is you must continue on from the radio towers down to the saddle and on up the other butte. Still very worth it for 14 pts.
1470, WA | Dec 2023
1470 is an unnamed summit near Granite Falls, WA. It is an easy 3 mile walk (6 mile R/T) up a good gravel road. Around 1000' of gain. This is a good candidate for a mountain bike trip. Some nice views of Pilchuck near the top.
Smith Mountain, WA | Nov 2023
Smith Mountain is one of several two-point summits accessible from Weyerhaeuser rec permit access gate 6110. For permit information see: https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com.
Peak 7215, MT | August 2014
Although this isn't a very spectacular summit, it is located on the Continental Divide and can be either a drive-up in the summer, or a ski-up in the winter. There are also possibilities to snowshoe up in the winter. Each of these options is summarized below. During our activation we hiked up the "Northern Approach". The activation zone for this summit is very large.
Northern Approach Directions (From Priest Pas)