Good Parking At Trailhead

Aug 21, 2012

Overview:

Spectacular views of Mt Hood to the west and eastern Oregon from this north-south ridge. On clear days, Rainier, Adams, St Helens and the Oregon Cascade peaks are also visible.

This one was a workout.  The drive up was fairly straightforward: Exit 47 on I-90 to Tinkham Rd, then up the hill on NF-5510, until you reach the parking area and gate.  NW Forest pass required.  

Black Butte is one of those mountains that is very recognizable and easy to spot on the horizon. Not because it has any disctinctive features, but rather because it has none. It looms darkly over the desert of central oregon as a perfect cone, easily distinguished from its sharp and craggy neighbors like Mt. Jefferson, Mt.

Barlow Ridge is a pleasant three mile or so hike (OW) east of Mount Hood with about 1000 feet gain. Although relatively close to Portland the trail is seldom used, (especially past Barlow Butte) and has a nice 'wild' character about it. In other words, the trail seldom sees maintenance. It's a leg stretcher with about 1000 feet of net gain, but quite a bit more elevation change with all the ups and downs along the ridge line. Quite a bit more. 

When a more complex plan failed to come to fruition Friday night, we decided late that we would head to Lookout Mountain in Oregon for Saturday's activation. We had been there before, and it is one of our all-time favorite SOTA summits. Just before we were heading out the door Saturday morning, I realized I had forgotten to alert us because the decision had been so late. I was shocked to see that K7ATN was scheduled for the same summit that day!

Update Aug 2025 - Access from the south via FS-27 is blocked at a private gate on private property. 

      https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/mthood/recreation/west-zigzag-cast-lake-trailhead.

This past weekend, Taylor K7TAY and I successfully executed our first overnight SOTA activation. We went to Waldo Mountain in Central Oregon, a 6-point peak with a three-mile (each way) trail ending at a spectacular view and one of the few remaining lookout structures in Oregon.

This is the most ambitious of the three Tiger Mountain State Forest SOTA summits. It appears to be about six miles (one way) from the Tiger Summit Trailhead parking area and 1600 feet of gain. Using the upper parking lot probably would only save you a few feet of elevation gain and isn’t much shorter. If you use the upper parking lot head east on the Connector Trail and then left up the road. Remember that a Washington Discover Pass is required at the trailhead and that there is an unattractive outhouse at the upper parking lot.

For Taylor's first post-surgery activation, we were looking for a summit we could nearly drive to in order to minimize the required walking. The morning of the trip was the first time she had donned her boots since the procedure, so we weren't sure how much walking she'd be up for. We had originally planned a 2-point summit in the coast range because we knew we could get within a few hundred feet in the Jeep. However, a late tip from N7AAM on Friday had us rolling towards Lookout Mountain on the Washington side of the gorge.

A short hike to Mount Defiance in Oregon is from Wahtum Lake Road and is about 3.6 miles roundtrip with 1140 ft gain. From Dee near Hood River, it's about a 10-mile drive on FR 2820 to the Upper Mount Defiance trailhead.