Brundage Mountain SOTA brings the thought of riding a chair lift at the ski resort to the summit. In actuality, the true summit is a mile north of the ski resort are requires a bushwhack for most of the 4 mile round trip. The views from the summit mostly make up for bushwhack and somewhat dangerous final ascent to the summit.
Approach: Rough gravel road in from Hyak. Little parking and congested driving at hairpin curve ~1.7 miles before the trail head. Just past the hairpin curve the road is extremely steep, rocky and potholed, to the point only vehicles with good clearance can get through. (I have an Outlander PHEV that did fine going up, and scraped on one rock coming down.) Once at the trail head it was busy, but easy to find an open parking spot on a Sunday afternoon.
Big Mountain is part of Whitefish Ski Area and in the summer you can take the chairlift to the top ($20) and hike, ride bikes and activate Big Mountain. The communication towers that sit atop the summit are easy to see from the top of the chairlift and it's only a short quarter mile walk up the graded road to the top.
I went to Bend to visit my in-laws over the weekend and had time for one summit. Figured I would get my monies worth and go for a ten pointer I knew I could activate, Mount Bachelor.
I activated Mount Bachelor in 2018. For that activation I took the lift to the Pine Marten Lodge and hiked to the summit from there. I told myself the next time I activated this one I would start my hike from the bottom.
Any opportunity to hike the Pacific Crest Trail for SOTA is a welcome one - and this may be one of the best we've experienced of this lovely national treasure of a trail. While only a bit less than five miles round trip and 1000 feet of gain, there is a challenging steep bushwack (Mode Sanglier - On!) that takes a bit of the shine off of the trail experience. A GPS will be important to successfully identifying the edge of the AZ.
This summit is a progressively more difficult climb as you ascend. The activation is challenging but rewarding. The route I took starts with an easy well trafficked trail, but the second part of the ascent has no trail and involves navigating through the Angell Basin which consists of areas of large granite boulders.
Aldrich Mountain in Grant County has two fairly accessible summits that make a nice pair to activate as part of the same day trip. These include Aldrich Mountain (W7O/NE-054) and 6401 (W7O/NE-205). Both are 6-point and located in the far western part of the Malheur National Forest, with access from Hwy 26 and Forest Routes 21 (Field Creek Rd) and 2150. Route 21 is paved while 2150 is a well-maintained gravel road. Plan for a 15 mile drive on 2150. There are campgrounds in the area.
Henline is a relatively low traffic hiking trail in the Opal Creek Wilderness. It boasts rhododendrons, a mostly-well-maintained trail, and reasonably consistent gains. The hike is entirely on public right of way, and can be accessed via North Fork Santiam Road and NFDR 2207 from Hwy 22 out of Salem. Turn left on North Fork Santiam Road about 22 miles from I-5, then drive straight. Eventually this road turns to a moderate gravel road, followed by a fork between 2207 and 2209. Take the left fork and head uphill a ways. You'll pass the more popular Henline Falls Trailhead.
Flattop Mountain is a drive-up for those with capable high clearance vehicles. And maybe for those ready to buy new tires - which was required of us - as the road was steep with sharp rocks.
Here's a nice summit with a trail to the top, about 5 miles RT and more elevation gain that you might have wanted at 1800 feet - but know that it's worth it. A bit obscure perhaps outside of huckleberry season, you might not see many folks at other times. The views of Mt. Adams are fabulous.