Good Parking At Trailhead

Tuesday last week, with the help, support, and expertise of friends and an experienced mountaineering guide, I summited Mount Hood for my first time, and activated Mount Hood for its first time in SOTA. The climb began under a crystal clear starry sky around 00:37 on Tuesday, 11 June 2013, heading up the snowcat-groomed climber’s trail from Wy'East Day Lodge at Timberline Lodge. At midnight, I had met my guide, Rodney Sofich, at the Climber's Register just inside the day lodge to discuss what I was about to undertake.

Wolf Mtn is located southeast of Oakridge. It is a radio comm site with numerous VHF antennas (+ other transmitters) on one tower to the west.  The other east tower is an ATT celltower (good coverage!). The access roads are good and 2wd passable with some careful driving especially on FS2316 which is narrow in places.                                  

A beautiful Fire Lookout on Huckleberry Mtn with great vistas of the Three Sisters.  Pack a picnic lunch and enjoy before the lookout becomes active for the summer.

Getting There

2012-07-07 W7W/RS-046 CN96as86

After the long Iambic adventure I was looking for something easy and short. I choose Mount Wow, and read a lot of trip reports about the mountain. I had three choices to get onto the top. On the west ridge, from south following the old national park border trail, or from east using the Alan lake trail, which is also abandoned. At the end I decided to try it from west. This one is the shortest and most likely the easiest too.

Just south of downtown Issaquah is Squak Mountain. It's a Washington State Park and so access is straightforward. From the north trailhead it's 2.3 miles one way on a maze of trails where it's a good idea to check the trail map carefully as there are several junctions on the way to the summit and one unsigned (very short) trail link.

Along this trail I observed the largest spruce trees I've seen in Oregon - the trail is nearly a perfect picture of the Oregon coastal rain forest. That being said, there are no expansive views, no place for your antenna, and no place to sit...but it is an nice hike on the Oregon coast and close to Highway 101. 

Note that there is another Idaho "Squaw Butte-W7I/SR-089" and that this "Squaw Butte" is also the name given to the long ridge just to the east of this two-pointer. However, the ridge and it's associated peak, "Squaw Butte South" doesn't have the required prominence for SOTA. But hey, the real peak is only a few miles away. 

Directions to the "trailhead" seemed a little tricky for an out of towner - I've started them below from ID-44 - W State Street where you make the turn north on ID-16. See this for more information and other routes: www.summitpost.org/squaw-butte/275284

Shafer Butte is an excellent activation not far from Metro Boise - about an hour up Bogus Basin Road will get you there - and another 1.25 miles or so and 700 feet of hiking will gain you the summit proper. Or consider that there is a ski lift a few feet away from the summit - buy a lift ticket and climb a little and earn the bonus points for a "ski" activation during the winter.

You'll be in good company when you climb Greenleaf Peak - Botanist David Douglas was there in September of 1825 without a road or trail. You might think that a hike starting under power lines would not be particularly remote or wild - but once you leave the service road you'll be thinking differently. It's a summit that rarely sees visitors - you might do yourself (and those that might follow) a service by wielding a machete on some of the more overgrown parts of the trail.

Cooper Mountain might be another typical urban activation as at first glance nearby Cooper Mountain Nature Park looks like the perfect place to activate --- but it's not actually in the activation zone. There are alternative spots - one across the street from the summit on a sidewalk and perhaps the best at nearby Winkelman Park (see the trip report).