1.6-miles, +821 ft, -160 ft
The Devils Tower hike is a beautiful one that climbs a series of benches through open range and timber. It is nicest in the spring, before it gets too hot. The summit offers panoramic views of the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness, the Helena Valley, and the surrounding mountains.
I was tipped-off by K7DJL that Salmo was nearly a drive-up summit not too far from our planned camp on Priest Lake. Turned out that it was a fun scenic drive through cedar and hemlock forest and over a couple of mountain passes. The summit looks into Canada so we decided to spend the night in the saddle between the 1960s era US Forest Service Lookout and the actual summit.
5.1-miles, +1,705 ft, -963 ft; From Elk Mountain TH
I activated Bilk Mountain on Day-1 of a long backpacking trip.
It is a relatively long drive to the trailhead on good Forest Service Roads. Most vehicles should be able to make it with no troubles, but some clearance is helpful. This summit combines nicely with W7I/IC-172 (Green Mountain), which is a drive-up.
1.5-miles, +920 ft
Elk Mountain has a notable 2,166 feet of prominence and a pleasant trail to near the summit.
It is a relatively long drive to the trailhead on good Forest Service Roads. Most vehicles should be able to make it with no troubles, but some clearance is helpful. This summit combines nicely with W7I/IC-172 (Green Mountain), which is a drive-up.
18.7-miles, +5,750 ft; -1,590 ft; From N. Fork Trailhead
Evans Peak is an iconic mountain that is the 4th highest peak in Lewis and Clark County. I activated it as the fifth summit on a multi-day backpacking trip that went up Lake Creek, down Canyon Creek, up the Dry Fork & Cabin Creek, and then down Dobrota Creek and the North Fork of the Blackfoot back to the car. This route description is the reverse of the final leg, which is the most efficient approach.
15.9-miles, +4,320 ft; -1,060 ft; From N. Fork Trailhead via Dry Fork
I activated this as the third summit on a multi-day backpacking trip. We camped at the mouth of Dwight Creek and climbed from there.
19.7-miles, +4,848 ft; -1,158 ft; From N. Fork Trailhead via Dry Fork
I activated this as the fourth summit on a multi-day backpacking trip. We camped at the mouth of Dwight Creek and climbed from there, from which the summit is a 6.5 mile on-trail hike with 3,200 feet of net elevation gain.
Summary - This is one to save for that weekend when there are going to be lots of locals on 2M doing S2S or, like me, you want to a place to do the UTC NYE ritual without a lot of driving. About twenty minutes from downtown Portland in a residential neighborhood, with a nearby AM broadcaster and at least two RF comms facilities. RFI on 2M is likely to be an issue, there's really no place to put up an HF wire, and there's only room for two vehicles.
Here's an opportunity to do an easy summit if you are out in the Gorge for wine tasting, other summits or a hike at Catherine Creek. The road walk is short at 0.75 miles one-way and about 200 feet of gain. The road is Priusable the whole way but note that there are a number of "no turn turns" cited by our phone GPS on the way from Highway 14 to the trailhead - the directions below are general.
For those speedy hikers Rhodes Peak can be hiked in a day. For those like me, a trail sloth, a backpack camp at Goat Lake half-way there is a fine alternative for a multi-day hike to three nearby summits. The lake is within a scenic alpine basin next to W7I/NI-108 and looks across a valley to Williams Peak W7I/NI-003. Rhodes Peak is Clearwater County’s highpoint and is sought by those summiting every County highpoint in Idaho.