On-Trail, 2.5 miles, +2,240 ft
Baldy Mountain is a locally popular on-trail hike to one of the high points in the East Pioneer Mountains. The foundation of the old fire lookout provides some shelter in the event of windy conditions. We saw one other party on the mountain on a nice Saturday during the summer.
Camel Hump is a summit out of St. Regis, Montana on the Interstate 90. From St. Regis you have about a 7 mile drive on paved roads, then about a 6.5 mile drive up Forest Service road 3800. At that point you encounter a closed gate but it's an easy 1 mile walk to the summit from here. Please refer to my saved map in the link below. You do not need a four wheel drive on this road, any car can make it easily.
4.3 mi, +2,800 feet; -80 feet
From the town of Augusta, drive west past Nilan Reservoir to the vicinity of the Benchmark Airport. The trailhead is near the south end of the airport runway 0.15 miles after crossing the bridge over Fairview Creek. The trail (Fairview Creek, TR-204) is clearly marked. Park in the wide area alongside the road just past the trailhead. The Benchmark road is a gravel road that is suitable for all vehicles.
This looked like a simple drive-to peak from the topo maps. However 1.25 miles from the summit I encountered a Forest Service gate blocking the road so I walked the remaining easy road to the summit. The views are excellent but the presence of large communication towers ruined any attempt I had at getting out a signal. I'm currently just using an 5 watt handheld on 146.52 FM voice. I've connected in this way up to 50 miles in the past. I had K7VK waiting to hear from me in Missoula and although I could hear him clearly, he could not hear me.
I managed to activate this peak today with three out of the four required contacts. Close but no cigar as it started getting cold, windy and rain was coming in. We had to leave when we did. Another day for the points.
I used a Yeasu FT-2D 5 watt handheld with a 42 inch foldable tape measure type of antenna. I worked 146.52 MHz FM voice. From Big Hole Peak, about 12 miles to the west, I have had 59 quality conversations with Missoula, so the reach is far at these heights in 146.52 MHz.
I was not fortunate to get any contacts nor activate this peak today. This was mostly due to my current limitations in radio gear. I used a Yeasu FT-2D at 5 watts with a 42 inch tape measure type of antenna. Although well within the exposed activation zone, the forested summit prevented me from reaching out to the northeast where I easily picked up two contacts earlier from Mount Baldy a few hours prior. I was calling on 146.52 MHz FM voice. I had a great line of sight to five other summits in the Plains, Montana area.
This is an easy drive-to summit on Forest Service roads. See link below for map of route. It will take you approximately one hour from downtown Plains, Montana to get to the summit. Four wheel drive not needed. The only downside are the large communication towers that will interfere with your transmitting. I found that if you drive to the far side of the loop road and get the towers out of sight, you can get a good signal to and from Missoula and up to Whitefish. Let me know when you plan to activate this easy one and I'll chase you as I live in Plains.
My second SOTA required a longer hike (~2 miles each way) than Mt. Electric but was also a lot of fun.