Good Views From Summit

We went up to Parker after activating Soda Mountain. This was a drive up summit, not sure if it always is, but the ODF lookout was being manned by a really nice guy Terry who welcomed us to the top to enjoy the view. Nice view of the surrounding summits in the Ashland/Klamath area. One of my favorite parts of going up to a new summit is viewing and identifying the different mountains I had activated or wish to. This lookout was a neat view of some of the near and far summits we have been to. Plenty of room to park and trees and rock to use to set up.

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. 

Elk Mountain is in the Olympic National Park and accessible from a well-maintained forest service road named Obstruction Point Road. The road is not open all year, so check park conditions before you go. The summit is attainable by taking the Obstruction Point Trail and then making the easy traverse up to the base of a large rock formation. A quick stairstep up the rocks brings you to the summit. Total hike from parking to summit is about 1.5 miles.

Summit 5645 (Hurricane Ridge) is in the Olympic National Park and accessible from a well-maintained forest service road named Obstruction Point Road. The road is not open all year, so check park conditions before you go.  There is no established trail to this SOTA summit, but it is quite straightforward to follow the ridgeline to the summit and does not require bushwhacking.

Doris Peaks is my name for a set of peaks above Doris Lake.

My stats:

Distance: 9.1 miles

Elevation Gain: 2000 ft

On trail: 6 miles

Off trail: 3.1 miles

Difficulty: Arduous

Quick search of sota summits finds 30 Goat Mountains, exclusive of my favorites: Old Goat Mountain and Scape Goat Mountain. Can unfortunately relate to both of those.

There are six in W7W and 2 in W7W/LC. This blog is about W7W/LC-035. The plan for this trip was found on summitpost: https://www.summitpost.org/goat-mountain/153737. Andrew, K7AHR, and I followed those directions to a successful activation.

We built extra time into our schedule in case of an unexpected delay, but I never thought that delay would be a cattle drive. In the drive up to the Pine Mountain Observatory, Mark, W6IA, and I waited as two cowboys and at least one dog herded cattle off the road. We hung back just behind the well-trained border collie while he and his team did their work, and eventually it was clear. [See photo below.]

North Coastal's double-oh-seven peak is a two-pointer reachable by a mild forest road hike and a slightly bushwhack-y final ascent. K7ATN has linked to posts on Peakbagger that give good descriptions of the summit logistics including routes, but here's a quick summary:

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.

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.