Good Views From Summit

On a recent trip over to eastern Oregon, I had the opportunity to stop in Madras and a nearby summit Round Butte (W7O/CN-074) beckoned.  The directions from Google Maps lead me up the approach from the north which turns onto a dirt road.  It is drivable in good, dry conditions but if you are at all worried there is another approach by continuing on west and around which finally climbs from the south.  That road is paved all the way to the top.  The paving is crumbling in places but still drivable.

NC-080 is one of the peaks in the Tillamook State Forest surrounding the Trask River valley, along the eastern edge. As such, the most straightforward approach is via Trask River Rd past the Trask River Park Campground.

This is another fun summit.  Trailhead is at Kelly Park on highway 34 Soda Springs Idaho. Park across from the baseball fields and head south east on the Cross Country Ski trail. You can see the summit's towers East of Soda Springs throughout hike.  You will head for a tan municipal water tank. When you reach the water tank you can either bushwhack to the double track that goes straight up or go about 200 yards north of the water tank and head east at a cutoff then head towards the summit. The access to the summit is partly owned by the city of Soda Springs and BLM land.

Summary - With a three mile, three thousand foot climb, open views of the gorge, and lots of wildflowers, Dog Mountain is a worthy SOTA summit. The first two-thirds of the climb is in the trees, the rest on the windy, exposed mountain crown. The summit itself is thick with brush, so the best operating positions are found on its edge.  A Northwest Discover Pass is required for parking, as is a hiking permit during the wildflower season.

On the 3rd day of our Bend trip, I got dropped off at the Lava Butte Visitor Center while my wife and kids sped off to the Bend High Desert Museum.  The hike to the top was on a very nice, paved road for 1.75 miles.  I made it up in an hour and looked around the lower level of the firewatch tower on the summit and the surrounding views.

Following my activation of Wampus Butte (W7O/CM-095), I proceeded to the next stop on Pringle Butte.  It's only a couple miles drive to there and the summit is almost a drive up.  Google Maps gave excellent directions to the summit and I probably could have driven all the way but on the last turn up to the top there is a little bit of a washout and I decided to just hike the last 0.4 miles.  The summit has a large flat area with a turnaround.  It would likely be a nice overnight camping area though there don't appear to be any established campsites.

WARNING: Google Maps will route you on a road that is no longer publically accessible.

After activating Tumalo Mountain (W7O/CM-011), I proceeded south to Wampus Butte (W7O/CM-095) for another activation and winter bonus.  This summit had not been activated since 2014 and significant changes have occured.

On the second day of our Bend trip, I got up early and drove up to Dutchman Flat Sno-Park just across the road from Mt Bachelor skiing.  There were a few remaining parking spaces and some snowmobilers unloading.  I started up the snowtrack over by the restrooms.  At some point, the GPS points up hill and you pick out a likely set of ski or snowshow tracks and follow it uphill.  Eventually, they all seem to lead to the summit.  There are a few orange no-motorized area signs towards the top but those were the only markers visible in the forest.  I ran across a fe

On the last weekend of no permits a weather window opened up for an overnight hike & early morning activation of Mt St Helens. The trail was covered with snow to the parking lot. I hit the trail at 1:20am and made good time to chocolate falls on skis. Somewhere heading up the ridge I had to make the switch to bootpacking the skis. Heavier backpack, but faster travel overall. 

Confirming Bill WJ7WJ's report a couple years ago, this peak contunues to be a drive-up. Like Bill, I managed to activate it by hiking up the OHV trail to the southwest of the peak, but confirmed the drive-up path exists and is workable in all but the most fragile passenger car. If your transport has gone to South Saddle, it can do this one too.