Bill K7WXW is an early riser, and I was stoked to find someone keen to get up South Sister for a sunrise activation. We set out from the trailhead in the dark at 2:12am PST. Bill had an issue with his headlamp battery. Luckily, I had a spare headlamp to loan him. With that sorted, we hit the trail.
I left, by accident, my phone (camera) and my antenna mast at the Jeep. By the time I realized it I was too far up the mountain to retrieve them. Luckily I was wearing my Garmin watch and was able to record the route and elevation data. Though not too tall, there are some scrub oak at the summit. This most likely compromised my inverted “V” antenna quite a bit since I could only get on a branch about 6 feet off the ground.
There are no established trails to the summit, but you basically head east up the mountain. This is a total bushwhack, steep and lots of scrub oak and sagebrush. The summit is exposed with lots of room to set-up my inverted “V” wire antenna. The ascent is just shy of a half mile and 500 feet of elevation gain. The first 8 miles of the dirt road is Prius friendly but the remaining drive requires high clearance, though not a 4wd.
This 6-pointer is among the line of peaks which form the eastern border of the Stevens County SOTA region. It's easily accessed from Flowery Trail road off of highway 211 as are several other summits. Take FR-9518 for several miles and then FR-9517 for the final ascent. Park at 48.35545,-117.50346, on a side road off of FR-9517. Although the trail may not be apparent, several lanes of logging have left multiple paths to the summit with light or no bushwhacking required. The summit is somewhat exposed but is ringed by trees.
To start, Tanner is the correct name, not Tannen. Tannen is an error made by USFS on their maps and unfortunely they and others using their maps have not corrected it. I saw some beautiful pictures of this area pre-fire. It was once very beautiful but now very damaged by fire. Not as bad as Althouse, still some shade and timber but not much. The little lakes below are lovely.
I did not know this area was so badly burned before I left. It was a pretty depressing sight. Flip side is no trees equates to good views. The whole area is thousands of acres of burned standing timber so not the safest or most predictable trip. There was some salvaging going on when I went but I predict there can be days of no operations and windfall will start bringing some trees down. They have cleared the uphill of the paved road going up but not the side roads you take to Althouse and Tanner.
Broken Top has been on my list for a few years. Trip reports vary in difficulty, so I finally had the chance to check it out solo.
From Green Lakes TH I hike / jogged (hogged?) to Green Lakes in about an hour. From there the trail cuts between the lakes and then steepens. The trail up the Northwest Ridge saddle is sandy and steep. I took a break in the saddle to refuel for the steep ridge climb.
My son and I got a late start on this one but decided to give it a try. This is a TOUGH hike and you could probably pick a better one if you are looking for 4 points. If you are looking for amazing views, solitude and a leg burner that you have the right hike. It is unlikely that you will see many people on this hike and it is likely that you will have to go over, under or around about 70 blowdowns. Many of the blowdowns are very easy but there are a few that will make you work a bit...especially on the way down. Glad to have checked this one off my list.
My wife and I camped at Camp Misery TH and then I got up at About 7 to make the 3.23 mile walk to the summit. Starting elevation was about 5,700' and the summit is just over 7,500'. Great views at the top and I have never been to this summit when there was not goats. I counted between 10-12 different goats on the summit today.
This was the first activation of Elk Mountain. Apparently, the summit has three names, 1) Elk Mountain, 2) Red Point, and 3) Rogers VABM (Vertical Mountain Benchmark). SOTA designates the summit as Elk Mountain, so we’ll go with that! Activating in Nevada was a new experience. This summit is very remote. The mountainsides and valleys were very green, even in late August. The summit is strewn with loose rock and is extremely exposed.