Pass Required at Trailhead

Overview:

Ascent:

Our adventure began at 8 a.m. from the Hannegan Trailhead. The trail offered a mostly shaded ascent to Boundary Camp, which was a welcome relief in the early hours. However, it's worth noting that this section is south-facing and can become quite hot by midday. The initial elevation gain was relatively gradual, with about 500 feet per mile over the first four miles.

Heading into the 2024 W7O Campout weekend, I was 36 points shy of Mountain Goat. K6ARK and I hit some strategic drive ups on the way down for 10 points, and then knocked out 24 points on the Siskiyou Crest. That left me at 998 points going into Saturday. I didn't want to activate just any summit for my MG, I wanted something that called back to the mountaineering I was doing when I first got licensed and learned of SOTA.

A Weyerhaeuser "Longview St Helens" motorized permit is required for this route: Take I5 to Exit 32; head East on Kalama River Road to very end. That is gate 6000 unlock gate and pass through. Take Road 6000 all the way to the end where you run into a gate is for non-motorized access. 

1.3 mi, +513 feet

This is a super pleasant hike on nice trails.  It would also be a great winter activation with skis or snowshoes.  There is a very nice enclosed warming hut near the top (within the activation zone) with a wood stove and a picnic table.

The mountains near Marble Mountain hold snow for longer at a lower elevation than other nearby mountains, so keep that in mind. Even at 2600 feet elevation, which is pretty low, there was still 2 feet of snow on the road all the way up to where I left the road to bushwhack the rest of the way to the summit. 

There is a bridge out but someone has laid the guardrails from the old bridge across the creek and that works for crossing on foot. You could carry a bike across if needed. 

Overview:

Summary - Mud Creek Ridge is a good winter cross country snowshoe hike with an open summit, peekaboo views of Mount Hood and places to hang a wire. The drive from Portland is about ninety minutes on a traffic free Friday.  ATT digital service and APRS were both good.  The hike starts on the road out of the Trillium Sno Park but soon veers off to pick up the nose of Mud Creek Ridge. GPS or a compass are required as the ridge is broad, and it is easy to wander off course on the way up.

You can access Baldy Mountain if you purchase a Weyerhaeuser permit https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. The permit is valid for a year and gets you a map that you can load into an app on your phone as well as a key to the Recreation Access Gates.

You can access Baird Mountain if you purchase a Weyerhaeuser permit https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. The permit is valid for a year and gets you a map that you can load into an app on your phone as well as a key to the Recreation Access Gates.