Pass Required at Trailhead

Tumalo Mountain is a shield volcano

July 12th, 2023.  This no-name peak, first activated by ND7PA in 2015 (thanks for the article), is found by taking Big Lake Rd (BLR - aka NF-2690) south from US 20 at the Santiam Pass, across from Santiam Sno-Park, approx. 90 minutes east of Salem and 60 minutes northwest of Bend.

Black Butte is a moderate hike, with phenomenal views of the Central Oregon Cascade range. There is an active fire tower that should be avoided, as the public is not allowed near the tower during fire season. The hike is a 2.1 mile, steady pitch that ascends 1600ft from the parking area. Getting to the trailhead can be done in any passenger car, though the last mile is a bit rough due to a lot of runoff from the heavy snows this past winter. From US Highway 20 turn South on FS-11, then take a left on FS-1110 to the parking area.

I was surprised to find what looked like an un-activated drive up summit only an hour drive (to the base) from Bend, OR. From Bend, head South on 97 and take the exit for South Century Drive. Head through Sun River on Spring River Rd, which turns into Conklin Rd. Hang a left on Upper Deschutes Road aka NF 40. Follow this and it crosses Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway afterwich it becomes NF 4630. Hang a right on NF 640 and follow past Little Cultus Lake. I parked at the pullout at 43.81061, -121.88230.

Summary - There are two routes up from Zigzag Mountain Road (Road 27 from HWY 26).  The longer route follows the West Zigzag and Zigzag Mountain trail and ends in a bushwhack up the northwest ridge of Zigzag Mountain (about 5.5mi OW). The shorter route follows Burnt Lake trail to Devils Tie to Zigzag Mountain trail and ends in a bushwhack up the north side of the summit. (about 3.5mi OW).  I recommend the longer route, which meanders along the mountain ridge, and is less used. ATT digital service was spotty, APRS was full strength, 2M contacts aren't difficult.

W6/NW-388 is a pretty summit with views of Shasta Bally to the West and Lassen/Mt Shasta to the East. It overlooks the Whiskeytown Lake to the west and the greater Redding area to the east. Simple route finding and around a 3 mile round trip made me wonder why it hasn’t been activated more frequently, I being the second.

We spent the night at Elk Lake Campground. Highly recommend it if you can get a reservation. We were in spot 11 which had great views at sunset. 

From Bend take Cascade Lakes Highway to the Lucky Lake Trailhead. Fill out the free day use permit here (and put your Northwest Forest pass in your car window), then head up the trail. It's an easy 1.3 miles to Lucky Lake. There was some blowdowns a cross the trail as it's early season and they haven't been chopped yet. 

My second bust in the Tatoosh Range! These peaks are far enough from PDX that 2m won't reach, and despite the proximity to Seattle, there happens to be a big chuck of rock and ice in the way. I knew it would be a stretch, but was hopeful the extra time on the summit would give me a chance to round up four contacts. Nope. Advice: either bring a beam antenna, your HF rig, or coordinate with other activators and chasers to make sure you can get it done.

I thought I would do an update and pull together the two trip reports for this summit.
http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/k9wbz/2019-april-23/w7onc-060-lone-ridge-act...
http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/n7un/2016-september-07/lone-ridge-w7onc-060
It is 9.5 miles round trip and 1200 feet of gain from the gate to the summit.
This makes it a very nice biketavation as the slope is usually managable on the bike with a few hike a bikes here and there. The road is good gravel and goes all the way to the top. The views are wonderful.

First hike of the season on May 21st -- hadn't specifically planned to do an activation, but brought along the handheld. Called CQ on 2m FM and got a few stations. Ate lunch and hiked south to the viewpoint toward Mt. Townsend but clouds were coming in. Went back to the summit for another CQ and was surprised to get a summit-to-summit call from KI7QIV on the summit of Mount Rainier! Nice trail -- great QSOs!