Needle Point is the lowest 10 point summit in Oregon. It is not the easiest. It is located in the Eagle Cap Wilderness in north eastern Oregon. Access to the trail head is via Union, Oregon.
It is a nineteen mile round trip hike with 5000 feet of total elevation gain.
Mt Adams in summer is a popular climb and has variable conditions. Anyone attempting Adams should be familiar hiking with crampons and ice axe. Glissading skills will help and if you're new, you'll be an expert by the time you are down the mountain.
Please follow K7ATN's previous report for directions to this summit.
The tower operator is Michelle who has been there for 8 seasons now. Very friendly and ham-radio accomodating. Like other fire tower operators, announce yourself so Michelle knows you are there. There is a public port-a-potty and a picnic table that can be used. With permission, i hung one end of my EFHW from the tower structure, actually my rope supporting the EFHW.
This summit is located on Stimson land and appears to be only accessible by permit.
One approach is via Flisram Rd which is gated with the following sign.
(Actually there are 2 signs: one is the standard non-motorized entry allowed during non-business hours but just behind that one is the one which says no entry except by permit.
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.