Went to Little Applegate after Applegate. It was a jeep road the last bit on RD 4513-300, off of road 4518. I started the hike up at 42.68112, -121.70485. There is a bit of an open path up to the summit using an old grown over road. Easy trek, about 1mi RT. The mountains around here are some of my favorite to hike because of the ground. Most everywhere is a layer of pine needles over pumice so it is like walking on a soft cushioned ground.
Solomon Butte on a map looks like it has roads going everywhere but it really doesn't. To get to a good start you will want to get to RD 4504 that somewhat circles the summit part way up. This is a jeep road with some tight pin striping opportunity in some areas and soft pumice your tires will sink in in other portions.
This was my second time to visit Huffraker. Last year, the property owner had closed the area due to fire danger. This year, it was reopened. However, last year I was able to drive all the way to the edge of Gifford-Pinchot NF and park. This year, there was an incredible amount of blowdown that had not been cleared which added another 4 miles to this hike bringing it to overall 6.3 miles RT. It may be that, due to the late season snow, once the mushroom pickers get busy some of the blowdown will get cleared.
Access and other info in my post on Quartz Creek Ridge
Continuing our hike from Quartz Creek Ridge, at the access trail junction Bill K7WXW and I retrieved my stashed water, had a small break from the aggressive climb up from the ridge saddle, and then continued north on the Summit Prairie Trail.
Activated Quartz Creek Ridge with Bill (K7WXW) this last weekend. This summit is easily doable with North Quartz Creek Ridge in the same day. Access for both summits is in the middle on a sometimes-not-mapped trail, TH at 46.24186, -121.72969 . This trail system is mixed-use. We saw ultramarathon runners (Dark Divide Ultra), mountain bikers, and dirtbikes. Prepare your ankles accordingly, the trail is often a narrow rut through the dirt because of the motorcycle traffic.
Fuji Mountain, gem of the central Cascades, and well-loved hike, is a fantastic choice if you're in the area. Only half an hour from the highway, and with a very pleasant and well-worn trail to the top, this is the easiest hiking of any of the SOTA peaks in the area that aren't drive-ups.
I headed out to do this one as a combo with W7O/CM-050; I did not due to heat and a boulder, but I recommend attempting it if you're in the area.
Depending on how much you like the paint on your vehicle, Quilcene Ridge might be a drive-up. Even so, where the slide alder starts significantly encroaching on the road it's only a quarter mile to the summit. So walking is an option.
The activation report for Siouxon (rhymes with “Tucson”) Peak from 2013 (http://www.pnwsota.org/node/306) is still largely correct. I just put in Google maps “Siouxon Peak” as destination and “Gresham” as start. Note that you can still hike in from the Amboy side, doing it that way allows you to view waterfalls, but requires a stream crossing. I went through Carson, NF-64, NF-6403 as per the previous trip report.
This is the fourth summit I activated with my Dad while visiting Lemolo Lake KOA.
From the KOA, we drove across the dam on NF-2610 and right onto NF-2612. Then left onto NF-700 and again left onto NF-920.