Treacherous Trail

Yainax Butte, or as the surveyor pin says, “Yonna”, was a mountain I was hoping to drive up to the lookout and do a quick activation on my way to SOTA campout/"expedition" in the Fremont NF west of Lakeview. The roads were awful. There are a couple ways to get there, just follow the maps but once you get to the main access road to summit, it is extreme 4wd rutty, rock crawl for about 3 or 4 miles. We ended up going all the way but I do not recommend it. It would be better off as maybe a  day hike up rather than drive.

After my success over at Break In Pk., I continued on to Lone Butte to give it another go, after my previously failed attempt. Access remains the same, only take the road in if PNW pinstriping is something you like to adorn your paint.

I referenced K7ATN's blog post from a couple years ago and found some revised signage, new road clearing efforts and noted some additional GPS turn coordinates.  Here is an updated trip report for Monte Cristo HP in the Trout Lake area of WA. And here's the previous trip report: http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/k7atn/2018-november-16/monte-cristo-hp-wa-nov-2018.

I have to say, this was a fun hike, it's really my style.  It is truly a bushwhack hike, there is no trail, and you will not be afforded a road or any kind of guide.  A GPS waypoint of the peak is absolutely necessary, and even that won't help you at points from getting into trouble with really dense, thick undergrowth.  Be prepared to climb over and through stands of pine trees, manzanita, and deadfall.  This area is littered with old logging roads, which have given rise to dense thick stands of 1" pine trees 6 inches apart.  The path you will likely take crosses t

This was literally my first activation.  I've been thinking about SOTA on and off for 7+ years now.  Ray & Max posted a trip that they took to this same summit maybe 6 years ago, but I took a different route.  Looking at the maps, and reading the rules, the route they took is along the OHV roads which are closed to vehicle traffic.  The entirety of Horse Ridge is closed to motorized vehicle travel.  Instead, I parked along the south edge of the Horse Ridge area along Ford road, along a spot where I could easily pull off and not be in the road itself.

Adrian, Patrick and I headed up for some backpacking/activating on Friday. We drove to South Breitenbush Trailhead with the intent of camping 2 miles in then attempting a first activation of Dinah-Mo Peak and heading back down the next day. Well, with what I thought was an hour of slack time, we encountered first some downed trees on NF46 (Clackamas River Hwy - Breitenbush River Road) and then were stopped by downed trees a mile and a half from the trailhead. No big deal, we have a little time, right?

Sardine Mountain is a short and steep trail of only about a third of a mile, but gaining about 500 feet. This is essentially a social trail that heads straight up the ridge that will disappear into the shrub in places. There are skittery rocks near the top requiring some focus to find a suitable path upwards. From the Willamette Valley, take Highway 22 east until just before the Breitenbush River bridge takes you into Detroit. You'll turn left here onto French Creek Road and go about 4.1 miles until the pavement ends and keep left onto Road 2223.

In the NE corner of Oregon there's this easy summit with great views of the surrounding Wallowa Mountains. The cross-country "hike" is only 0.6 miles from the nearest road approach and about 300 feet of gain, and in season the wildflowers are amazing.  

These directions are somewhat vague, because I don't recall exactly how we got there on the maze of Forest Roads. A GPS will be your best bet to get close.

From Lakeview, Oregon take Oregon Highway 140 north toward Paisley. Following Hwy 140, turn right onto Hwy 140 east toward Adel. Turn left onto Forest Service (FS) Road 3615 traveling north about 6.8 miles and pass the right turn to FS Road 019 (this leads to Light and Drake Peaks). Continue on FS Road 3615 about 3.2 miles to a road leading off to the right near   42.316° -120.168°. From here you are kinda on your own - you may find a good place to park about 0.6 miles up one of the dirt tracks - perhaps near   42.321° -120.1595°.