WW7D and I set out on an adventure to see if we could activate Cooper Mountain via snowmobile. We knew that it was theoretically possible since Cooper Mountain lies on a groomed snowmobile trail. The only intel we had was a 7 day old trail grooming report. We knew from past experience that we might arrive to find the snow park gated or the trail impassible due to downed trees, lack of snow, etc. We decided to roll the dice and make the long journey from the Seattle area to Chelan, WA.

Time for another Pacific Northwest get-out-and-SOTA-saturday!  Choose a hill, post an alert, and get on a summit on March 19, 2022. Or stay at home in that nice warm shack of yours and chase. Doesn't matter as long as you get on the air!   

Here is a pavement to trailhead activation if you find yourself in the Columbia River Gorge near White Salmon, WA. A short hike of 1 mile and 700 feet of elevation gain will get you the chance at this 2 pointer. The hike is mostly on a good gravel road and the last bit is easy cross country (for now) as they ran a cat over almost all of it, so not much to push through or step over. There are stumps around and a couple of tall “habitat trees” that are likely in the AZ if you need that sort of antenna support.

A Forest Service map released in January, 2022 showed FR45 open to Goat Mountain so I drove out this morning, assuming I'd have, depending on the snow, a two to four mile snowshoe.   Alas, about six miles before the trailhead  (45.20082, -122.24825) I found this barring my way:

A friend from Eugene wanted to hit Mount McLoughlin in the winter and despite the drive distance from Beaverton, it looked like too beautiful a mountain to pass up. After picking up rental snowshoes from REI in Medford I made it to the Summit Sno-Park TH at sunset. Casey arrived shortly after and we made some quick dinner on our backpacking stoves then turned in for the night. 

McMurray Benchmark is a 1-point summit located near I-5, just northeast of Stanwood, WA.  I had driven by the entrance (where you turn north onto 12th Ave NW) in the past, but saw a no tresspassing sign and wasn't sure about driving up the road.  This time, after I turned onto 12th Ave NW and drove 0.5 miles to the parking area... I was surprised at how many cars were parked at the trailhead.  As long as you fill out the waiver form near the entrance, you are not tresspassing when you hike to the summit.  Below is a link with more information about the area.

This was my second Winter activation attempt of this summit.  The first one ended in an epic fail getting my Jeep stuck in the snow (see picture below).  I had to do a self-recovery with my shovel and winch.  Do not attempt to drive on the groomed "road." Though along the non-winter access road, this is a groomed "trail" for snowmobiles!

Best way to get to and hike Woodrat in my opinion is to take Sterling Creek Rd (several ways to get to Sterling depending on where you are coming from) and eventually turn on Woodrat Mt Rd 38-2-29. There is a sign and the road is paved most of the way. You will come to an intersection on the right where Bishop Cr meets Woodrat, keep going up Woodrat for another 3-4/10ths of a mile and there will be a rutty off road embankment on the left 42.22318,-122.98933. You'll have to find a pullout before or after to park.

I skied up Cooper Mountain on Feb 6, 2022 for its first-ever winter activation and my first trip up it. This looks to be a drive-up summit in the summer, but winter is a very different story unless you have a snowmobile (there is a groomed snowmobile trail all the way to the summit, so that would be quite easy). However, I do not have a snowmobile, so I made the trip on my new Altai Hok 125 cm skis.

We were down in Philomath, OR and decided to check out Marys Peak while we were in the area. I know Marys is thought of as a mostly drive up, but I found a popular hike from lower down on the mountain. The East Ridge trailhead "Connor's Camp" has nice parking and a pit toilet. It is a fee site, so you'll need your forest pass or $5 to fill out a permit.