This afternoon was another attempt to reach a non-activated summit. Good roads in from the south, but unfortunaly, private land that was very well marked by brightly colored fence posts every 50-100 feet for miles and miles.
Looking up at the peak, I could see no other fence lines, so my guess is the summit is privately owned as well.
Oh well, at least I can forget about this one and move on to other known accessible peaks.
I decided to head to the town of Emmett, ID to check out of couple of summits. First on the list was Peak 3410 which is on BLM land. Unfortunately, to get there is a bit of a challenge and I was stopped early on in the trip, about 5 miles away. It was the start of a dirt road with a very clearly marked "No Tresspassing" sign.
It would be interesting to see if there is a way in from the north, maybe via Big Willow and Sucker Creek Roads, but that will have to be a trip on another day.
This is one of the last holdouts near Portland! After a successful first activation by AF7MD on W7O/NC-082, and the previous activation last year of W7O/NC-085 by WJ7WJ, I thought it was high time to bag this one before anyone else got to it!
It's about time I wrote this one up, almost a year after.
This peak stood out as one of the remaining peaks on private or questionably accessible land at the beginning of 2019, in the Portland metro area.
I love Bald Mountain. Not sure what it is about this gem. Maybe just like Wagner Butte and Grizzly Peak, it's a mountain I stare and gaze at frequently. It is the view from our ranch meadow (Brickpile Ranch) so again one of those mountains I wanted to hike but never did until SOTA. Each activation I have done from a different areas since it is a long summit, only once have I took the trail. If feeling ambitious I recommend doing Point Mountain or Anderson Butte same day.
Point Mountain has a pretty good trail most of the way. It is mainly a steep bald mountainside especially for the last few hundred yards of the climb. I do not recommend short cutting, the brush is too thick where it gets tempting because you are oh-so-close to the top. This is also an area known for bear. My first trip up I got growled at by something in the thicket ?? Turned around and kept to trail...
We (me and N7HAP) did this after W7O/SC-267, I would recommend doing them both if up there. We went up expecting a nice 75degree day but got that Oregon liquid sunshine instead. This was N7HAP's first successful activation! He also logged the very first SOTA contact for this summit, YAY!
Summit 3334 will likely be named ”Hornet Hill” due to the local road names going up. But don't let the name stop you! It is a nice knoll with a partial view. Grassy area with oak and tall pine, and plenty of wildflowers, and some interesting lighning damage on some timber. Plenty of area to set up.
4.3 mi, +2,100 feet
This is a good earlier season hike that offers spectacular views and some isolation after leaving the main Sun River Trail.
I believe previous activations of W7O/SC-071 reached the summit from the hang glider parking area to the north at the end of Woodrat Mountain Rd. When I looked at Google Maps satellite view, I noticed a distinct trail from an earlier spot on Woodrat Mtn Road, to the east of the summit. Woodrat Mountain Road is reached via Griffin Creek Road and Sterling Creek Road from the east. It begins with asphalt pavement and then turns to gravel/dirt but is in very good shape compared to other forest roads in this area. I was able to easily find where Woodrat Mtn Road was inter