Activation Reports

You can access Wolf Point if you purchase a Weyerhaeuser permit https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. The permit is valid for a year and gets you a map that you can load into an app on your phone as well as a key to the Recreation Access Gates.

I activated Wolf after Meridian Mountain.  From Meridian, head down Road 049 then LEFT on 050 then turn right on 1600, then Left on 200, Right on 200P, Left on 220P, Left on 224. Road is in AZ.  Pictures of summit on SOTA Atlas.

You can access Meridian Mountain if you purchase a Weyerhaeuser permit https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. The permit is valid for a year and gets you a map that you can load into an app on your phone as well as a key to the Recreation Access Gates.  Take I5 N to exit 42, then Ostrander Road to Rec Permit Access Gate 010. Take Road 010 to Road 049 to summit.  The AZ is off the road, the true summit is densely treed.  Summit pic on SOTA Atlas.

Due to the recent relocation of Frog Lake Buttes from one butte to the other earlier this year, I was anxious to do another double activation on New Year's Eve.  See my previous report for details on the route.  The only difference is you must continue on from the radio towers down to the saddle and on up the other butte.  Still very worth it for 14 pts.

1470 is an unnamed summit near Granite Falls, WA. It is an easy 3 mile walk (6 mile R/T) up a good gravel road. Around 1000' of gain. This is a good candidate for a mountain bike trip. Some nice views of Pilchuck near the top.

Ball Mountain is a relatively easy drive-near summit in the Oregon coast range, east of Lincoln City. Your passenger vehicle will get you close to the summit, followed by a short walk and then a bushwhack, neither of which is challenging. The summit area itself is treed in with ample space to set up and plenty of trees for antennas.

This is a burned-over scattered forest summit with few live trees.  Parking at the trailhead is limited but several places within 200’ exist.  Finding a place without snags limited parking to a couple of areas west of the trailhead at the curve in the road.  The one above the road is near an Idaho/Montana boundary post.  That post was placed in 1905 at mile 393.121 per information received from W7LIX. 

Goble Mountain is one of several two-point summits accessible from Weyerhaeuser rec permit access gate 6110.  For permit information see: https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one.  For this three-summit “expedition” I drove to within a few miles of each summit, parked and mountain biked to each of the summits.

Nineteen Mountain is one of several two-point summits accessible from Weyerhaeuser rec permit access gate 6110. For permit information see: https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one. For this three-summit “expedition” I drove to within a few miles of each summit, parked and mountain biked to each of the summits.  There is a small access road that kicks up steeply to the summit and really tested the lowest gear on my bike but once at the top of it, you are at the true summit.

Smith Mountain is one of several two-point summits accessible from Weyerhaeuser rec permit access gate 6110.  For permit information see: https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com. You will need the “Longview – St Helens” one.  For this three-summit “expedition” I drove to within a few miles of each summit, parked and mountain biked to each of the summits.  The Smith Mountain AZ extends to the road that passes nearby.  I did not bushwhack up to the treed “true” summit on this one and activated from the road. 

Although this isn't a very spectacular summit, it is located on the Continental Divide and can be either a drive-up in the summer, or a ski-up in the winter.  There are also possibilities to snowshoe up in the winter.  Each of these options is summarized below.  During our activation we hiked up the "Northern Approach".  The activation zone for this summit is very large.

Northern Approach Directions (From Priest Pas)

2.24 miles, 1,223 feet – Best Approach for Snowshoeing