Red Hills of Dundee, OR | Sept 2016
Red Hills of Dundee HP is a summit on private property with all of the Activation Zone apparently also on private property.
Trailhead has limited or no parking
Red Hills of Dundee HP is a summit on private property with all of the Activation Zone apparently also on private property.
Little Odell Butte is near the Willamette Pass ski area just off OR58 and is also near Odell
Butte. Its a cute warm-up hike for its bigger namesake.
Little Odell Butte is reached by turning off onto RD6020 off of OR58 between mileposts 76
and 77. RD6020 parallels OR58 for a bit then turns west. 1.5 miles from OR58, take RD500
on the right. I'd go maybe a couple of hundred feet or so and park. Its too rough and brushy
for any vehicle you care about keeping.
Using a map and GPS head up RD500 staying to the left initially then turning up towards the
Marmot Butte is a rather nondescript summit just northeast of Chemult, OR.
It is also about 3km northeast of Walker Mountain. The two can easily be
done in one day. signage is sparse on this trek. Be sure to take map and
GPS to keep on track.
On this warm late June day, the mosquitoes were hungry and numerous. Its never
a good sign when you see dozens of mosquitoes lighting on your rig breaking off
their blood sucking apparatus the moment you stop. 100% DEET was employed.
Marmot Butte is reached by first taking NF9755 approximately 1.2mi north of the
Stoney Point, W7O/CC-076, is a one point summit near Noti, OR. It is on private property and requires permission to hike. The people who live in the house at the gate have been reasonable about access, as were the loggers working on the way up.
The access road to the summit of Tygh Ridge north of The Dalles is posted "Private - No Tresspassing."
Here's a 1.1 mile one-way hike with 800 feet of gain just a ways south of Bend, Oregon. It's got some great views and a nice summit with a bit of lookout history.
Trout Creek Butte is a convenient activation site from the town of
Sisters, Oregon. Its only about 12 miles from the town center. This
summit could probably be considered a drive-up, provided the gate
near the top was open and you had a suitable vehicle.
From the west side of the town of Sisters, take Oregon 242 west. Just
after passing Sisters High School, NF-15 will head south on your left.
My description begins here (mile-point zero) at the junction of NF-15
and Oregon 242.
Take NF-15, heading south initially on blacktop. The blacktop turns to
K7MK and I headed out late in the morning on July 24 to accomplish a double -- Boise Peak - W7I/BC-079 and this summit 6624 - W7I/BC-077. We were thwarted on our access to Boise Peak by an impassible section of road. See a separate activation report on Boise Peak for that story. This wasted well over an hour of time as we drove up the road to Boise Peak and then came back down again. If there was one silver lining is this cloud is that during the round trip we noticed that K7MK's APRS system was not working.
Our first activation of Bald Mtn in 2015 was very satisfying even on the overcast and misty day we did it. But opt for a sunny day if you can - the views at the top are really worth it. On a clear day, you will be rewarded with a wonderful vista of the Spada Reservoir and the mountains beyond. The pictures here were taken when we went back in 2016.
I've spent many wonderful fall weekends black powder hunting near Suttle Lake west of Sisters, Oregon.
I've hunted the slopes of Cache Mountain as well, so activating Cache Mountain has long been on my mind.
The B&B complex fire of 2003 devastated the area and the game in the area seems non-existent. Still,
I couldn't wait to go back, this time with smaller caliber hunting gear.
The access to Cache Mountain is via US Hwy 20. The turn off onto Old Santiam Wagon Road, FS 2067,