West Onion Peak, Oregon | APR2019
Summary: West Onion Peak is a great activation if you don't mind the 13 mile round trip hike.
Summit does not have a "view"
Summary: West Onion Peak is a great activation if you don't mind the 13 mile round trip hike.
I just wanted to post a quick update on W7O/NC-044 the previous write up is still accurate but as I understand some people have found it posted no tresspassing I just wanted to post an update from my recent activation there.
Here's a nice 3 mile snowshoe or cross-country ski in the winter. OR...you may be able to drive within about a half mile in the summer. For a good ski experience, you might want to have at least 3 to 5 feet of snow on the ground - see the depth measure in the first photo below.
The activation zone for Cooper Mountain is a (very) short hike above the dog park at Winkelman Park, 10139 SW 175th Ave, Beaverton, Oregon. There is no AZ access from Cooper Mountain Nature Park to the west and the summit proper is posted "No Trespassing."
"5580" is a four-point summit approximately 25 miles northeast of Prineville, OR. It is fairly easy to reach by roads with a short pack to the summit. The summit was activated for the 1st time on 24-Nov-2018 by Roland - K7FOP and myself Shelby -N7SHG.
Badger Butte is a four-point summit east of Mount Hood. It's a bit of trouble to reach and the last bit to the summit is cross-country, but only a half mile through fairly open forest. There are no views at the top to reward you - just contacts on the air with your fellow SOTA folks. Note that some GPS will take you via NF-4891 and Bonney Meadows Road - you and your vehicle will not like that route. Not at all.
Here's a nice 2.4 mile round trip hike on a quiet forest road, east of Prineville. Don't get this Wildcat Mountain mixed up with the other three summits with the same name in Oregon.
Humbug is a great hike on the South Coast, even if it is a steep six miles round trip and 1700 feet of gain. Find the well-marked and large parking lot for the trailhead about five miles south of Port Orford, Oregon on the west side of Highway 101. No parking pass is required.
After you climb about a mile, there is a slightly shorter (and slightly steeper) option to take the West Trail - I suggest that you try both, as the West has some nice peak-a-boo views, and the East has some amazing old growth. All trails are well-graded and likely busy during the summer months.
I had mapped out three different routes to the summit “trailhead” and opted to drive up from the south off Nestucca River Road. Turn north at an unmarked road/intersection .7 miles west of the NW Boundary Road/Nestucca River Road intersection. Most roads in this area are unsigned.
This is a short one mile hike 400 feet of gain that you reach by driving about five miles on a poor road. There's some bushwacking required to make the Activation Zone.