Githens Mountain in the Clackamas River drainage is a short, one mile hike and only about 500 feet of gain. It can be activated along with nearby Tumala (Squaw) Mountain from the same trailhead. Finding the summit may require a GPS, as it's not on the trail and isn't particularly distinct.
Tumala (or Squaw) Mountain in the Clackamas River drainage is a nice walk through the woods of about 2.5 miles RT and about 800 feet of net gain.
This was first dip into the SOTA adventure, and it was big fun! Although this is a super easy almost urban summit it was a good way to start and see how things worked. I used my new KX2 and Alexloop and everything worked great considering propogation. In about 2 hours I worked 24 Q's;14 states and ZL! Not bad for 5W to the loop.I did miss one station calling me on SSB-a cross mode contact if I could've figured out how to undo the 'LSB' mode; somehow the KX2 was set that way on 20 when obviously it should've been set at USB. I did figure it out at home later..sorry to whoever was calling.
2.2 miles, 2,100 feet
Once you find Sharps Creek Road, you can follow it to the trail head with ease. You should not try the road to the trail head unless you have a 4x4 as rocks and ground clearance will give you trouble. During the summer, the look out is manned only from around noon to 4:00 pm. This is when the gate will be unlocked at the trail head. Otherwise, it is a very nice trail (1.1 mile dirt road ) to the summit. At the top I had ZERO cell coverage! (AT&T) No way to spot myself! So I called CQ on the usual 20m SOTA freqs with no respnse.
On Saturday 25 June we were once again heading back from Eastern Washington. It had been almost 2 years to the day since I had been on Red Top lookout. The days are long so we had plenty of time to head up. It was an amazing hike and amazing views.
The directions at WTA are perfect for getting to the Trailhead: http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/red-top-lookout. The WTA site says round trip 1.5 miles. My GPS said it was right at 1 mile and 345 ft of elevation hike.
Timber Butte is a practically unknown destination not far from the busy trailhead for Triangulation Peak.
Outerson Mountain is a practically unknown destination very near the very busy trailhead for Triangulation Peak.
Triangulation Peak is a popular summer hike destination with a weekend procession of sandal-wearing hikers, small children and dogs. It's about two miles and 800 feet of gain and has fantastic views of Mount Jefferson and many Cascade Range peaks.
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