Exposed Summit

Summary - I first hiked Lookout Mountain via the usual route, High Praire Trail, Tim N7KOM as part of a two day outing that included SOTA summits 6001 and Badger Butte.

Goat Mount is a nice steep ridgeline hike.  The total distance from the trail head is just over a mile with an elevation gain of 1500 feet.  The peak is line of sight to much of Portland, so 2m contacts were plentiful.  There are many nice trees for HF antennas.

Driving is not bad, except for the last 0.4 miles.  This section has a wash out and lots of overgrowth.  Without a high clearance vehicle, I recommend parking at the last junction and hike the 0.4 miles to the TH.  Here are the direction from SR-503:

This is another summit I activated with my mountain bike and in this case that turned out to be a mistake as the bushwhack to the top is very steep, very thick, and not at all fun to do in bike shorts and shoes with spd cleats in them. 

Dean Mountain, also labeled on some maps "Dear Mountain", as in Dear Mountain it's been such a long time, sorry I haven't written.

Heading into the 2024 W7O Campout weekend, I was 36 points shy of Mountain Goat. K6ARK and I hit some strategic drive ups on the way down for 10 points, and then knocked out 24 points on the Siskiyou Crest. That left me at 998 points going into Saturday. I didn't want to activate just any summit for my MG, I wanted something that called back to the mountaineering I was doing when I first got licensed and learned of SOTA.

Summary - Table Rock from the Rooster Rock trailhead is an adventure hike: rough trail, one bog, some very steep sections, a bit of bushwhacking and route finding. The hike, which climbs to Rooster Rock and then traverses the ridge to Table Rock is 8.5mi round trip with 3000ft of up, is probably not for the faint of heart.

Summary - Rocky Top, on the edge of the Beachie Creek Lionshead burn, is a short hike, about .75mi and 700ft, from the trailhead. The drive up from HW22 is 8.5 miles, much of it narrow, exposed and rough but doable with 2WD. You may want to stop at the trailhead for the Arch and hike the last two miles of road up.  The hike, unshaded and generally steep, ends in a small, rocky, burned over, summit.

Summary - Mount Beachie, on the edge of the Beachie Creek Lionshead burn, is hiked from a trailhead above Elk Lake.  The fire burned over the top here, so it is a little desolate on top. 2M contacts, with a better-than-stock antenna, are possible. I did not turn on APRS.  The trail is rough the whole way and by turns, steep, rocky, buggy, boggy, and overgrown.

Summary - Battle Ax, on the edge of the Beachie Creek Lionshead burn, is hiked from a trailhead above Elk Lake. The trail is often rough and rocky and the last quarter mile, steep. The hike from the trailhead to the summit is about 2.6mi and 1700ft. Trekking poles and shoes good on rock are handy. The summit is open, with the remains of a lookout and views of all the big mountains; you'll need a mast to put up an HF wire.  2M contacts, with a better-than-stock antenna, are possible. I did not turn on APRS and ATT digital service was in and out.

Table Rock lies between Summer Lake and Fort Rock in central Oregon. It's easily visible and obvious for miles--a large round platau surrounded by desert. Views are great, of course.