The third of four Elkton area summits that we went after was Bell Mountain, W7O/CC-061. We tried two routes. One was based on Google Maps directions, and the other was finding a route on the USGS topo map.
The “Google” (Brush Creek Road) acted like it had promise, but it ended some distance from the summit, and 1300 to 1400 feet lower in elevation. There was an unmarked road near that end point which was not on the USGS map. I walked up that unknown road a few hundred yards to see what it was like. It curved away from the direction of the Bell summit, but that may not mean much, since these mountain roads do a lot of switching back and forth. The road was very narrow, and there was a large hole in one track that would probably have caused the vehicle to bottom out (high centered).
Without knowing where this would take us, we elected to follow the topo map route. So, we headed back to town and out into the country on the opposite side of the desired summit. That fell into place as we got closer and closer to Bell Mountain. We got within a half mile or so of the summit. Then a dreaded gate blocked our way, with a “no trespassing” sign. It looked like non-corporate, private property; but we had no idea where to look for the owner. So close, but no cigar!
