Summary: This eleven mile out and back hike starts at the Douglas trailhead, which begins at the end of Wildcat Mountain Road (paved the whole way) and traverses the ridge between Wildcat and Huckleberry. The hike climbs roughly 2800 feet with a quarter or so of up reserved for the return hike. The trailhead is popular but few people head up to Huckleberry and fewer still to the high point of the ridge. ATT cell service is non-existent, APRS works pretty well, and 2M contacts are fairly easy.
Blogs
zigzag mountain or (southern access) | june 2023
Summary - There are two routes up from Zigzag Mountain Road (Road 27 from HWY 26). The longer route follows the West Zigzag and Zigzag Mountain trail and ends in a bushwhack up the northwest ridge of Zigzag Mountain (about 5.5mi OW). The shorter route follows Burnt Lake trail to Devils Tie to Zigzag Mountain trail and ends in a bushwhack up the north side of the summit. (about 3.5mi OW). I recommend the longer route, which meanders along the mountain ridge, and is less used. ATT digital service was spotty, APRS was full strength, 2M contacts aren't difficult.
Hager Mountain, OR | June 2023
Hager Mountain, W7O/CE-028 is a moderate to hard hike depending on the length you choose. It can be done as either an 7.5,6 or 4.5 mile RT depending on where you park. Parking at the trailhead on FS RD 28 is the easiest access with longest hike, but if time or energy is a concern driving up the 28-000012 road a couple of miles is worth it. Bring plenty of bug spray and extra water... also some kind of shade if you have it, summit is pretty exposed. There is a picnic table, vault toilet and the fire lookout on summit.
Tallowbox Mountain, OR 2023
Tallowbox is nice easy summit. <.5mi hike up a gated road. There is equipment, camera lookout, etc up there and I did not get any interference this trip on 20 and 40 with my MTR3B. The drive up is very nice too, paved part way. Great 360 views. de AG7GP
Jim Mee Peak, OR 2023
Jim Mee is accessible by continuing southwest on the Tallowbox LO Rd from Tallowbox. It is not accessible from Star Gulch anymore or at the moment. I discovered this the hard way by trying to go down Ladybug Gulch from Jim Mee to Ninemile and the road is deeply bermed quite aways down with no warning. Very disappointed in BLM.
2197, CA | June 2023
W6/NW-388 is a pretty summit with views of Shasta Bally to the West and Lassen/Mt Shasta to the East. It overlooks the Whiskeytown Lake to the west and the greater Redding area to the east. Simple route finding and around a 3 mile round trip made me wonder why it hasn’t been activated more frequently, I being the second.
Williamson Mountain, OR | June 2023
We spent the night at Elk Lake Campground. Highly recommend it if you can get a reservation. We were in spot 11 which had great views at sunset.
From Bend take Cascade Lakes Highway to the Lucky Lake Trailhead. Fill out the free day use permit here (and put your Northwest Forest pass in your car window), then head up the trail. It's an easy 1.3 miles to Lucky Lake. There was some blowdowns a cross the trail as it's early season and they haven't been chopped yet.
Gollaher Mountain, Nevada | June 2023
This was the first activation of Gollaher Mountain. The USGS marker at the summit calls it Gollyer Mountain, though all maps and other information uses Gollaher. Someone has placed a register in a glass bottle under some rocks at the summit. A lot of people have signed it. The drive to the summit is relatively straight forward, though somewhat long and requiring 4wd/high clearance (not Prius friendly/Subaru Outback’s may have issues with the deep ruts).
Walker Mountain, OR | June 2023
June 2023 Update: NF 9402 has been gravelled and runoff strips installed. In all other respects, previous reports still apply, however.
The last stretch of this driveup, on NF 9402 was previously reported as deep dust and silt. I'm happy to report that this road has been gravelled and water runoff strips installed for erosion control. This makes the drive pretty manageable.
Orr Mountain, CA | June 2023
I was driving back to Portland from Northern California and taking Highway 97 for the scenic beauty. There are a number of 4 and 6 point summits in the region with easy-ish access, so I thought I'd try one or two along the way. A forest service employee recommended Orr Mountain, which has great views, a nice open area at the top and an active fire lookout.