AG7GP's blog

Buckneck starts off by taking the Rogue-Umpqua divide trail from the west. The trail is pretty nice. There was one part I got off track due to many down trees and unable to tell which was trail. I tried to correct this with moving some branches and logs on my way back out. Even though this trail is nice, I still don't recommend this summit due to the final ascend of about 300'. You have to switchback off trail and ascend up the north ridge. It is all serious windblown burn scar that is being took over by young western hemlock.

This was short but very hard. Straight up off trail. Maybe there is an easier way but I doubt it. I started on the 1046B trail on the west side but it ends only about 500ft in so I just started climbing straight up. Soft, steep, forest duff that was hard to stay upright in and the I reached a outcropping of shale and boulder to carefully climb the final 150' before the AZ. Shaded. It is about 700' gain in .5 miles.No cell at all. I did decend through an open meadow which felt much safer, however, the plants started getting taller and taller and I got covered in burrs.

I did Fish, CS-159, and Buckneck the first day of my arrival preparing for the 2023 campout. I have been working on exploring the summits along the Rogue-Umpqua Divide. They are all HARD. Fish is about 1.8mi RT with about 1000'+ per mi gain. No trail, I took tracks from a peakbagger and hiked up the NW rim. It is a combination of navigating through the forest, rocks, and climbing. Half way up you will come to a plug I did not see coming but managed to navigate around the west side of it (to the right) and find a spot to boulder climb up.

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 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.

First of all Brian, AB6D was the first on this mountain. New updates and advanced accuracy apparently changed the true summit to the NE peak rather than the SW. I wouldn't have gone if I hadn't read his summary. Same mountain, nearly same trek, just a slightly different finish.

This was #4 of 4 in a day. Battle Mountain on a map looks like it is a drive up but it is not. It is mostly a burn scar and the original lookout road (lookout is gone) has been bermed. It is a very nice summit on top. Flat, open but big timber for shade and a view. Lookout ruins, footings. Getting up was not easy though.

This was #3 of 4 summits in a day up May Creek. This was a little difficult set up. Crowded brush and timber. One thing to realize is the NE peak is also in the AZ, the saddle doesn't drop below the AZ mark. I just hiked up the this peak. It is steep country and once you reach the AZ it is very thick. Luckily the NNW ridge up the NE peak has been thinned and fuel break up to the BLM boundary so you can trek most of the way with little bushwhack.

This was summit #2 for the day after SC-102. You could do neighboring Black Butte also, I just missed the turn and went to this one first. Nice short trek up the forested west ridge from a wide parking/camping area with large fire ring. Only about .30 mi up. Plenty of space to set up. Pretty flat with timber. One interesting thing with the AZ here is all maps say this summit is over 3600', not 3580'. However the trek is so easy and short getting to the top is not difficult.

This summit gets its name from its other peak outside of the AZ, it is not Bald and pretty thick brush, skinny timber/madrone. Not the easiest set up but doable.Great road up, paved first miles on May Creek and then right on Bald Mt Rd. No sign, the turn goes over a the creek with a drain pond on the left, at least in April. Drive up to AZ and find a location up bank to activate.

Bald Mt was #1 of 4 in a full day of activation

de AG7GP