Easy Trail

Between our October 21, 2020 arrival in Sunriver, Oregon, and our October 30 departure, we were fortunate enough to have a spell of mostly cold and dry weather.  This allowed us to Activate 8 SOTA summits in 6 outings.  We also had the opportunity of doing 2 joint Activations with Ron, W6PZA, of Bend, Oregon - which was a lot of fun!  This report is one of a series, and deals with Mount Bachelor, W7O/CM-005.  The mountain is a Strata-Volcano, standing 9,065 feet in elevation.  It is in close proximity to the Three Sisters Wilderness, with its 3 namesake volcanos, all over 10,000 feet elevation.  Also in the vicinity is Broken Top, a collapsed volcano of over 9,000 feet elevation.  This nearby combination of peaks, together with a parade of many other strata volcanos from Washington State into Northern California, gives Mount Bachelor stunning vistas in all directions.

Brandy Peak is a short hike on a good trail. It is accessible in any vehicle. It’s not close to a population center. You knew there was a catch. The views from the top are spectacular and 360 degrees. It might be on your shuttle route if you are running the Wild and Scenic section of the Rogue or the Illinois Rivers. Road is closed in winter.

Cedar Springs Mountain is a peak near Grants Pass that is an easy walk from a locked gate, 1.7 miles round trip with 500 feet of elevation gain. There is communications equipment on the summit, but I suffered no RFI because of it. It has a nice operating point with lots of options for stringing antennas including large and small trees and the communications area fence posts. I found an all natural pole support. View is nice, but is blocked a bit by the trees so a bit of walking around is needed to see it all.

Giveout Mountain's summit can be reached by car or truck on generally good logging roads. Portions of the drive up are steep and narrow; I recommend 4WD. There is recent evidence of a shooting range on the summit. During my visit several groups scouted the area and there were at least a dozen such ranges set up in the vicinity. I imagine that arriving in the late morning on a weekend day may lead to disappointment.

We selected the southern route for Elk Point.  This southern route allows for a double activation with Sula Peak W7M/RC-138. This mostly open-ridgeline route has good views of distant Bitterroot Mountains, Anaconda Pintler Mountains and closer views of the Sapphire Mountains

Bald hill isn’t really bald.  It is a fine grassland on its south exposure, but is tree covered on the remaining west, north and east exposures.  Access is available any time of year, albeit steep.  It is prime winter range for 50-100 elk each year so avoiding December through February could prevent disturbing the elk.

You are entering bighorn sheep range in this summit’s area.  Two trail options are available.  Both are great trail hikes all the way to the summit.  The dry environment of this area makes it a good early Spring or late Fall season hike.  Wind can be challenging on the upper grassland

0.5 miles, +160 ft, -35 ft

This is a short hike to a rocky knob on the continental divide.

From the Bernice Exit on I-15 (Exit 151) between Boulder and Butte, take the Boulder River Road west as follows:

0.0          Exit I-15 at Bernice

Cinnabar Point is currently a mature lodgepole forest on a rolling summit.  In the 1980s the summit sported a dilapidated pole tower structure that may have been used as a lookout, but has since fallen and rotted.  It is an easy mountain bike ride up a permanently closed road and then a short climbing trail to an off-trail gradual assent to the summit.

East Crater is a peak in the Indian Heaven wilderness. Three years ago, the south side and ridgeline of East Crater were completely burned by a fire that ended up burning about 500 acres in the area, and this fire caused the evacuation of the entire Indian Heaven wilderness area in September of 2017. Not much has grown back on the south side, while the north side, essentially untouched by the fire, is thick with trees.