Shady Trail

Bunker Hill is an unremarkable summit that can be reached, cautiously, with a 4WD vehicle. After you leave the highway, the way up has a number of branch points; GPS or a map will be handy.  When you get to the yellow gate, take down your antennas and be carefree about your paint getting scratched, otherwise, park here and hike up. It is roughly a 300' climb over half a mile. 

Here is a gaiagps map with driving and hiking information: W7O/NC-038 route.  

Mount Headley is easily accessed via a moderately climbing trail in the southern Cabinet Mountains.  It also makes an easy SOTA double when teamed up with Vermilion Peak, W7M/LO-056.  The summit is the tallest in the area and has fine views of nearby summits, lakes and distant peaks.  Be sure to stop and view Graves Creek Falls w

0.9 miles, +500 ft, -100 ft

This is a pleasant hike through a thick lodgepole pine forest.  The summit is a grassy meadow with some trees and views of the forested hills to the west.  It is prudent to take a chain saw for the drive in, in case if the road is blocked.  Note that the road is not open to motorized use from Oct. 15 – June 30.  The road is suitable for all vehicles.

Summary:

Gifford Peak is a forested summit above Blue Lake in the Indian Heaven Wilderness. This area is a popular destination for day hikers and backpackers, directly on the Pacific Crest Trail, so be prepared to meet crowds any day with good weather. The lake can be approached from either Falls Creek Horse Camp or the Thomas Lake Trailhead. Once there, take Thomas Lake Trail to the northwest corner of the lake, and proceed up the ridge off-trail. The ridge is pronounced and easy to follow to the true summit.

Approach: Rough gravel road in from Hyak.  Little parking and congested driving at hairpin curve ~1.7 miles before  the trail head.  Just past the hairpin curve the road is extremely steep, rocky and potholed, to the point only vehicles with good clearance can get through. (I have an Outlander PHEV that did fine going up, and scraped on one rock coming down.)  Once at the trail head it was busy, but easy to find an open parking spot on a Sunday afternoon.  

Any opportunity to hike the Pacific Crest Trail for SOTA is a welcome one - and this may be one of the best we've experienced of this lovely national treasure of a trail. While only a bit less than five miles round trip and 1000 feet of gain, there is a challenging steep bushwack (Mode Sanglier - On!) that takes a bit of the shine off of the trail experience. A GPS will be important to successfully identifying the edge of the AZ.

Follow any road map to Soda Mt. Rd or Hobart Bluff TH off of Hwy 66. You will follow the gravel road down past Hobart Bluff Trailhead, there is a parking area and restroom here. Go on past the trailhead aways until you reach the gated driveway for Soda Mountain on the right. It is a 1.5 mile walk up to the summit using the road. Minimal parking area as you will be in wilderness and there is very few pullouts to park in.

Henline is a relatively low traffic hiking trail in the Opal Creek Wilderness. It boasts rhododendrons, a mostly-well-maintained trail, and reasonably consistent gains. The hike is entirely on public right of way, and can be accessed via North Fork Santiam Road and NFDR 2207 from Hwy 22 out of Salem. Turn left on North Fork Santiam Road about 22 miles from I-5, then drive straight. Eventually this road turns to a moderate gravel road, followed by a fork between 2207 and 2209. Take the left fork and head uphill a ways. You'll pass the more popular Henline Falls Trailhead.

Here's a nice summit with a trail to the top, about 5 miles RT and more elevation gain that you might have wanted at 1800 feet - but know that it's worth it. A bit obscure perhaps outside of huckleberry season, you might not see many folks at other times. The views of Mt. Adams are fabulous. 

Doris Peaks is my name for a set of peaks above Doris Lake.

My stats:

Distance: 9.1 miles

Elevation Gain: 2000 ft

On trail: 6 miles

Off trail: 3.1 miles

Difficulty: Arduous