Summary - Peak 4020 and Aurora Mountain, southwest of Mount Saint Helens (near Ape Cave), are easily accessible by 2WD. I did them as a seven mile RT traverse hike (two thousand feet of up) with a couple of short cross country sections. The summits are forested but the views of Goat Mountain and Mount Saint Helens along the way are terrific. From Portland, plan on spending roughly four hours round trip driving on good roads, have a backup plan if two meter contacts are sparse, and bring bug juice for Aurora. This is a fine hike and two peak activation.
rattlesnake mountain or (north access) | july 2023
Summary - The hike (at least from the north) through the burn area is a sufferfest of deep, continuous treefall, exposure, and route finding. The trail is mostly gone and you must have a GPS and map or be very good with compass and map to avoid missing several crucial turns. As with most summits in this area, plan on HF to activate unless you know there are other SOTA ops in the area. Bottom line: skip this one, at least from the northern trailhead.
Stony Mountain, OR | August, 2023
In the past (and for a prior writeup), this summit was off-limits as part of a leased club parcel. Maybe Weyerhaueser couldn't find any clubs to lease it, or just changed their mind about how they wanted to manage the land, but it has ceased as a lease and become open to public access. It's a bit of a drive for one point, but a unique nonetheless.
Fox Butte, OR| August 2023
Fox Butte is an easy activation IF you are equipped with HF. I wouldn't rely on 2M unless maybe you bring a yagi to help get your signal to Bend. The roads are in much better than expected shape, and other that the fact that it is a long drive, it was quite pleasant and any passenger car can make the trip.
Full report here
7017 IDAHO 8/23
This summit is located off of Highway 30 Northwest of Soda Springs ID. Turn North off of Hwy 30 at the Old Oregon Trail highway. Take this road a couple of miles until you reach Windmill Flat Rd on your right. Follow this road approx. 1.75miles stopping at the cattle guard. From here you will see an old 4 wheeler trail going up the fence line on your right which is now closed by the BLM. Follow the fenceline until the corner posts. Here you will need to bushwhack approx 1.3 miles to the summit. There is approxiately 1000 ft lift in this bushwhack.
South Fork Mountain on foot, Oregon | August 2023
The previous trip reports have described driving up to South Fork Mountain, and I wanted to add that there is a trail to the top off of the well-maintained forest road 45, which is also on the way to/from Wanderers Peak. Thus it makes for a great second activation with no additional driving miles.
No Name 7032 Near Todd Lake, OR | Aug 2023
It was a bit surprising that this summit had not been activated. It is a fairly easy hike but it does require a back country permit for access in the Three Sisters Wilderness, which may have put some folks off. Also, Todd Lake is quite busy in the Summer tourism months and permits are limited, though we had no trouble getting one a couple days prior to our planned outing.
Ryan Mountain, Idaho
This is a nice drive up summit with either a high clearance vehicle or ORV. From Idaho Falls, Idaho, take Hwy US 20 past Rexburg ID and turn off at Exit 339 toward ID-33 Driggs/Jackson Hole exit. Go through the small town of Teton and proceed East 16 miles to Canyon Creek RD on your right. You will merge onto N Canyon Creek Rd and pass Green Canyon Hot Springs. Stay on this road a couple of miles until you see a FS sign saying Relay Ridge trail 219 on your left. Stay on 219 approx 9 miles on this 4 wheel drive/OVR road and it will take you to Ryans Peak.
Red Cone, OR 2023
There is already some written on Red Cone. I find a lot of the CLNP hikes difficult in the soft pumice which this is, most of the way. I am putting my 2c in on the AZ. I went alone and was told the first summit is in the AZ. When I arrived it sure didn't look like it so I walked the saddle, checked the low point in the saddle, and it seemed about 110' below the true summit according to all my GPS and topo lines on the map. I also used N6ARA's AZ app and it too says the first peak is not in the AZ.
Buckneck Mountain, OR 2023
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.