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
The recent update of the W7O ARM (Association Reference Manual) moved the activation zone of Frog Lake Buttes to the higher of the two butte summits, which gave me a reason to repeat one of my annual snowshoe hikes, notch another unique, and collect a winter bonus. This was my fourth trip to the summit (three in the winter, one in the summer).
Lenhart Butte is a drive-up or near drive-up just east of Sandy, Oregon. The access is via paved roads. Your GPS will guide you to the parking area, 45.34611, -122.1697, or at least mine did.
The parking area is also in the activation zone, but is also pretty much in someone’s front yard.
Summary - Summiting Monte Carlo in the winter is easy as long as you are good with an eight mile round trip with a 3000 foot climb. The first three or so miles of the hike is on a maintained forest road through open, old forest. The remainder is the steepest and roughest part of the hike, with big tree fall and some cross country travel. Your reward for taking on the challenge is a quiet, open summit ringed by old growth trees. Drive time from Portland is about 80 minutes across the Hood River toll bridge.
I took my kids on a snowshoeing adventure this past weekend. There were several SOTA activators scheduled to be out activating and we joined them for a fun time. The distance is around 1.7miles one way but we had very nice snow conditions.
Traffic was very heavy heading up to Mt. Hood and several vehicles turned around but we persevered and it eventually improved. It did add around 30mins to our arrival time.
Starting from the Frog Lake SNO-PARK and heading across the hwy slightly to the north is the Pacific Crest Trail crossing.
Canuck Peak is a forested summit in far northwestern Montana. The summit is identified only by three summit trails all heading downhill, a sign pointing to American Peak and a recently burned cabin. The trail to Canuck Peak is part of the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail system Congressionally designated in 2009. The one-mile trail portion to Canuck Peak is a well-maintained easy grade.
No vehicle access to this peak now. A gate has been added since this write up: http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/k7atn/2019-november-17/peak-2260-or-november-2019
There is no signage at the gate. The gate is a bit up the road from the highway and there is room to turn around or park, but we parked just off the highway.
Three of us did the hike: Eteinne, K7ATN, Guy, NS0TA, and myself.
Summary - Birkenfeld Mountain from the east side is a steep, mostly pathless, ridge bushwhack to a brushy forested summit. The approach via CG2020, is a logging road with some very steep sections that can also be used to reach Greenleaf Peak. Drive time to the trailhead was about 90 minutes.
Summary - Frog Lake Buttes doesn't have views but is a nice hike in the summer and a good snowshoe or ski destination in the winter. Park at the Frog Lake Sno Park and you have a choice of three routes: a 2.5 mile service road (the usual winter route), a 4.5 mile trail hike that starts on the PCT and winds around to the northwest side of the butte, or a 2.5 mile trail hike up the east side. Two meter contacts into Portland and Vancouver will be tough without a yagi or j pole, self-spotting is easy, and APRS digis ping.
Peak 6100, which I am calling Lemcke Peak, as the only thing near it with a name is Lemcke Spring.