I hiked this with Bill K7WXW and my wife as part of a two summit hike. Bill did a good job of covering the hike. There is lots of overgrown shrubbery on the bottom half, but it is does not rise to the level of bushwhacking at this time. Give it a few more years wihtout trail maintenance and it will be more interesting. This was a enjoyable hike with great views and good 2m contacts into Portland.
I hiked this with Bill K7WXW and my wife as part of a two summit hike. I don't have much to add that Bill didn't say. There is a 1/3 mile section at the start that is a marshy, overgrown slog on a steep hillside. Bill got stuck in the muck a couple of times. I didn't know if I should help him or use him as a human bridge over the bog. Mosquitos in that section were horrendous. The rest of the hike was steep and trail finding was challenging. It did have wild lilies and other flowers that gave the hike some redeeming value. View from the top wa
Summary - Rocky Top, on the edge of the Beachie Creek Lionshead burn, is a short hike, about .75mi and 700ft, from the trailhead. The drive up from HW22 is 8.5 miles, much of it narrow, exposed and rough but doable with 2WD. You may want to stop at the trailhead for the Arch and hike the last two miles of road up. The hike, unshaded and generally steep, ends in a small, rocky, burned over, summit.
Summary - Mount Beachie, on the edge of the Beachie Creek Lionshead burn, is hiked from a trailhead above Elk Lake. The fire burned over the top here, so it is a little desolate on top. 2M contacts, with a better-than-stock antenna, are possible. I did not turn on APRS. The trail is rough the whole way and by turns, steep, rocky, buggy, boggy, and overgrown.
Summary - Battle Ax, on the edge of the Beachie Creek Lionshead burn, is hiked from a trailhead above Elk Lake. The trail is often rough and rocky and the last quarter mile, steep. The hike from the trailhead to the summit is about 2.6mi and 1700ft. Trekking poles and shoes good on rock are handy. The summit is open, with the remains of a lookout and views of all the big mountains; you'll need a mast to put up an HF wire. 2M contacts, with a better-than-stock antenna, are possible. I did not turn on APRS and ATT digital service was in and out.
I attempted to follow Amy AG7GP's described route up Beecher Road onto the BLM road and encountered a locked gate approximately 5 miles short of the summit. It has a sign indicating video surveillance which implies no public access to me. Picture is attached, gate is at 42.62347, -123.36869.
6.5 miles RT with 1100 feet of elevation gain from the pavement. I suggest this is where you start. None of the track is steep, but there are some steeple chase logs and at one point the road was so over grown we lost it.
General: As a Klickitat Cunty highpoint, this is surprisingly activated often by the PeakBaggers. I saw a lot of boot traffic. See https://peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=310 for a lot of trip reports and .gpx tracks.
Directions: From Goldendale WA, take SR97 north 14.5mi to Ski Lodge Rd. West exit. Go past the old Ski Lodge and west past Simcoe Butte/MC-051 which is on Yakima Tribal Lands. Side trip: drive up the narrow road to the summit for spectacular view of the Yakima and Simcoe valleys.
Table Rock lies between Summer Lake and Fort Rock in central Oregon. It's easily visible and obvious for miles--a large round platau surrounded by desert. Views are great, of course.
This summit is a complete Priusable drive up. The actual summit is a few hundred feet distant with about 40 feet of gain, so the road is in the activation zone. Getting to the top is an easy bushwhack through recently logged open forest. To get there find the Mckenzie River and highway 126 whch runs along it.
Turn off of the highway 126 at 44.2371, -122.05542 onto NF-2654 which is paved for a while.
Take a right at 44.2502, -122.0607 to cross Deer Creek.
Take another right onto NF-2655 at 44.2554, -122.0577.
Final right at 44.2584, -122.05348 onto 616.