Summit does not have a "view"
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.
Summary - Butler Butte is part of a three summit group on Weyerhauser land that is about two hourse from SE Portland. Getting to the summit requires a short hike from a logging road. The summit is small, densely forested and without views. Don't count on two meters to make your four QSOs, cell phone service is marginal at best, and APRS pings get picked up. It can be done as part of a three or four summit day if you plan carefully.
Monte Carlo is a nice trail to an open summit near Underwood, WA. This appears to be the shortest and easiest way to Monte Carlo - a hike of less than a mile and about 800 feet gain.
On a recent camping trip to Riffe Lake, I activated this summit after activating Burley Mountain (W7W/PL-039). See my other trip report for directions to get there.
The route we took after Burley was to continue on NF-77 from the junction with NF-7605 and follow it until the junction with NF-202 at (46.344296, -121.927806) There is a spur at this junction (NF-7700201 that heads north a short 1/4 mile to the summit.
The activation zone is a small clearing surrounded by trees with no view.
This was my 3rd summit while over in Bend area for Central Oregon S2S party.
I had activated Pine Benchmark and Pine Mountain earlier in the day and I drove from there. I took NF-2017 from the Observatory down to the valley. However, that road is in very poor shape and high clearance is needed if you go that way. (If starting at the Observatory, travel time going back to Highway 30 to Road 23 is likely similar to taking rocky NF-2017 south).
This was my second time to visit Huffraker. Last year, the property owner had closed the area due to fire danger. This year, it was reopened. However, last year I was able to drive all the way to the edge of Gifford-Pinchot NF and park. This year, there was an incredible amount of blowdown that had not been cleared which added another 4 miles to this hike bringing it to overall 6.3 miles RT. It may be that, due to the late season snow, once the mushroom pickers get busy some of the blowdown will get cleared.
Access and other info in my post on Quartz Creek Ridge
Continuing our hike from Quartz Creek Ridge, at the access trail junction Bill K7WXW and I retrieved my stashed water, had a small break from the aggressive climb up from the ridge saddle, and then continued north on the Summit Prairie Trail.
