Polk County Highpoint Trip Report

Date: November 10, 2007
Author: "Chuck Walla"

We drove in west of Falls Creek, Oregon and encountered the open gate 3.9 miles from the start of the dirt road. A sign indicated it is open in the fall on weekends for hunters.

The road was firm and in good shape so we continued west and then north to the locked gate at 14.5 miles. The substantial gate has "No Trespassing" signs on it for the FAA Radar site at the top. Rather than park at the gate which would make it obvious where we had gone I drove a short way back to a turn going north. This goes out into a clear-cut area. We parked at a fork a short way out there. Shortly a black truck drove up with a State Trooper inside. I was at the open trunk and quickly hid my pack. He asked if I was hunting and I said no that we were just sightseeing since the gate was open. He seemed satisfied and suggested we "stay visible" since there were a lot of hunters about. He then drove up to the FAA gate, turned around and left. Park at UTM (453817 E, 4974590 N) Zone 10, NAD27 datum.

We then donned our packs and headed a short distance east in the clear-cut area then went up through the forest intersecting the FAA road a bit east of the gate. We were somewhat visible should someone drive up to the gate so we hustled along. At the top no one was there and we found the 1972 BM disk just east of the NE corner of the fence around the Radar. The highpoint appears to be in this area, although some grading may have disturbed the contour.

If this peak is done on a weekend in the fall there shouldn't be much problem. I would be careful the last part of the walk to the top should there be service personnel at the Radar site.