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[cohp] Digest Number 5311
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County High Pointing in all 50 states
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County High Pointing in all 50 states Group
1 Message
Digest #5311
1
Washington/Oregon COHP TRs by cuber86

Message
1
Washington/Oregon COHP TRs
Tue May 10, 2016 9:19 pm (PDT) . Posted by:
cuber86
Here's the latest batch--sorry, I'm feeling lazy, so all you get is that these took place in this order over the first week and a half of May 2016. My ambitions for the rest of the trip are mostly in Oregon logging country and Gilliam/Sherman counties, stay tuned!

Mt Hood--Hood River/Clackamas COHP and OR state HP
The short version: had pretty much perfect weather and conditions. Sunny, pleasant temperatures, good snow, good steps most of the way up, completely closed bergschrund. Climbed solo to 9200', then teamed up with a local couple the rest of the way. Good steps all the way up the Hogsback, 50' steeper icy section in L gully of Pearly Gates, then easy snow above that to summit. Crystal clear views from Rainier to South Sister and down to Portland. Great descent with lots of glissading and a beer at the parking lot to celebrate. My 46th state highpoint, and the last tough one in the lower 48!

Long Mountain--Columbia COHP OR
This hike was unique in two ways: I climbed this, the lowest county highpoint in Oregon, the very same day I summitted its highest peak. And I went with accomplished peakbagger Jobe Wymore, who kindly drove me and hiked with me to the summit from his home in greater Portland. On a weekday, as much of Portland was snarled in rush hour traffic, the area was quiet, peaceful, no sounds of logging activity. The gate is still signed as no trespassing, but I didn't feel terribly worried. Route was as described in recent TRs, and the natural summit appears to be a stump near the mentioned road that doesn't lead back to anywhere useful (there are a few heaped-up piles of earth nearby that are higher). A quick walk along the road to the east end of the mountain gives a dramatic view of Adams, Rainier, Saint Helens, and a bit of Hood.

Sturgeon Fin--Clark COHP WA
As luck would have it, a local friend had been planning to hike this with his sister! He gladly invited me along. We came in from a southern approach, which entails a bit more effort but is a surer road, reachable by any street-legal vehicle (and requires an adventure pass, though we opted not to buy one). At first hiking in the clouds, we broke through to partly sunny skies about 800' below the summit. Heading up Silver Star first, encountering a bit of snow the last few hundred feet, the summit vistas were simply incredible. Adams and Hood played hide-and-seek in the clouds, with what was left of Saint Helens stood tall. Ridges spreading out from the summit dove into a marine cloud layer. Quinetessential western Washington...we then headed down and took the faint loop trail over to the Sturgeon Rock area. The friend and I headed up the south face at a break in the trees, following gravel-covered class 2 ledges to easy ground on the ridge crest. He stayed behind to photograph various plants as I continued uphill to the highpoint, then east to the top of Sturgeon Rock. The rest of the hike was mostly uneventful, and we spent the evening wandering around downtown Portland and checking out Powell's Books.

Camano Island HP--Island COHP WA
This is the lowest county highpoint in the western contiguous United States. It's not very interesting. Edward Earl's directions proved very useful. I drove up to the middle area (with the shed in someone's yard), parking in the street. As I walked up the driveway, a friendly middle-aged lady came out of the house, and readily granted me permission. Wandered for 30 seconds and called it good. Walked from there to the southern area, which entailed just a tiny bit of bushwhacking to find the stump near the two-track coming off of the very last driveway. The northern area, though...that one sucked big time. Of note, there's now a large cleared area marked KEEP OUT just east of the highpoint area. After battling heavy brush and stinging nettles to the point I no longer cared to grid anything further, I made my way over to said cleared area and had a far more pleasant return to the car. There might be a house here in a year or two, but in the meantime, I'd recommend using this to get close to the candidate area. Trespassing and all, it's worth it.

Gold Mountain--Kitsap COHP WA
Prettier than expected. I picked up a $12 Discover Pass at the Shell station across from the lake on the approach. The best way I can explain the route up this one is as follows: start up the signed Tin Mine Tr at the S end of the parking lot. Stay L at the first junction, then R at all subsequent junctions, eventually heading steeply uphill and SE until the trail dumps you out at a flat logging road in a small clearing. Follow this to a 4-way at a saddle, continue straight, then stay on the main road for quite a ways, going past the summit and doubling back. Several other roads come off of this one (some paved, some fainter) to various towers, and at last the main road appears to bend R and make a short steep ascent to a tower area. Instead stay straight on a fainter dirt road, go another minute or so, and look for the steep little cone that makes up the true summit. A use path starts around a utility box in the pines, and there's a register hidden in the stump. I didn't feel too sketched out on this one, as the few Absolutely No Trespassing signs I saw were inconspicuous and seemed to definitely be intended for the trees, rather than the road (the actual summit does not lie in watershed land, so you're okay there). There was a worker at one of the other towers, but he either didn't notice me or didn't care. Nice views of Rainier, the Puget Sound, and on this rare clear-enough day, the eastern Olympics. About 2:20 roundtrip

Huckleberry Ridge--Wahkiakum COHP WA
In a word, boring. Walked 16 miles of quiet logging roads on a Sunday, taking the shorter steep road. At the upper gate, saw a flat-out No Trespassing sign (followed by the signs I'd seen at the lower gate), but honestly I doubt anyone would care you're up here, even on an active day, as long as you stayed out of the way. Some moderately nice overcast views from the summit area. Actual HP is not the flat clearing near the towers, but rather up in the small copse of trees off to the left as you make the final road walk to the top. Do your homework and know where the major turns are per satellite imagery. 6 1/2 hours roundtrip.

Rattlesnake BM--Benton COHP WA
Another pretty boring one. Parked at the western end of the mountain and quite literally followed the obvious road until I reached the summit. A bit freaked out by an SUV driving up the road ahead of me when I parked, but they turned out to be government workers checking out the power lines for some reason, and weren't at all concerned by my presence. Rain threatened, and finally fell, but no lightning or thunder accompanied it. Of note, the only two gates were within the first 0.2 miles or so, and both were closed but not locked. A vehicle with high clearance, and preferably 4WD, could theoretically drive to the summit via the two-track with the gates as I found them (though I think you're not supposed to). About 3:40 roundtrip.

Franklin COHP WA
Unfortunately can't shed any new light on the access situation. Drove to the farmhouse via the sleepy hamlet of Washtucna, arriving around dinnertime (later than I'd wanted to). Knocked and rang the bell of the house, but not receiving any response, simply wrote a note in my car and went and did it, a bit over an hour roundtrip, with no change of things on my return. A few things: the house itself doesn't look deserted--the grass in the small yard was recently mown. Once you're up over the immediate first 50' hill, you're out of sight of the house (and would be from a more southernly road approach as well). The initial road you follow takes you about a half mile toward the buttes, then ends at a turnaround--in theory you could drive to this point, though I opted to walk. After this, the road hugging the base of the buttes is far more overgrown, and entails some ankle-twisting holes, so be careful. I walked the road until abreast of the highpoint, where the road seemed to fizzle out, and simply charged up the sometimes-steep slopes to the broad summit. The sharp little seed pods were not as awful as I'd been led to believe, luckily.

Adams COHP WA
Did this one at dusk. Short steep brushy hillside followed by several tenths of miles of dusty, tedious loam. Felt bad cutting across the tilled fields, but all's fair in love and county highpointing I guess. Nearly stopped on a rise that seemed highest, but checked my GPS and saw it was another 0.2 miles further west, so went over there too. Maybe 45 minutes roundtrip. Wasn't too worried about traffic near where I parked over on Wellesandt Rd.

Badger Mtn--Douglas COHP WA
Very glad to have this one behind me. I came in via Hummingbird Rd as most others have done (not sure why people don't come in via Falcon Ridge Rd the whole way, but I didn't push my luck trying to find out). Took this north to the unsigned Falcon Ridge Rd at a 4-way, turning left. Hummingbird did have one stretch where the main road appeared to go left, which just led to the driveway of a luckily-unfinished house. Just past this was a giant wet area which I was able to drive around on the left. Falcon Ridge Rd had a brief stretch that was very rutted that had me nervous, but once past this, the road was actually pretty decent all the way to the top of BM Ski where I parked, and a decent ways beyond too. Aside from those two areas, I was able to pretty easily coax my car up the roads to here, though I wouldn't attempt it after a recent heavy rain. The heavily signed neighborhood was, at 6:30 AM on a weekday, quiet and surprisingly pretty, and I felt like I was unlikely to draw much attention parked partially hidden in the sagebrush near the summit of BM Ski. I then walked over to area 2 with the barn structure. Good news and bad news on this candidate: the bad news is that it is very definitely occupied now. Generator, cars parked here, and a dog outside who luckily didn't bark at me. Slipped past the signed/posted gate and made a quick dash up to high ground, luckily undetected. The good news: I fervently believe this area is lower than BM Ski, I'd guess by a good 5-10' per visual inspection. It seemed far lower compared to BM Ski than area 3 (with the radio towers) seemed to be from area 2. I'd be willing to credit anyone who visited BM Ski only with the highpoint.

Lilienthal Mtn--Lincoln COHP WA--SCOUTING ONLY
Originally was thinking of hiking this one, but sore legs and exhaustion prevailed, and I decided to try to find out who the new owners were. Pulling into the quarry area, I encountered a worker who seemed suspicious and reluctant to provide too much information on the owner, beyond saying he "had a house up on the hill" and "was a very private person". Inquiries at two other homes with friendly older gentlemen finally led me to find the correct house, but nobody was home. Out of respect, I will not post these here; interested parties can contact me directly. A few things to note: opinions on the landowner's willingness to let someone hike the mountain were mixed, based on who I talked to. The house does overlook much of the mountain including the road to the top, and the quarry is active, so I would not attempt any kind of daytime hike up this mountain from the south without permission. Lastly, one of the neighbors mentioned that ten acres of the summit had recently been sold to a telecommunications company, so it's possible that even if the landowner would be okay with hikers, he may not be able to give permission for the summit. At least feeling like I'd made some progress here in scoping out the area and the access situation, I left and headed to Davenport and points south.




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