GlassMountains Trip Reports

Southern Oregon Prominence Peaks, July 2016

July 15, 2016 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

My peakbagging focus since late spring has been Oregon Prominence Peaks. I realized early in this hiking season that I had the opportunity to make very good progress on the list of Oregon’s 100 most Prominent Peaks. After earlier trips to the Siskiyou Mountains and Blue Mountains I identified four Southern Oregon prominence peaks as my next priority. I broke up the project into two trips.

Mount Ashland

Mount Ashland is the 15th most prominent Oregon peak with 3131 feet of prominence. On July 5 I drove south to the Mount Ashland Ski Area by way of Lake of the Woods. From the Ski Area I followed forest road 20 west and parked in shade near the summit road.

I hiked the summit road to the summit located just east of the top of the summit lift. This was a pleasant road hike in ideal weather. I especially enjoyed the views of Mount Shasta and other peaks to the south.

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Cycle the Sierra Bicycle Tour, June 2016

June 29, 2016 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

Linda and I had heard of the annual Cycle The Sierra bicycle tour from friends, who found the ride to be strenuous but scenic. Our only previous bicycle rides in the Northern Sierra Nevada were loops around Lake Tahoe. Most of the 2016 route would be new to us. So we decided to give the Cycle the Sierra bicycle tour a try for June 2016. Our friends Mark, Mary, and Chuck also joined us on this tour, though they proved to be stronger riders and almost always rode well ahead of us.

June 18: Nevada City to Chili Bar (60 miles, 4900 ft gain)

We left Nevada City and rode through Grass Valley, then on country roads through oak woodlands and low traffic for many miles. We crossed over the Bear River and entered the outskirts of Auburn before steeply descending to the confluence of the North and Middle forks of the American River. This was Saturday and there was a lot of traffic leading to and from the river.

From here we had a steep 3 mile climb from the river on a sometimes narrow road with little shoulder. Linda and I rode as close to the shoulder as we could. We relied on the alertness of the drivers approaching and passing us as we climbed.

Above the climb we reentered oak and pine woodlands. At one point as I climbed a quiet forested road I wondered if I had made a wrong turn as I could see no other riders. I stopped to compare the cue sheet with my GPS map and decided I must be on route just before Linda passed me.

Linda approached an intersection where a dog bit her on her right leg as she rode by. We eventually descended to the South Fork of the American River to find our camp at the Nugget Campground near Chili Bar. Here we enjoyed the late afternoon and had the first of many excellent dinners.

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Oregon’s Blue Mountains, June 2016

June 16, 2016 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

In early June I visited the Jarbidge Mountains of Northeast Nevada to attempt Matterhorn Peak. My travel route passed through Oregon’s Blue Mountains. As I passed through I hiked several prominence peaks there. Deep snow and high water conditions in the Jarbidge Mountains frustrated my plans there. But hiking peaks in the Blue Mountains proved to be the highlight of my trip.

Oregon’s Blue Mountains are uplift mountains located in Northeast Oregon and Southeast Washington. This mountain range consists of several subranges and is a part of the larger Columbia River Plateau.

Big Lookout Mountain

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Siskiyou Mountains, Oregon, May 2016

May 22, 2016 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

I had spend the fall, winter, and early spring of 2016 hiking Arizona prominence peaks. Upon our return to Oregon in the late spring I was ready to focus on hiking Oregon prominence peaks. A large number of such peaks lie in Southwest Oregon in the Siskiyou Mountains, Southern Oregon Coast Range, and Western Cascade Mountains.

I decided to make my first peak bagging trip to the Siskiyou Mountains. I assembled a list of peaks, gathered maps, trip reports, and key GPS waypoints to help me access these peaks.

Olson Mountain

On May 17 I drove to and hiked Olson Mountain in the Western Cascades northeast of Medford. This peak has 1860 feet of prominence, the 94th most prominent peak in Oregon.

The first challenge was to navigate the forest roads to drive to near the summit. I had viewed satellite images of the forest roads to help sketch out a possible route. I marked this route with waypoints on my topo maps of the area. This research proved to be very helpful and I was able to find my intended “trailhead”.

From my parking spot I hiked up a short jeep trail. I wandered about the brushy and indistinct terrain of the summit to identify the highest point on the mountain. I finally satisfied myself that I had found it and retraced my route back to my Jeep.

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