 |
| Radar Ranch |
 |
| Register left by the earliest peakbaggers at Eugene BM |
 |
| Tholen BM |
- DUN GLEN PEAK, AULD LANG SYNE PEAK - take I-80 to exit 151 at Mill City and go half a mile to a main fork. Stay left on the main road for a about 10 miles to a well el 5900. Go right and follow the main road to a switchback el 6850 then walk onto the main ridge and up to the reg on Auld Lang Syne Peak reading N40 44624, W117 52876 el 7388. 1 hour, 600 gain. The road goes up and ends at a private residence called the Radar Ranch, formerly a radar site at Auburn BM. It's for sale for $220,000. A 2wd might make the road to the ranch when dry. For Dun Glen, go back to the well and go east a tenth mile to the road shown on the topo. I rode it but it has rut issues. Another newer road runs up the crest from the pass but I didn't check it. I followed the road to el 6900 then contoured around to a perch at 48067, 53171 el 7100 where I could see the rest. The reg is at 48058, 53543 el 7440. 1 hour, 600 gain. These peaks have pleasant terrain. Posted 2019.
- ORGAN PEAK el 7309 has an easy 4wd road up the south ridge to el 6400. take I-80 to exit 151 at Mill City and go half a mile to a main fork. Stay right on the main road for a about 7.5 miles to a homemade cattleguard. Cross over and go a short way then go south on a grassy road for 3 miles to Rockhill Canyon. Then go 2 and a half miles up canyon to an obvious road switching up the north side. Follow it a mile and a half to el 6250 and then judge if your rig can make the last quarter mile beyond there because the last switchback is very tight. From the end of the road, go up the ridge and aim for a slope at 38851, 51235 el 6950 and go up along there to pass a bump then the summit is at 39104, 50997. 70 minutes, 1000 gain. A more used road goes to the canyon from the south, likely off the Willow Creek road. Posted 2019.
- THOLEN BENCHMARK el 8276 is at the head of Inskip Canyon. Turn off highway 400 at mp 13.9 and go a dozen miles on the main road to a fork in Willow Creek canyon at N40 34286, W117 53270. Go left on 4wd for a third mile to another fork. The right fork is likely the better road. It goes to el 7040 then you just hike up the ridge. I took the left fork which is a bad road and it took me to the crest el 7040 by way of Cherry Spring. Then I walked along the north side of peak 7388 to a saddle el 7200 then up to el 7600 where I cut under peak 7991 to a saddle at 32998, 54166 el 7750 where the rest was in view. There is a saddle el 7550 which is .8 mile before the summit. It's best to level off there and lose 50 feet or so along the right side to stay under rocks. The reg is at 32097, 54918. The BM was placed in 1938 then in 1958 an Inskip BM was placed. That took 3 and a half hours with nearly 2000 gain. A side trip to peak 7991 would add 250 feet. It has a reg and hikers call it Gem Peak. The spring was gushing cold water. PEAK 7081 is on the north rim of Willow Creek canyon. It has the best forest in the range, all juniper. At a pullout on the main road reading 36053, 55016 el 5650, routes up are in view. I went up an easy ridge at 36222, 54925 el 5800 and up to the summit at 36680, 55422. No sign of humanity. 2 hours, nearly 1500 gain. Cars could make it to the mouth of the canyon where there are shady creekside camps, but beyond there requires high clearance or a mtn bike. Peakbagger.com has GPS tracks for Tholen. Posted 2019.
- BARTOMES TABLE el 7739 is what I call the vast plateau east of Kyle Hot Springs. I planned to start at Bartomes Spring and walk to the high point then south to peak 7497 but the road in seems to be overgrown on the sat image. I didn't want to drive all the way around to that side of the range and find out the hard way so I shelved it for now. The plateau looks undisturbed on the sat image. Posted 2019.
- GRANITE BENCHMARK el 8419 is the high point of the East Range. A loop can be done using the rims of Ladd Canyon. GPS tracks are posted on peakbagger.com for the west rim part of the loop. I used exit 112 on I-80 to get to the super graded road that runs thru McKinney Pass. Turn off it at N40 13001, W117 49731 and take a bad road to the mouth of the canyon, staying left at a fork along the way. There are two ways to start out. One is to go up a DIY road on the west rim which soon fizzles then just keep going up. The other is to walk the OHV trail in the canyon for a mile and a half then go up an easy ridge at 15665, 48865 el 6400 and top out on the west rim at a saddle el 6850. It's obvious how to go up the ridge then bend left to the reg at 16818, 49025. Then walk east on Cinnabar Ridge for a mile and a quarter to Granite Peak el 8330. A plane crash is along the way at 16832, 48344 el 8150. It missed clearing the crest by 30 feet, if that's what it was trying to do. From Granite Peak, it's obvious how to walk the east rim down and then either drop in near the exit point or keep walking the rim to the mouth. I was able to ride a cycle a mile and a half up the canyon and then had a 4 and a half hour hike with about 2500 gain, none of it very steep. The OHV trail is overgrowing and is the only part that needs long pants. There's a good stream in the canyon with no recent cattle. Posted 2019.
- EUGENE MOUNTAINS HIGH POINT el 7582 - take I-80 to exit 149 at Mill City then go NW on bad pavement for nearly 8 miles to a mine gate then go right on good dirt for 3 miles to a main fork. Go left up Pole Canyon and stay on the main road. The first 4 miles is easy 4wd then it gets harder for the remaining 2 miles but no major erosion issues yet. The main road goes to the saddle el 7100 at the head of the canyon.then turn north for 800 feet to a trail forking left. I kept going another fifth mile and parked on a flat with petroglyphs el 7250. Then I dropped 100 feet to the trail at N40 49484, W118 10810 el 7150 and followed it to the last major saddle then up the ridge to the reg at 50148, 11108. 80 minutes, 500 gain. Petroglyphs are on the first rocks east of the parking area and a big panel is down the ridge as shown on the topo. Minor ones are on the ridge to Eugene Benchmark at 49028, 11125 el 7450. Posted 2019.
