Activation Reports

This summit sits on CSKT tribal land and requires a permit for non-tribal members ($100 for one year at the time of writing), which makes access the main consideration rather than the hike itself. I chose this one specifically as my first activation report - the logistics felt important to document clearly. The route is a straightforward, trail-less ascent up an open grassy hillside, with trees at the summit and excellent views of the Mission Mountains. If you can get the permit sorted out, this is an easy and enjoyable activation.

Access & Permit

Since we cannot access the private driveway, I recommend this short hike up from the Nordic Trail sign. More pleasant than from the driveway side of brush and finishes at wide open access on BLM. A short patch of bush and boulders to step up at the end. Great views.

Tracks below

There are two Bunchgrass Ridges - this one is labeled as such in SOTA, but not on most public maps. The other one, CM-126, is labeled Bunchgrass Ridge on most maps, but SOTA does not give that one a name. Perhaps this will need to be inverted in the future. In any case CM-051 is a mildly difficult to access point slightly off the Bunchgrass trail, which is part of the Eugene to Crest trail. Both Bunchgrass peaks are accessible via the same trail, if enough time is dedicated to the effort. Both peaks are in a burn scar region from a few years back, but now publicly accessible again.

Getting there: Google Maps gives good directions. Just put the coordinates in and go. Roads are very well maintained as of March 2026. Cadillac gravel. 

The road leads to within about 200 vertical feet of the activation zone. That last couple hundred feet is very steep in places and extremely brushy. 

I never thought that at the end of January we would have mosquitoes, but there they were all over me at the top of David Hill. If that’s not a reason to go activate the summit, then what about this view on the way to the top?

Summary - If the gate is locked (and it probably is), this is a two mile logging road hike and summit hill bushwhack with modest elevation gain.  On a clear day there are views from the north end of the summit. The bushwhack is relatively short with a few sections of thick brush.  Round trip hike is under five miles with almost 1000 feet of elevation gain.  Spotting with APRS or ATT cell service is possible. Bring HF gear as 2M contacts may be a chore.  The  hike and summit are on Hood River County Forest land with active logging sites.

Heads up… on Jan 10, 2026 when driving from W7O/NC-091 to NC-083 (as noted in the prior descriptions) I came across a slide located along the southeast side of the mountain - very close to the final turn up to the NC-083 summit.  I had to backtrack and take the logging road that wraps around the north side of summit.  Not sure how long this route will remain blocked, but it may be a low priority to clear. 

DJ (WW7D) and I (WU7H) saved this one for our 2025/2026 UTC rollover activation. We have done Keechelus in the winter before and it is usually a very reliable winter summit -- there is a groomed snowmobile trail that gets you close enough to the summit to snowshoe up. We attempted to do this as a UTC rollover back in 2019 but it was raining heavily (even at 5000') and we were so wet, cold, and miserable we bailed before the UTC rollover. This year we got lucky - it was a bluebird day!

This is an easy drive up summit with beautuful views of the Bitterroot Valley seen on part of the road accessing the summit.

Direction to WM/GA-114:

From Missoula, MT  take US-93 South Approximately 20 Miles to Florence.

Turn East on Eastside Highway SR-203 for 7 miles to Ambrose Creek road.

Turn East on Ambrose Creek Road for 5.4 miles to FS 428. Take FS428 7.8 miles to Ambrose Saddle.

At Ambrose Saddle take FS1339 SE approximately 6 miles to the intersection of 1339 A and 1339B

Summit #7845 is a good hike through the 2021 Trail Creek wildland fire.  The trail signed Ruby-May Creek #3102 was in great shape and being cleared by a Montana Conservation Corps crew during the activation. There are some good views of the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness summits along the trail. 

Caution: this trail and the summit have elevated snag hazard due to recent wildland fires.