Update I have updated this TR to change the name of Tumalo to the correct name Tumala. Thanks to Splintercat for this correction! My apologies for not updating the picture labels but it appears I would have had to delete them all and rename them before uploading them again! Thanks for your understanding.
MileageMike
It was a perfect day to pursue an area with some views!
We decided to continue our previous Fanton Trail hike and extend it to the summit of Tumala Mt. and then head out to Sheepshead Rock in the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness. Thanks to Forest Keeper for putting up the temporary sign!
We hiked up the Fanton Trail for about 3/4mile and reached the Old Baldy trail where we veered to the right. In about another 1/2mile you will reach the intersection with the Tumala Mt. trail (I forgot to take a picture but it's marked on my map). Turn right and take the 1/4mile trail to the summit.
Along this short trail you will see views o f Mt. Hood!
And in the distance Mt. Jefferson!
Continuing you will finally come to a rocky road (that had recent tire tracks) and turn left to follow the road around toward the summit. At the end of the road there is a new radio tower that hasn't been commissioned yet.
If you read the warning sign next to the door it mentions that the signal beyond this point (the sign is on the container and may be indicating radio waves inside the metal structure?) may exceed acceptal limits to the public!
From my understanding this Mt. is used heavily and I don't understand why this is a good location (except of course because it is the high point in the area) if people might be subjected to hazardous levels of radio waves? Perhaps I am reading the sign wrong but I'd rather be safe than sorry!
We finally reached the rocky summit where the view was Spectacular!
And the view of the summit from below.
We headed back down from the summit and turned right to travel east on the Old Baldy trail. In about 3/4mile you will reach a rock field where there is an excellent view of the Tumala Mt. summit (2nd peak from the right)!
And there is an excellent view of the Tumala Valley!
Continuing our hike east on the Old Baldy trail we finally reached the Twin Springs area. We found a cut-in off of Abbott Rd where the Old Baldy TH (Plaza Trail #783) can be reached by car. We met 3 people that were camping just off of this sign location that said the road was very rough but could be navigated slowly!
We continued to take the Old Baldy trail into the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness but never saw a sign indicating we reached the boundary?
We did see a notification board on a tree but that was it.
As we hiked I noticed that there was supposed to be an Old Guard Station along the trail but we never found it and didn't go off trail as we were running short on time. We will save this exploration for a different hike!
My wife and son were a bit tired so I continued the hike to Sheepshead Rock alone while they rested. I was not disappointed by my decision to keep going to see this site as the view from Sheepshead Rock is AMAZING!
The view of Sheepshead Rock from the base looks like this.
And I did climb up most of the rock except for the remaining 10ft or so.
I turned around from here and met back up with my son and wife. We moved quickly to get back to our car and get back home.
The condition of the trail was excellent with only a couple of very small older logs (NO trees blown down!) on the trail and very little debris!
There were a couple of small areas where the brush is getting a bit thick around the trail but had absolutely no effect on trail navigation. There was also a small portion of the Old Baldy trail in the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness that had a small amount of blown down branches and we cleared some of that as we hiked.
The temperature was fairly cool and in the 60's with cool breezes during much of the hike. It only felt warm for a short period where we first entered the wilderness.
I very highly recommend this hike!
The hike was 9.9miles with a total elevation gain of about 2600ft.
