Mount Mitchell 8-6-08

[Jabali]

On the sixth of August two of us made the short hike up Mount Mitchell, a broken off ridge of 5014 ft. elevation. This may not sound very promising but the ridge ends with a half-mile drop-off to the end of the talus, and a 3000 ft. drop to Road 57. This makes it one of the more spectacular viewpoints around. The skies were hazy but only the most distant peaks were obscured. Jefferson was partially hidden; we could see some of the lower snowfields but not the top.

Along the rimrock NW from Mount Mitchell

The trailhead can be accessed at two points. For both, drive on Road 57 to Ripplebrook Ranger Station and turn left just past it. This is FSR 4631. Just past the pipeline turn right onto 4630. At the Harriet Lake junction turn left (really more of a straight ahead uphill) onto 4635. Keep to the main road with its growing collection of potholes past Cripple Creek (sharp bend to left). Once the road stops climbing it has become Road 140 and will pass the trailhead for the Cache Meadows/Serene Lake figure 8 loop. An obvious sideroad at a clearcut on the right goes to the official trailhead for the Rimrock trail #704. If you want a shorter hike, continue straight until you find the road blocked. The Rimrock Trail is uphill to the right. Find it and go left. The first clear sidetrail (signed) heads up onto Mount Mitchell ridge and to the viewpoint.

The trail is little used, covered in pinecones and sporting some plants and small trees in the tread. Someone has been up there with a chainsaw and cut windfall out of the path. Its mostly clear now but may need brushing out in a few years.

I'm not sure of the milage as the road barrier isn't on the maps, but this trip can be done in half a day. The Rimrock has only minor elevation change, and the sidetrail onto the ridge is steep but short. The trail leads to a spectacular viewpoint but to the left and a little higher is one far more dramatic. A narrow spine of boulders features cliff exposures on three sides.

Hood is to the Northwest, 23 miles off, with a number of smaller peaks lined up in front.

Towards Olallie SE from Mount Mitchell

The small peaks on the near side of Hood may include Hambone, Linneys, Devils, High Rock, Wolf, Wolf Camp, Veda, Frog Lake and/or some others. More to the south is Olallie and Jefferson. The haze blocked any view of Sisters. Other peaks visible included Oak Grove, Fish Creek and Whale Head just across the valley, Battle Ax, and probably East and Bull of the Woods. Almost lost in the haze was Table Rock.

Towards Olallie SE from Mount Mitchell

All in all this route provides a lot of punch for a little hiking.

[pablo]

Thx for the report, I was up that way this winter on snowshoes but skipped the viewpoint as the whole place was socked in. I'll have to take another shot at it as the views look pretty nice.

--Paul

[ElphabaNorthWest]

I went up there last September and loved the views. I would definitely recommend the trip.

I realized Jeffstat was right and I was referring to a different Mount Mitchell. I need to read more carefully! Now I am thinking that I should put this Mount Mitchell on my list of places to go!

[jeffstatt]

ElphabaNorthWest I believe his report is from a different Mount Mitchell - one south of the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness.

Jabali do you have any more info on the location of this hike? I'd like to scout it out on Google Earth. It doesn't sound too far from Signal Buttes?

[Jabali]

jeffstatt --

The name Mount Mitchell shows up automatically in Google Maps but not Google Earth. Try 'Terrain' to have the name show up in Maps.

If you type or paste into the Google Earth searchbox "Mount Mitchell OR" you will go right to Mount Mitchell proper - which is a slight highpoint on a long ridge. The viewpoint is south of that at the end of the trail at, naturally enough, the cliffs. The cliffs are most impressive in either Google Maps or Google Earth - or in person.

This is just north and a little west and 3000 ft above Lake Harriet. Straightline distance from the Lake is 1.8 miles. The viewpoint is about 5 1/3 miles S-SW of Signal Buttes, which I should include in the list of peaks between the viewpoint and Hood.

Access is from Forest Service Road 57 at Ripplebrook Ranger Station. The roads show up well in Google Maps with the Maps tab selected, except they stop it well before the end. So just keep driving until the road is blocked.

Sorry about the second copy of the picture - it doesn't show up when I go to edit mode so I can't remove it. Maybe I should erase the one that does show up and then replace it? Definitely a bug in the system.

[jeffstatt]

I went up there last September and loved the views. I would definitely recommend the trip.

I realized Jeffstat was right and I was referring to a different Mount Mitchell. I need to read more carefully! Now I am thinking that I should put this Mount Mitchell on my list of places to go!

I immediately thought the same thing! In fact I had never heard of a Mount Mitchell in Oregon before!