Wolf Peak
- Tina McLain
- Mar 17
- 4 min read
A peak accessed by bushwhacking near High Rock in Mount Hood National Forest.
Peak Name: Wolf Peak
Peak Coordinates: 45.165452, -121.873399
Peak Elevation: 4904'
Access: Bushwhack
Bushwhack Rating: BW2
Scrambling: The last 100 ft to the peak required some "light scrambling," nothing crazy just occasional use of hands on the rocks.
Distance: 2.40 miles (round trip)
Elevation Range: 4377' to 4904'
Ascent/Descent: +495 ft/-493 ft
Route Type: In and out
Route: Spur road from FS 58 until it ended, then bushwhacking along east side of ridge to saddle and followed center of ridge when ascending to the peak.
Outing Type: Day hike
Permits/Fees: None
Notes: There were a lot of downed trees so lots of "high knees" hiking. Only two dense sections of brush.
Location: Near FS 58 in Mount Hood National Forest, Oregon, U.S.A.
Administration: Mount Hood National Forest
Ranger District: Clackamas River Ranger District
Date Accessed: October 12, 2024
I scouted this bushwhack once before a few years ago, but hadn't got around to actually doing it. I wanted to get one last hike in before the weather started to become more unpredictable. So I convinced my dad to go with me on a Saturday in October and we attempted reaching this peak.
There's an unmarked spur road off of FS-58 at 45.15390, -121.86818 that we parked and started our trek from. We followed the spur road that was a bit overgrown until it petered out. Then started the bushwhacking. We approached the saddle leading to the peak from the southeast. This section of forest was pretty open with moderate brush and lots of downed trees to step over. Lots of "high knee" hiking.
We stayed along the east side of the ridge-line and once we reached the saddle we continued staying on the east side. It helped with navigation, if on the approach the rapidly descending hillside was to our right (the east) we were continuing in the correct direction.
As we neared the dip into the saddle there was one section of pretty dense, smaller trees we had to push our way through. It was about 12 ft we had to push our way through. Along the saddle, past the dense trees the brush got more dense and it required more work to move through. It was mostly huckleberry bushes and other "smaller" bushes. We tried to follow the path of least resistance. The huckleberry bushes were beautiful since the leaves were all turning red since it was fall.
There was one section towards the middle of the saddle where we had to push through a couple big rhodies, but we were able to avoid it on the way back. Rhodie bushes are the bane of my existence when bushwhacking. The saddle of the ridge is to the south of the peak so we approached the summit from the south side.
As we neared the final ascent to the peak it started to get steeper and rockier. The last 100 ft to the peak required some light scrambling, nothing crazy just occasional use of hands on the rock. It was mostly talus with small amounts of scree. It was fairly stable and easy to navigate. It wasn't too exposed. When we reached the top we came across an empty gas can which was weird. At first I thought it might be a container for a summit register which I already thought would be odd for such a little known peak. Friendly reminder to everyone to pack your shit out.
We were able to see Mt Hood from the peak, but it was hazy from wildfire smoke so we weren't able to see any other major cascade peaks that were further away. To the west we had a great view of High Rock. The deciduous trees were all yellow and red which was really beautiful. There weren't any bugs at the peak which made it an enjoyable place to sit and eat some dehydrated apples.
We then started on our way back. It wasn't too hard to light scramble/hike back down to the saddle. We made our way back through the forest and it wasn't any harder than the way in. I scraped my left shin a few times on stubs sticking up out of fallen trees, but besides that neither of us were too banged up from the bushwhack.
There were only two short dense sections on this route, overall not a hard bushwhack. The ridge-line was a nice guideline for navigating and helped make it a less challenging navigating route compared to other bushwhacks I've done in the past.
Resources
AllTrails (Unsure why this peak is shown on AllTrails, there is no trail, it is just bushwhacking. Not very helpful in my opinion.)
Coordinates
How to get there (from Estacada, OR)
Map
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