Mileage Mike went hiking June 7, 2015 8.7 miles 2,250 feet gained

Upper Fanton TH to Tumala Mt and Towards Sheepshead Rock

Another hot day in paradise! We decided on hiking the Upper Fanton Trail to the summit of Tumala Mt. The summit of Tumala Mt. has a stellar view of Mt. Hood and the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness. It was also hot up there and we didn't stay long. We then headed east on the Fanton Trail towards Sheepshead Rock. A rock field on the trail afforded an amazing view of the Mt.s and valley, looking south. There were some areas with a cool breeze, but we finally gave up shortly after turning north towards Sheepshead Rock. I believe we made it to the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness Boundary, but no official sign was seen.

The hike back had a lot of elevation gain, and my wife felt the heat made it a death march, and I found it was definitely a struggle. Still an awesome day with plenty of great views!

Trail Talk

3 people have hearted this trip.

Mountainkat · June 9, 2015

Thanks for posting photos, it is nice to see hikes from that area. Were the bullet leftovers and cans at the trailhead?

Mileage Mike · June 10, 2015

I'm glad you enjoyed the photos! It's a nice area that's hardly used, at least from our experiences.

If you look closely at the picture of the radio tower, the bags/boxes of beer and shotgun shells were on the right side. The road to the tower is probably traveled on occasion, and I suspect that some kind hikers probably picked up these items in hopes that it could be picked up by whomever visited with a vehicle. From where we parked, at the upper Fanton TH, the tower is about 2.2 miles one way. Carrying out this much garbage for a 2.2 mile (all downhill) stretch would be difficult without many hikers.

It's really troubling that people were drinking and shooting near a summit, where the ammo is certainly falling from the sky into the forest. I think of these people as low class scum that have no regard for the environment, animals and poeple as there was also spent rifle ammo in the box. Unfortunately, we have seen way too many of this same scenario (at summits or in cliff areas) many times, and I'm surprised that more people and animals aren't injured or killed! Sorry for preaching, but this is the one aspect of hiking that makes me uncomfortable, even more than the idea of confronting predators.

Mountainkat · June 10, 2015

That's too bad that is going on out there because it looks like a great hike. I know what you mean about being uncomfortable while hiking with this type of thing happening. A few months ago, we hiked to University Falls in the Tillamook State Forest and there was gunfire the entire time. It was coming from above us and we were hoping they were not shooting in our direction. It was very nerve-wracking and it certainly didn't make us want to go hike there again any time soon.

JM · June 12, 2015

What is that parked at the TH?

Mileage Mike · June 13, 2015

Hi Jeremiah!

I'm not sure if you're familiar with that area, but if you keep driving past that trailer there is a clearing that has a stellar view. It appeared that some campers parked their trailer with camping junk to obstruct vehicles from driving to their campsite? We had driven down the road and decided to park on the main forest road instead. I think it was pretty classless to leave it in a TH parking area, but I wasn't going to try and discuss their decision if they thought this was a smart choice. I attached another picture of their trashy trailer!