Sweeney Point

Discussions and Trip Reports for off-trail adventures and rediscovering lost trails
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Chip Down
Posts: 3037
Joined: November 8th, 2014, 8:41 pm

Sweeney Point

Post by Chip Down » May 7th, 2017, 6:59 pm

A few months ago I took a snowy rainy slog up Souther Creek from Sweeney Falls (a few miles east of Stevenson WA), and explored a bit to the east. As darkness loomed, I spotted a pillar and some rocky/mossy areas that looked promising, and added it to my list.

Yesterday I had the perfect opportunity to return as an add-on hike, so I did. Had a little trouble finding the pillar, but wandered around and found other neat stuff. Climbed up though clearings, from one mossy rocky viewpoint to the next.

Eventually explored east through lovely grassy openings until there was no good terrain left, and then headed up to a USGS benchmarked point, and up the ridgecrest, which was generally open and easy to follow. The ridge ended abruptly as the terrain leveled off, at which point I started exploring old roads, some newer and some very old/faint.

On the way back to my car I spotted the pillar I'd been looking for! This time I had just enough light to pull it off. It was pretty much what I expected: slightly tricky in a couple spots, but nothing particularly difficult/dangerous. I explored around a bit and came down a different way. Slightly spooky in the fading light, but I'm getting to know the Sweeney area pretty well, so I figured I knew what I was doing. Ended up on the other side of the pillar from my ascent, and easily dropped down to the old abandoned road that took me to SR14.

Highly recommended, quick and easy, lots of fun if you like off-trail exploring and don't mind a little light bushwhacking. Lots of poison oak; my greatest fear of falling wasn't injury, it was doing a faceplant in the PO.

Looking at the GE pic below, I feel like I couldn't possibly have visited every bare rocky spot, but I had a sense of completion, like I had grasped the essence of it. It would be obsessive to go back again.
Attachments
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Also found these at about this elevation to the west, past Souther Creek.
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More open grassy slopes than expected, to the east, near the top.
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Good place to wait out a spell of bad weather.
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The pillar that lured me here. Up close, I could see it's not freestanding; it's connected by a little frenulum/saddle.
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The setting sun, along with cloudbreaks, put on quite a show on the Oregon-side cliffs. I bet I watched it for half an hour. That's Indian Point over there.
SweeneyMap.jpg
It's that circular knob that SR14 curves around.
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To the right of the bottle: Dog Mt in back, then Wind Mt to the right and in front of Dog.

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Peder
Posts: 3401
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:02 pm
Location: Lake Oswego

Re: Sweeney Point

Post by Peder » May 7th, 2017, 11:13 pm

I know the name - looks interesting... Maybe one day!
Some people are really fit at eighty; thankfully I still have many years to get into shape…

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