Mt. Bailey Standard Summit Route

Hiking in Oregon

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Difficulty: Difficult
Length: 10.5 miles / 16.9 km
Duration: Full day

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Overview: A fairly easy ski ascent and descent of a fun peak near Crater Lake. This ascent follows snowmobile tracks for a good portion before heading into the woods and then finally up a southeast ridge to the bare summit. Cat ski operations are on this mountain so you may see other skiers but you'll know that you're more of a man/woman for earning your turns than the people who get their butts escorted to the top... At the top you'll have an awesome view of Mt. Thielsen over Diamond Lake.

Tips: From route 138 turn onto Route 230 near Diamond Lake and continue down the road until the first road on your right. There will be a small parking lot most likely filled with snowmobile trailers. This is your start. A Snow permit or Northwest Forest Pass is needed here. Also, if you were smart enough to buy a couple 6-packs of beer you may be able to trade them for a tow in or tow out... keep that in mind.

Points of Interest

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Snowmobile Trails

Follow the snowmobile Trails and the GPS track here to the point where you duck into the woods to find the ridge.

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Head into the woods

You can choose wherever to head into the woods towards the ridgeline. This point is a good one as it is just before the snowmobile track flattens out and becomes terrible to skin on. You can try to go a little further if you want but if you start heading downhill you've gone too far.

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Ascending the Southeast Ridge

You'll see great views of Bailey's summit as you ascend this ridge. Higher up on the ridge keep your eye out for a whole in the wall where you'll see Thielsen perfectly framed in the distance. Climb through this rock door to continue on towards the summit.

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Mt. Bailey Summit

The top! Time to choose your descent. Head down the bowl directly beneath the summit and traverse skier right back towards the ridge you ascended to head back down. The further left you go the flatter the descent down the snowmobile tracks will be.