Curry County High Point Trip Report
Brandy Peak (5,298 ft)
Date: June 13, 2003
Author: Bob Bolton
Taking a tip from Trapper Robbins' report, we drove west on FR3348 from Mt. Bolivar, turned south on FR33,
then turned east on 23 toward Brandy Peak. There was road construction that was to have been up
to an hour delay, but we managed to get there about 5 minutes before the hour, so didn't wait long.
We actually went south of the 33/23 junction a mile or two to a Rogue River resort for some snacks and a little
gas to make sure we could get all the way through to Grants Pass. The drive east on 23 would have been
quite spectacular if we could have seen it as it stays near the ridge crest north of Shasta Costa Creek.
We figured that the Shasta Costa Overlook would have given us a view of the ocean plus Mt. Shasta, but we
were in a thick soup and saw nothing but gray. Near the Bearcamp Campground we found the junction of
FR2308 and turned south.
We found a place to park just west of the peak at about 4640 feet, then hiked up the least steep route we
could find through the rather open old growth until we reached the ridge northeast of the summit. The ridge
walk was easy. Note that Topozone.com shows an elevation of 5,298 feet on the map, but shows 5,316 feet
when you query for Brandy Peak, OR. The Benchmark Maps atlas shows the 5,316 feet. There was some
road work on FR23 toward Galice that required a very tedious and lengthy detour on a one-way single-lane
gravel logging road with few turnouts. We got behind three pickup-trailer rigs carrying river rafts.
These guys were traveling very slowly, and finally, mercifully, each of them found a spot wide enough
in the road so we could pass them and complete the back-road driving as we hit I-5 just north of Grants Pass.
summit GPS-derived coordinates (42.59772° N, 123.87925° W) - datum?