Josh Nelson posted the route, with some clarification on the starting point:
This is one of my favorite peaks in Southern Oregon and provides a super accessible way to get above 9,000'. This Cascade shield volcano tops out at 9,495' and is skirted by the PCT which allows for some really fun loops.
4.8 Miles from trailhead to the summit and just about 3,900' gain. The summit trail is well marked at intersections of the PCT. On the descent it is tempting to surf the scree down the face, however this puts you well off trail and you'll end up in the forest. A safe bet is to keep Four Mile Lake on your left as your headed down the ridge. The mosquito's get pretty fierce by July, but they're not bad unless you're stopped to answer nature's call. Snow is to be expected through mid June.
It's 5.5 miles from the trailhead off hwy 140. The more common starting point for hikers/climbers is the trailhead off the gravel road up to Four Mile Lake.
There is a Strava segment for this route.
Comments
I am planning on climbing Mt McLoughlin tomorrow morning. There is no posted female unsupported time on this site; however, there is a strava segment where the fastest female time is 1:39. My goal is sub-2 hours. I do not know if previous athletes on strava ran solo, had support etc. so I am tossing my name out here!
That ain't no "shield volcano" dude, hence why it is steep...
Turns out you are both right.
"McLoughlin is a stratovolcano, made up of basaltic andesite on top of underlying basaltic andesitic shield volcanoes."
http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/mcloughlin
I am going to take a shot at the Mcloughlin summit record tomorrow, Sunday Aug 16th. The record has been lowered though. Max King ran it yesterday, Strava shows 1:00:18 for the segment, not sure what his actual time was, but I'll ask him before I go to do it so I don't have any surprises. I'd say my odds of beating his time a pretty low, but you never know until you try.
ended up doing it on Monday. new baby at home right now, not sleeping the best, so I thought why not push it back a day. Felt fine here today, just not very fast. Though really it's not like it was that slow either. 1:07:29 on the strava segment, 1:07:53 on the full climb. Not that close, but I do think that it's at least possible for me to get this down to 1 hour, though not super likely.