My wife, Christina, and I hiked/climbed Llao rock for the views and the activation. For those new to this summit, this should be on your to do list. The 1 mile or so hike with about 700' of elevation rise is a moderate climb up a mostly meadowed hill. When you get to the top, the views are breathtaking. Note closure in 2013: http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/k7atn/2014-july-27/llao-rock-or-closed-public
Drive about 0.4 miles along the north rim road from its junction with the south rim road. Park in the wide road side parking area. Walk across the road and head up the hill. Generally trend toward the north and east. You may come across trails heading uphill, but they aren't crucial. Continue uphill until you get to the summit. The mostly open summit has a small stand of pine trees that can be used to hold an antenna up 25' or so.
The views of the lake and other peaks is worth the hike alone. Enjoy being up there looking down at the lake. A roving flock of pipits (I think) worked the summit for bugs, and Clark's Nutcrackers will investigate you (probably for handouts).
I threw a line up into a tree and pulled up my 88' inverted vee doublet that I used on several bands. The KX3 "tunes" the antenna easily on 40 and 20m, but the combination has issues on 15m (a match is finally found, but the rig reduces power out to 5W). I may need to tweak the 35' twin lead feedline length a bit. I activated for about 45 minutes on this Wednesday morning, yielding nine 20m CW and three 40m CW QSOs. I spent 5 minutes each on 20m SSB and 15m CW, without any success. A highlight was the S2S contact with Randy, ND0C, on W0/BB-003.
