The gate with access to Boiler Ridge from near Camp 18 on Highway 26 (mp 18) is now posted "Permit Required" for all access. These permits may be expensive ($300 motorized and $75 non-motorized) and challenging to obtain (appears to sell out quickly). https://recreation.weyerhaeuser.com/Permits
Tulalip Hill is an easy 1-point drive-up summit located in Snohomish County, WA. While the summit is located on private property, there is a public boat launch on the northeast corner of the lake which is within the activation zone. Thanks to Jason KV7DX (previously KE7UIU) for providing this information to myself and other activators!
A Discover Pass is required.
Link to Snohomish County website with information regarding Lake Loma:https://www.snohomishcountywa.gov/5377/Loma
Nov 2, 2019 was the perfect day for climbing Mt. Carrie. The weather was cool and clear. Some snow up above Heart lake, but the Cat Walk (the unmaintained trail and scramble east of Heart Lake) was free of snow. That area would be very challenging with snow, and an ice axe and crampons would be a must.
Lummi Peak is a 2 point summit located in Whatcom County, WA. A short ferry ride will take you to Lummi Island, which was $13 for vehicle with driver (as of Nov 2019). After deciding to take a Friday vacation day, Jason KV7DX (previously KE7UIU) suggested Lummi Peak. He had activated the summit twice (Aug 17 and Dec 18), and it sounded like the perfect option for a cold and sunny November day. I was also excited to try out a portable setup for FT8.
Directions:
With the first four peaks in Cascades North being activated, I decided I needed to hatch a plan to hit the next two. This summit is over 8 miles from the nearest trailhead and 4500 feet of gain, and it's almost 5000 feet of gain from our trailhead, so I recommend doing it as an overnight. We activated this peak in conjunction with South Cinder, W7O/CN-005, and I strongly recommend if you put in the effort to do one that you make time for the other.
With the first four peaks in Cascades North being activated, I decided I needed to hatch a plan to hit the next two. This summit is over 7 miles from the nearest trailhead and 3300 feet of gain, and it's 4000 feet of gain from our trailhead, so I recommend doing it as an overnight. We activated this peak in conjunction with North Cinder, W7O/CN-006, and I strongly recommend if you put in the effort to do one that you make time for the other.
Summit 5230 is located 23 miles (as the crow flies) South of Pendleton, OR. If you have the right vehicle and can tolerate a long bumpy ride in, this can be a drive up summit. It would make an excellent mountain bike-based activation. I would not attempt this summit without a GPS.
We didn't see any swamps, and it certainly wasn't swamped with people!
Getting to the trailhead was straighforward by following the directions at https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/willamette/recarea/?recid=80972.
Our first snow of the year. I have done all the 8 point summits in the upper Dungeness area that I can get to with a day hike except this one. It seemed like a relatively easy one, 6 miles in with a half mile off trail to the summit. It was a good day for it. About a foot of power snow at the summit, but the ground under the snow wasn't frozen yet, so I could still get good traction without crampons.
WW7D and I were in the area for the WA State QSO party 'Salmon Run'. This was the 2nd summit we activated on this fine sunny day in Sept!
D-Layer is a great summit!! I guess I had low expectations based on the intel we had, but it is a really nice summit with a great view to the east.