Blogs

While completing my activation of West Onion Mountain W7O/NC-010 I noticed that closure signs were posted that all access to Onion Peak (Summit refrence W7O/NC-011) Is closed until further notice due to it being a 'Sensative Area'.  The area is managed by EFM (which I believe is Evergreen Forest Management aka lewis and clark?). I just wanted to post this to stop anyone from making the drive to the coast hoping to activate it only to get skunked.  With that being said go check out my write up on West Onion which is accessible and is a good one!

First time activation of 2011 Good Copy Hill on April 7th.  There is no trail to the summit, but a you can drive within .25 miles, with a 4x4 you don't mind getting scratched up.  It's a narrow dirt road thru sagebrush.  Follow the game trails up to the summit.  Was able to make contacts on 20m & 40m. (SSB)

We headed to Dick Mesa via Crum Canyon Road.  It was early April, and there was still snow on the road, so we were unable to drive as far as we would have liked.  We ended up walking (post-holing) 2.5 miles to the summit.  Nice flat area for setting up.  Unfortunately we only made 2 contacts on 2m and struck out on 20m when the weather turned bad on us.  New to SOTA so wasn't really prepared to operating in windy, rainy conditions. 

Having completed an activation on Lone Ridge yesterday (22APR2019) I just wanted to post a quick update to the previous activation report on this site.  The hike from the suggested parking area to the summit can be completed 100% on logging roads at this time but the total distance is 4.6 miles.  You can significantly shorten the hike with a fairly steep/sketchy hike through a clearcut but this isnt required.  Also the activation zone is now a large cleared gravel spot with decent views. 

I just wanted to post a quick update on W7O/NC-044 the previous write up is still accurate but as I understand some people have found it posted no tresspassing I just wanted to post an update from my recent activation there. 

I won't give all the details of how to get to Red Top, etc. This summit has been well covered by others. Here is an interesting report from K7MAS for comparison:

http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/k7mas/2015-march-09/sota-activation-red-top-mountain-kittitas-county-washington-march-8-2015

Summary: On 31MARCH19 I decided to complete the first activation of W7O/NC-072 currently called only '2905' I had briefly attempted this summit for the S2S party on 23MAR19 but found the road covered in snow.  Today however I was able to drive the majority of the way up with the actual hike portion being fairly short but sweet.  I made the mistake of completing the activation during a big CQ competition so the entire 20m band was full of signals but I was still about to get 18 contacts including 3 s2s contacts.

To get to Stacker Butte, Washington, from Interstate 84, take exit 87 at the Dalles and go north across the Columbia River for approximately 3.5 miles to Highway 14.  Note; After taking exit 87 and turning north, there is a McDonalds on the left.  This is the last opportunity for "facilities".  If you don't use them, Stacker butte is very exposed all the way up, and you will be too!  Also, this bridge crossing the Columbia is NOT a toll bridge.  When you get to Highway 14, turn right (east) and go about 0.9 miles to Dalles Mtn Rd and turn left.

Summary: On 28MAR19 I decided to knock out the first activation on Field Effect Hill (aka Megler Mountain).  The weather started out beautiful and sunny but I ended up having to complete my activation in the rain which contiuned until I had started the hike back down when the sun returned.  Overall, the hike isnt bad but the the horrible wide band RFI in the vincinity of the summit made this less fun for an HF activation than most summits which tend to be far quieter.

This is not the "Pilot Butte" that you think you will activate in an easy afternoon within the City Limits of Bend. Its prominance is only 468 feet for a 4138 foot elevation. The Pilot Butte you want to activate is the 5780 foot high 4 point summit with 1400 feet of prominance that's about 20 miles east of Prineville.