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On 27 March Etienne (K7ATN) and I activated Silver Star mountain. The weather report called for rain with a break around mid day. We headed to the trailhead, Route: Washougal, WA to Washougal River Road (approx. 10 mi), to Skye Rd to 412th AVE to Skamania Mines Rd. Follow the signs to silver star. We reached the TH at about 0840 and started up the trail. At about 1/8 of a mile the trail splits, take the right split. We found out the hard way and got about 1/4 mile down the trail before I checked the map and realized we were on the wrong trail.

I did this summit on 26 March as it was close to where I was staying. It poured rain on me the whole time but I came out with 14 quick contacts including a S2S with Etienne K7ATN on 146.52. I drove up the road and until my truck would not make it any further (4WD) and then hiked up the rest of the way. If you look at my everytrail tracks the "GO" marker is where the dirt road starts and the "END" marker is where I parked the truck. You could drive further then this if it was a dry day or if you had a jeep or 4 wheeler.

Check out my blog at http://kf7pxt.blogspot.com/2014/03/larch-mountain-w7wlc-103-sota.html for additional information.

Here is my everytrail post with downloadable GPX tracks - http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2713566

A very long day to get ten points - the usual for the Northwest.

On a quck training hike for our Switzerland Hiking / Climbing tour next July / August, I carried along my trusty ICOM - IC - V85 2M HT because it has an output of 7 Watts.  Together with my old AEA "Hot Rod" telescoping vertical antenna for 2M, it seems to work very well on 2M FM.  Squak Mountain, 617 Meters, 2,024 Feet elevation is an easy 4.2 miles RT hike gaining 1,274 feet to the summit.  It is easily accessible from my home QTH in Bellevue, WA.  Park on SR900 (Issaquah - Renton Road) or, as we did, at one of the higher trailheads on Mountainside

UPDATE: There may be No Trespassing signs on this approach now.

Re Horse Ridge Initial Activation 23 Feb 2014.

Ray KG7AV, Max KF7MAX

Tom, Dick & Harry Mountain is a nice late season snowshoe near Mount Hood. It's about 4 miles one-way and 1850 feet of gain to bag this four-point summit with iconic views of Mount Hood. It's a bit of work with some route-finding on snowshoes, but hopefully this trip report will help you get there.

Gales Peak is probably on the "not recommended" list for activations near Portland. Although access is possible, you are not allowed to do it with a motor vehicle, making the six mile round-trip on a logging road fairly unattractive.

Peak 3534 is a near drive up in the Tillamook State Forest west of Portland off Highway 6.

These eleven miles (RT) seem much farther when you are on snowshoes - take that into account if you should decide to try this winter activation.