Summary - An easy, if not terribly scenic drive to the trailhead and a short hike to the summit. Travel time to the trailhead was almost two hours. VHF contacts were easy, as was APRS spotting. Trask is on public land but the route I followed goes through a Weyerhauser gate.
Underwood Mountain is a 2 pt summit Northwest of Underwood, WA across the river Northwest from Hood River Oregon. The start point is about 4.5 miles off of highway 14. It is an easy 3 mile hike to the summit with 1400 ft elevation gain on forest roads closed to motor vehicles. There is a short 250 foot doable bushwack to the summit. It would be a very feasible mountain bike activation.
Oreana Ridge is a picturesque summit with scattered trees, grass/forb land, an old US Forest Service L-4 Lookout and a log garage. There are fine views of high peaks in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness and the steep slopes of Salmon River breaks. The lookout built in
During a 12-day, Self-Guided tour through the Dolomite Mountains of Northern Italy, I had the opportunity to activate a few mountains that “happened” to be right along our route. I was with my XYL, Sharon, and 2 other couples, so my opportunities were somewhat limited by time and patience (or lack thereof) of my travelling companions. None the less, I managed 4 Activations. This report deals with the Activation of Monte Pic, I/AA-181. This easy to ascend peak is 7,753 Feet / 2,363 Meters in elevation. The reason I report this Activation on the PNW SOTA reflector is to illustrate the outstanding opportunities that await those that venture out to Northern Italy, Switzerland, France, Austria and Germany. These countries all share in common superb tourist infrastructure and ease of access to thousands of SOTA peaks, ranging from walk ups to world class alpine climbs. There is also the attraction of great food and beer, and hospitable local populations. Finally, there are also opportunities to reach out to local SOTA Activators, and perhaps go out for joint Activations.
11.3-miles, +3,828 ft; -574 ft; From N. Fork Trailhead
I activated this as the first summit on a multi-day backpacking trip. We camped at Canyon Lake and climbed from there. There is also camping at Lake Otatsy and Camp Pass. The entire route, including the Lake Otatsy area was burned in the 2017 Rice Ridge fire, so care should be taken in selecting a camp to minimize the danger from standing dead trees. Most of the area around Canyon Lake is not burnt.
Pasture Ridge is one of several SOTA summits near the Magruder Corridor. This corridor-road divides some of the most wild-country in Idaho, the Selway Bitterroot and Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness areas. The trail access to the summit begins at the Historic Magruder Ranger Station.
Trout Creek Hill is a near drive-up summit north of Carson, Washington. You can reasonably drive into the AZ, but you'd rather not travel the last few hundred yards to save the finish on your vehicle. So be sure and look for a good place to turn around and leave your vehicle before that last bit of road.
Bunker Hill is a nicely accessible summit a few miles north of Carson, Washington. The trailhead is an easy drive, and the hike is about 3.6 miles roundtrip and 1300 feet of gain. Note that little of the gain is on the first mile or so of the hike - it's steep later. The hike starts on the Pacific Crest Trail for the first easy half mile or so.
Short Version - Wildcat Mountain is only an hour from Portland. You can drive to the trailhead and the two-ish mile hike along a well-maintained, if not well-marked, trail gets you to a small clearing on a summit with wire-ready trees. APRS messaging and 2M FM contacts are both easy and it is a good location for working HF. You are unlikely to be alone, as the Douglas and 781 trails are quite popular; if you like solitude, get there early. And be prepared for snow, even in early November.
Between October 21 and October 30, 2020, we visited the Sunriver / Bend areas of Oregon. The cold but clear weather allowed us to Activate 8 SOTA summits in 6 outings. This report is one of a series, and deals with the Activation of Burma Rd HP, AKA Point 4,230, W7O/CE-304. Prior to coming to the Bend / Sunriver area, I had contacted Ron, W6PZA, who lives in Bend, Oregon. I had seen on-line that he had been a very consistent Activator in this area, and reached out to him to possibly arrange some joint Activations. Happily, things worked out, we hit it off, and wound up doing 2 joint Activations - this one, and also North Paulina Peak, the subject of another Activation report.